id
int64 12
1.07M
| title
stringlengths 1
124
| text
stringlengths 0
228k
| paragraphs
list | abstract
stringlengths 0
123k
| date_created
stringlengths 0
20
| date_modified
stringlengths 20
20
| templates
list | url
stringlengths 31
154
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12,618 | G4 | G4 or G.IV may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "G4 or G.IV may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| G4 or G.IV may refer to: | 2001-09-26T22:26:37Z | 2023-11-03T10:43:31Z | [
"Template:Self reference",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Canned search",
"Template:Intitle",
"Template:Letter-Number Combination Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4 |
12,619 | Garbage collection (disambiguation) | Garbage collection, or waste collection, is part of municipal waste management.
Garbage collection may also refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Garbage collection, or waste collection, is part of municipal waste management.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Garbage collection may also refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Garbage collection, or waste collection, is part of municipal waste management. Garbage collection may also refer to: Garbage collection, in automatic memory management
Garbage collection (SSD), in flash memory | 2016-04-13T15:41:26Z | [
"Template:Disambiguation",
"Template:Wiktionary"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_collection_(disambiguation) |
|
12,620 | Guitarist | A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica, or both.
The guitarist may employ any of several methods for sounding the guitar, including finger-picking, depending on the type of strings used (either nylon or steel), and including strumming with the fingers, or a guitar pick made of bone, horn, plastic, metal, felt, leather, or paper, and melodic flatpicking and finger-picking.
The guitarist may also employ various methods for selecting notes and chords, including fingering, thumbing, the barre (a finger lying across many or all strings at a particular fret), and guitar slides, usually made of glass or metal. These left- and right-hand techniques may be intermixed in performance.
Several magazines and websites have compiled what they intend as lists of the greatest guitarists—for example The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, or 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World magazine.
The first in this list is the American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, introduced by Pete Townshend, guitarist for the Who, who was, in his turn, ranked at #10 in the list.
In describing the list to readers, Paul MacInnes from British newspaper The Guardian wrote, "Surprisingly enough for an American magazine, the top 10 is fair jam-packed with Yanks", though he also noted three exceptions in the top 10. The online magazine Blogcritics criticized the list for introducing some allegedly undeserving guitarists while forgetting some artists the writer considered perhaps more worthy, such as Johnny Marr, Al Di Meola, Phil Keaggy or John Petrucci.
In 2011, Rolling Stone updated the list, which this time was chosen by a panel of guitarists and other experts with the top 100 consisting of Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards and Tony Iommi. Artists who had not been included in the previous list were added. Rory Gallagher, for example, was ranked in 57th place.
The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time is mentioned in many biographies about artists who appear in the list.
Guitar World, a monthly music magazine devoted to the guitar, also published their list of 100 greatest guitarists in the book Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time from the Pages of Guitar World Magazine. Different from the Rolling Stone list, which listed guitarists in descending order, Guitar World divided guitarists by music genre—such as "Lords of Hard Rock" for hard rock artists or "Jazzmen" for jazz players. Despite the appearance in other magazines like Billboard, this publication by Guitar World was criticized for including no female musicians within its selection. However, Guitar World recently published a list of "Eight Amazing Female Acoustic Players", including Kaki King, Muriel Anderson and Sharon Isbin.
Following the death of Les Paul, Time website presented their list of 10 greatest artists in electric guitar. As in Rolling Stone magazine's list, Jimi Hendrix was chosen as the greatest guitarist followed by Slash from Guns N' Roses, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. Gigwise.com, an online music magazine, also ranks Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitarist ever, followed by Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Keith Richards and Kirk Hammett.
The classical guitar is strung with gut or nylon strings on top and wound basses for the lower strings. It was often ornately decorated with mother of pearl. Many early classical guitarists played with their finger tips only but later guitarists play with a combination of finger nail and flesh to project a clear sound and allowing for many different changes in sound quality (or timbre). This guitar tradition dates back at least to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when a four course instrument was popular among aristocrats. In the early nineteenth century there the guitar enjoyed a surge of popularity when composer/performers such as Fernando Sor, Napoléon Coste, Mauro Giuliani, and many others published thousands of pieces for the concert hall and home gatherings. The classical guitar enjoyed another period of popularity in the twentieth century when recordings amplified the relatively quiet instrument. There are many classical guitarists listed as "notable" in their respective epochs.
One of the most renowned flamenco guitarists in recent decades was Paco de Lucía. Flamenco music is a popular traditional music associated with the Andalucia region of southern Spain. It is characterized by intricate syncopated rhythms intimately informed by a gypsy dance style. Flamenco guitarists also often accompany flamenco singers performing "cante jondo" (deep song). De Lucía was also one of the first to have successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz.
The cuatro guitar is a family of Latin American string instruments played in Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. It is derived from the Spanish guitar. Although some have viola-like shapes, most cuatros resemble a small to mid-sized classical guitar. In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, the cuatro is an ensemble instrument for secular and religious music, and is played at parties and traditional gatherings. Christian Nieves is a Puerto Rican cuatro player and is recognized by the Institute of Puerto Rican culture as the most talented young of their national instrument, the Puerto Rican cuatro. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica, or both.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The guitarist may employ any of several methods for sounding the guitar, including finger-picking, depending on the type of strings used (either nylon or steel), and including strumming with the fingers, or a guitar pick made of bone, horn, plastic, metal, felt, leather, or paper, and melodic flatpicking and finger-picking.",
"title": "Techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The guitarist may also employ various methods for selecting notes and chords, including fingering, thumbing, the barre (a finger lying across many or all strings at a particular fret), and guitar slides, usually made of glass or metal. These left- and right-hand techniques may be intermixed in performance.",
"title": "Techniques"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Several magazines and websites have compiled what they intend as lists of the greatest guitarists—for example The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, or 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World magazine.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The first in this list is the American guitarist Jimi Hendrix, introduced by Pete Townshend, guitarist for the Who, who was, in his turn, ranked at #10 in the list.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In describing the list to readers, Paul MacInnes from British newspaper The Guardian wrote, \"Surprisingly enough for an American magazine, the top 10 is fair jam-packed with Yanks\", though he also noted three exceptions in the top 10. The online magazine Blogcritics criticized the list for introducing some allegedly undeserving guitarists while forgetting some artists the writer considered perhaps more worthy, such as Johnny Marr, Al Di Meola, Phil Keaggy or John Petrucci.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In 2011, Rolling Stone updated the list, which this time was chosen by a panel of guitarists and other experts with the top 100 consisting of Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards and Tony Iommi. Artists who had not been included in the previous list were added. Rory Gallagher, for example, was ranked in 57th place.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time is mentioned in many biographies about artists who appear in the list.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Guitar World, a monthly music magazine devoted to the guitar, also published their list of 100 greatest guitarists in the book Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time from the Pages of Guitar World Magazine. Different from the Rolling Stone list, which listed guitarists in descending order, Guitar World divided guitarists by music genre—such as \"Lords of Hard Rock\" for hard rock artists or \"Jazzmen\" for jazz players. Despite the appearance in other magazines like Billboard, this publication by Guitar World was criticized for including no female musicians within its selection. However, Guitar World recently published a list of \"Eight Amazing Female Acoustic Players\", including Kaki King, Muriel Anderson and Sharon Isbin.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Following the death of Les Paul, Time website presented their list of 10 greatest artists in electric guitar. As in Rolling Stone magazine's list, Jimi Hendrix was chosen as the greatest guitarist followed by Slash from Guns N' Roses, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. Gigwise.com, an online music magazine, also ranks Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitarist ever, followed by Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Keith Richards and Kirk Hammett.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The classical guitar is strung with gut or nylon strings on top and wound basses for the lower strings. It was often ornately decorated with mother of pearl. Many early classical guitarists played with their finger tips only but later guitarists play with a combination of finger nail and flesh to project a clear sound and allowing for many different changes in sound quality (or timbre). This guitar tradition dates back at least to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when a four course instrument was popular among aristocrats. In the early nineteenth century there the guitar enjoyed a surge of popularity when composer/performers such as Fernando Sor, Napoléon Coste, Mauro Giuliani, and many others published thousands of pieces for the concert hall and home gatherings. The classical guitar enjoyed another period of popularity in the twentieth century when recordings amplified the relatively quiet instrument. There are many classical guitarists listed as \"notable\" in their respective epochs.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "One of the most renowned flamenco guitarists in recent decades was Paco de Lucía. Flamenco music is a popular traditional music associated with the Andalucia region of southern Spain. It is characterized by intricate syncopated rhythms intimately informed by a gypsy dance style. Flamenco guitarists also often accompany flamenco singers performing \"cante jondo\" (deep song). De Lucía was also one of the first to have successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The cuatro guitar is a family of Latin American string instruments played in Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. It is derived from the Spanish guitar. Although some have viola-like shapes, most cuatros resemble a small to mid-sized classical guitar. In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, the cuatro is an ensemble instrument for secular and religious music, and is played at parties and traditional gatherings. Christian Nieves is a Puerto Rican cuatro player and is recognized by the Institute of Puerto Rican culture as the most talented young of their national instrument, the Puerto Rican cuatro.",
"title": "Notable guitarists"
}
]
| A guitarist is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica, or both. | 2001-11-06T19:29:11Z | 2023-11-17T04:07:03Z | [
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:About",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Guitars",
"Template:Pp-move-indef"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarist |
12,622 | Gothic fiction | Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name refers to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels.
The first work to call itself Gothic was Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, later subtitled "A Gothic Story". Subsequent 18th-century contributors included Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Thomas Beckford, and Matthew Lewis. The Gothic influence continued into the early 19th century; works by the Romantic poets, and novelists such as Mary Shelley, Charles Maturin, Walter Scott and E. T. A. Hoffmann frequently drew upon gothic motifs in their works.
The early Victorian period continued the use of gothic aesthetic in novels by Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters, as well as works by the American writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Later well-known works were Dracula by Bram Stoker, Richard Marsh's The Beetle and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Twentieth-century contributors include Daphne du Maurier, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, and Toni Morrison.
Gothic fiction is characterized by an environment of fear, the threat of supernatural events, and the intrusion of the past upon the present. The setting typically includes physical reminders of the past, especially through ruined buildings which stand as proof of a previously thriving world which is decaying in the present. Especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, characteristic settings include castles, religious buildings like monasteries and convents, and crypts. The atmosphere is typically claustrophobic, and common plot elements include vengeful persecution, imprisonment, and murder. The depiction of horrible events in Gothic fiction often serves as a metaphorical expression of psychological or social conflicts. The form of a Gothic story is usually discontinuous and convoluted, often incorporating tales within tales, changing narrators, and framing devices such as discovered manuscripts or interpolated histories. Other characteristics, regardless of relevance to the main plot, can include sleeplike and deathlike states, live burials, doubles, unnatural echoes or silences, the discovery of obscured family ties, unintelligible writings, nocturnal landscapes, remote locations, and dreams. Especially in the late 19th century, Gothic fiction often involved demons and demonic possession, ghosts, and other kinds of evil spirits.
Gothic fiction often moves between "high culture" and "low" or "popular culture".
Gothic literature is strongly associated with the Gothic Revival architecture of the same era. English Gothic writers often associated medieval buildings with what they saw as a dark and terrifying period, marked by harsh laws enforced by torture and with mysterious, fantastic, and superstitious rituals. Similar to the Gothic Revivalists' rejection of the clarity and rationalism of the Neoclassical style of the Enlightened Establishment, the literary Gothic embodies an appreciation of the joys of extreme emotion, the thrills of fearfulness and awe inherent in the sublime, and a quest for atmosphere. Gothic ruins invoke multiple linked emotions by representing inevitable decay and the collapse of human creations – hence the urge to add fake ruins as eyecatchers in English landscape parks.
Placing a story in a Gothic building serves several purposes. It inspires feelings of awe, implies that the story is set in the past, gives an impression of isolation or dissociation from the rest of the world, and conveys religious associations. Setting the novel in a Gothic castle was meant to imply a story set in the past and shrouded in darkness. The architecture often served as a mirror for the characters and events of the story. The buildings in The Castle of Otranto, for example, are riddled with tunnels that characters use to move back and forth in secret. This movement mirrors the secrets surrounding Manfred's possession of the castle and how it came into his family.
From the castles, dungeons, forests, and hidden passages of the Gothic novel genre emerged female Gothic. Guided by the works of authors such as Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Brontë, the female Gothic allowed women's societal and sexual desires to be introduced. In many respects, the novel's intended reader of the time was the woman who, even as she enjoyed such novels, felt she had to "[lay] down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame," according to Jane Austen. The Gothic novel shaped its form for woman readers to "turn to Gothic romances to find support for their own mixed feelings."
Female Gothic narratives focus on such topics as a persecuted heroine fleeing from a villainous father and searching for an absent mother. At the same time, male writers tend towards the masculine transgression of social taboos. The emergence of the ghost story gave women writers something to write about besides the common marriage plot, allowing them to present a more radical critique of male power, violence, and predatory sexuality.
When the female Gothic coincides with the explained supernatural the natural cause of terror is not the supernatural, but female disability and societal horrors: rape, incest, and the threatening control of a male antagonist. Female Gothic novels also address women's discontent with patriarchal society, their difficult and unsatisfying maternal position, and their role within that society. Women's fears of entrapment in the domestic, their bodies, marriage, childbirth, or domestic abuse commonly appear in the genre.
After the characteristic Gothic Bildungsroman-like plot sequence, female Gothic allowed readers to grow from "adolescence to maturity" in the face of the realized impossibilities of the supernatural. As protagonists like Adeline in The Romance of the Forest learn that their superstitious fantasies and terrors are replaced by natural cause and reasonable doubt, the reader may grasp the heroine's true position: "The heroine possesses the romantic temperament that perceives strangeness where others see none. Her sensibility, therefore, prevents her from knowing that her true plight is her condition, the disability of being female."
'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on.
— Lines from Shakespeare's Hamlet
The components that would eventually combine into Gothic literature had a rich history by the time Walpole presented a fictitious medieval manuscript in The Castle of Otranto in 1764.
The plays of William Shakespeare, in particular, were a crucial reference point for early Gothic writers, in both an effort to bring credibility to their works, and to legitimize the emerging genre as serious literature to the public. Tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Richard III, with plots revolving around the supernatural, revenge, murder, ghosts, witchcraft, and omens, written in dramatic pathos, and set in medieval castles, were a huge influence upon early Gothic authors, who frequently quote, and make allusions to Shakespeare's works.
John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) was also very influential among Gothic writers, who were especially drawn to the tragic anti-hero character Satan, who became a model for many charismatic Gothic villains and Byronic heroes. Milton's "version of the myth of the fall and redemption, creation and decreation, is, as Frankenstein again reveals, an important model for Gothic plots."
Alexander Pope, who had a considerable influence on Walpole, was the first significant poet of the 18th century to write a poem in an authentic Gothic manner. Eloisa to Abelard (1717), a tale of star-crossed lovers, one doomed to a life of seclusion in a convent, and the other in a monastery, abounds in gloomy imagery, religious terror, and suppressed passion. The influence of Pope's poem is found throughout 18th-century Gothic literature, including the novels of Walpole, Radcliffe, and Lewis.
Gothic literature is often described with words such as "wonder" and "terror." This sense of wonder and terror that provides the suspension of disbelief so important to the Gothic—which, except for when it is parodied, even for all its occasional melodrama, is typically played straight, in a self-serious manner—requires the imagination of the reader to be willing to accept the idea that there might be something "beyond that which is immediately in front of us." The mysterious imagination necessary for Gothic literature to have gained any traction had been growing for some time before the advent of the Gothic. The need for this came as the known world was becoming more explored, reducing the geographical mysteries of the world. The edges of the map were filling in, and no dragons were to be found. The human mind required a replacement. Clive Bloom theorizes that this void in the collective imagination was critical in developing the cultural possibility for the rise of the Gothic tradition.
The setting of most early Gothic works was medieval, but this was a common theme long before Walpole. In Britain especially, there was a desire to reclaim a shared past. This obsession frequently led to extravagant architectural displays, such as Fonthill Abbey, and sometimes mock tournaments were held. It was not merely in literature that a medieval revival made itself felt, and this, too, contributed to a culture ready to accept a perceived medieval work in 1764.
The Gothic often uses scenery of decay, death, and morbidity to achieve its effects (especially in the Italian Horror school of Gothic). However, Gothic literature was not the origin of this tradition; it was far older. The corpses, skeletons, and churchyards so commonly associated with early Gothic works were popularized by the Graveyard poets. They were also present in novels such as Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year, which contains comical scenes of plague carts and piles of corpses. Even earlier, poets like Edmund Spenser evoked a dreary and sorrowful mood in such poems as Epithalamion.
All aspects of pre-Gothic literature occur to some degree in the Gothic, but even taken together, they still fall short of true Gothic. What needed to be added was an aesthetic to tie the elements together. Bloom notes that this aesthetic must take the form of a theoretical or philosophical core, which is necessary to "sav[e] the best tales from becoming mere anecdote or incoherent sensationalism." In this case, the aesthetic needed to be emotional, and was finally provided by Edmund Burke's 1757 work, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, which "finally codif[ied] the gothic emotional experience." Specifically, Burke's thoughts on the Sublime, Terror, and Obscurity were most applicable. These sections can be summarized thus: the Sublime is that which is or produces the "strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling"; Terror most often evoked the Sublime; and to cause Terror, we need some amount of Obscurity – we can't know everything about that which is inducing Terror – or else "a great deal of the apprehension vanishes"; Obscurity is necessary to experience the Terror of the unknown. Bloom asserts that Burke's descriptive vocabulary was essential to the Romantic works that eventually informed the Gothic.
The birth of Gothic literature was thought to have been influenced by political upheaval. Researchers linked its birth with the English Civil War, culminating in a Jacobite rebellion (1745) more recent to the first Gothic novel (1764). The collective political memory and any deep cultural fears associated with it likely contributed to early Gothic villains as literary representatives of defeated Tory barons or Royalists "rising" from their political graves in the pages of early Gothic novels to terrorize the bourgeois reader of late eighteenth-century England.
The first work to call itself "Gothic" was Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). The first edition presented the story as a translation of a sixteenth- century manuscript and was widely popular. Walpole, in the second edition, revealed himself as the author which adding the subtitle "A Gothic Story." The revelation prompted a backlash from readers, who considered it inappropriate for a modern author to write a supernatural story in a rational age. Walpole did not initially prompt many imitators. Beginning with Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron (1778), the 1780s saw more writers attempting his combination of supernatural plots with emotionally realistic characters. Examples include Sophia Lee's The Recess (1783–5) and William Beckford's Vathek (1786).
At the height of the Gothic novel's popularity in the 1790s, the genre was almost synonymous with Ann Radcliffe, whose works were highly anticipated and widely imitated. The Romance of the Forest (1791) and The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) were particularly popular. In an essay on Radcliffe, Walter Scott, writes of the popularity of Udolpho at the time, "The very name was fascinating, and the public, who rushed upon it with all the eagerness of curiosity, rose from it with unsated appetite. When a family was numerous, the volumes flew, and were sometimes torn from hand to hand." Radcliffe's novels were often seen as the feminine and rational opposite of a more violently horrifying male Gothic associated with Matthew Lewis. Radcliffe's final novel, The Italian (1797), responded to Lewis's The Monk (1796).
Other notable Gothic novels of the 1790s include William Godwin's Caleb Williams (1794), Regina Maria Roche's Clermont (1798), and Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland (1798), as well as large numbers of anonymous works published by the Minerva Press. In continental Europe, Romantic literary movements led to related Gothic genres such as the German Schauerroman and the French Roman noir. Eighteenth-century Gothic novels were typically set in a distant past and (for English novels) a distant European country, but without specific dates or historical figures that characterized the later development of historical fiction.
The saturation of Gothic-inspired literature during the 1790s was referred to in a letter by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, writing on 16 March 1797, "indeed I am almost weary of the Terrible, having been a hireling in the Critical Review for the last six or eight months – I have been reviewing the Monk, the Italian, Hubert de Sevrac &c &c &c – in all of which dungeons, and old castles, & solitary Houses by the Sea Side & Caverns & Woods & extraordinary characters & all the tribe of Horror & Mystery, have crowded on me – even to surfeiting."
The excesses, stereotypes, and frequent absurdities of the Gothic genre made it rich territory for satire. After 1800 there was a period in which Gothic parodies outnumbered forthcoming Gothic novels. In The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett (1813), Gothic tropes are exaggerated for comic effect. In Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey (1818), the naive protagonist, a female named Catherine, conceives herself as a heroine of a Radcliffean romance and imagines murder and villainy on every side. However, the truth turns out to be much more prosaic. This novel is also noted for including a list of early Gothic works known as the Northanger Horrid Novels.
The poetry, romantic adventures, and character of Lord Byron—characterized by his spurned lover Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad and dangerous to know"—were another inspiration for the Gothic novel, providing the archetype of the Byronic hero. For example, Byron is the title character in Lady Caroline's Gothic novel Glenarvon (1816).
Byron was also the host of the celebrated ghost-story competition involving himself, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and John William Polidori at the Villa Diodati on the banks of Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816. This occasion was productive of both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), and Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), featuring the Byronic Lord Ruthven. The Vampyre has been accounted by cultural critic Christopher Frayling as one of the most influential works of fiction ever written and spawned a craze for vampire fiction and theatre (and, latterly, film) that has not ceased to this day. Though clearly influenced by the Gothic tradition, Mary Shelley's novel is often considered the first science fiction novel, despite the novel's lack of any scientific explanation for the monster's animation and the focus instead on the moral dilemmas and consequences of such a creation.
John Keats' La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819) and Isabella, or the Pot of Basil (1820) feature mysteriously fey ladies. In the latter poem, the names of the characters, the dream visions, and the macabre physical details are influenced by the novels of premiere Gothicist Ann Radcliffe.
Although ushering in the historical novel, and turning popularity away from Gothic fiction, Walter Scott frequently employs Gothic elements in his novels and poetry. Scott drew upon oral folklore, fireside tails, and ancient superstitions, often juxtaposing rationality and the supernatural. Novels such as The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), in which the character's fates are decided by superstition and prophecy, or the poem Marmion (1808), in which a Nun is walled alive inside a convent, illustrate Scott's influence and use of Gothic themes.
A late example of a traditional Gothic novel is Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Maturin, which combines themes of anti-Catholicism with an outcast Byronic hero. Jane C. Loudon's The Mummy! (1827) features standard Gothic motifs, characters, and plot, but with one significant twist: it is set in the twenty-second century and speculates on fantastic scientific developments that might have occurred four hundred years in the future, making it and Frankenstein among the earliest examples of the science fiction genre developing from Gothic traditions.
During two decades, the most famous author of Gothic literature in Germany was the polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann. Lewis's The Monk influenced and even mentioned it in his novel The Devil's Elixirs (1815). The novel explores the motive of Doppelgänger, a term coined by another German author and supporter of Hoffmann, Jean-Paul, in his humorous novel Siebenkäs (1796–1797). He also wrote an opera based on Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's Gothic story Undine (1816), for which de la Motte Fouqué wrote the libretto. Aside from Hoffmann and de la Motte Fouqué, three other important authors from the era were Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (The Marble Statue, 1818), Ludwig Achim von Arnim (Die Majoratsherren, 1819), and Adelbert von Chamisso (Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, 1814). After them, Wilhelm Meinhold wrote The Amber Witch (1838) and Sidonia von Bork (1847).
In Spain, the priest Pascual Pérez Rodríguez was the most diligent novelist in the Gothic way, closely aligned to the supernatural explained by Ann Radcliffe. At the same time, the poet José de Espronceda published The Student of Salamanca (1837-1840), a narrative poem that presents a horrid variation on the Don Juan legend.
In Russia, authors of the Romantic era include Antony Pogorelsky (penname of Alexey Alexeyevich Perovsky), Orest Somov, Oleksa Storozhenko, Alexandr Pushkin, Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy, Mikhail Lermontov (for his work Stuss), and Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Pushkin is particularly important, as his 1833 short story The Queen of Spades was so popular that it was adapted into operas and later films by Russian and foreign artists. Some parts of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time" (1840) are also considered to belong to the Gothic genre, but they lack the supernatural elements of other Russian Gothic stories.
The following poems are also now considered to belong to the Gothic genre: Meshchevskiy's "Lila", Katenin's "Olga", Pushkin's "The Bridegroom", Pletnev's "The Gravedigger" and Lermontov's "Demon" (1829–1839).
The key author of the transition from Romanticism to Realism, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, who was also one of the most important authors of Romanticism, produced a number of works that qualify as Gothic fiction. Each of his three short story collections features a number of stories that fall within the Gothic genre or contain Gothic elements. They include "Saint John's Eve" and "A Terrible Vengeance" from Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831–1832), "The Portrait" from Arabesques (1835), and "Viy" from Mirgorod (1835). While all are well known, the latter is probably the most famous, having inspired at least eight film adaptations (two now considered lost), one animated film, two documentaries, and a video game. Gogol's work differs from Western European Gothic fiction, as his cultural influences drew on Ukrainian folklore, the Cossack lifestyle, and, as a religious man, Orthodox Christianity.
Other relevant authors of this era include Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoevsky (The Living Corpse, written 1838, published 1844, The Ghost, The Sylphide, as well as short stories), Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (The Family of the Vourdalak, 1839, and The Vampire, 1841), Mikhail Zagoskin (Unexpected Guests), Józef Sękowski/Osip Senkovsky (Antar), and Yevgeny Baratynsky (The Ring).
By the Victorian era, Gothic had ceased to be the dominant genre for novels in England, partly replaced by more sedate historical fiction. However, Gothic short stories continued to be popular, published in magazines or as small chapbooks called penny dreadfuls. The most influential Gothic writer from this period was the American Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote numerous short stories and poems reinterpreting Gothic tropes. His story "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) revisits classic Gothic tropes of aristocratic decay, death, and madness. Poe is now considered the master of the American Gothic. In England, one of the most influential penny dreadfuls is the anonymously authored Varney the Vampire (1847), which introduced the trope of vampires having sharpened teeth. Another notable English author of penny dreadfuls is George W. M. Reynolds, known for The Mysteries of London (1844), Faust (1846), Wagner the Wehr-wolf (1847), and The Necromancer (1857). Elizabeth Gaskell's tales "The Doom of the Griffiths" (1858), "Lois the Witch", and "The Grey Woman" all employ one of the most common themes of Gothic fiction: the power of ancestral sins to curse future generations, or the fear that they will. In Spain, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer stood out with his romantic poems and short tales, some depicting supernatural events. Today some consider him the most-read Spanish writer after Miguel de Cervantes.
In addition to these short Gothic fictions, some novels, drew on the Gothic. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) transports the Gothic to the forbidding Yorkshire Moors and features ghostly apparitions and a Byronic hero in the person of the demonic Heathcliff. The Brontës' fictions were cited by feminist critic Ellen Moers as prime examples of Female Gothic, exploring woman's entrapment within domestic space and subjection to patriarchal authority and the transgressive and dangerous attempts to subvert and escape such restriction. Emily's Cathy and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre are examples of female protagonists in such roles. Louisa May Alcott's Gothic potboiler, A Long Fatal Love Chase (written in 1866 but published in 1995), is also an interesting specimen of this subgenre. In addition to Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë's Villette also shows the Gothic influence. Like other examples of the female Gothic, this book employs the explained supernatural. Throughout the book, a ghostly nun haunts the protagonist, Lucy Snowe. Lucy's doctor friend suggests that the nun is a product of her imagination, but the end of the book reveals that the nun was a disguised suitor coming to visit Ginevra, a friend of Lucy's. Another Gothic feature of Villette is an anti-Catholic bias. Like other gothic novels, like Radcliffe's The Italian, is set in a Catholic country. Lucy Snowe consistently says negative things about Catholicism and specific Catholic people. As an English Protestant, Lucy is very out of place in her Catholic setting.
The genre also heavily influenced mainstream writers such as Charles Dickens, who read Gothic novels as a teenager and incorporated their gloomy atmosphere and melodrama into his works, shifting them to a more modern period and an urban setting; for example, in Oliver Twist (1837–1838), Bleak House (1854) and Great Expectations (1860–1861). These works juxtapose wealthy, ordered, and affluent civilization with the disorder and barbarity of the poor in the same metropolis. Bleak House, in particular, is credited with introducing urban fog to the novel, which would become a frequent characteristic of urban Gothic literature and film (Mighall 2007). Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, is one of Dickens’ most Gothic characters. The bitter recluse who shuts herself away in her gloomy mansion ever since being jilted at the altar on her wedding day. His most explicitly Gothic work is his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which he did not live to complete and was published unfinished upon his death in 1870. The mood and themes of the Gothic novel held a particular fascination for the Victorians, with their obsession with mourning rituals, mementos, and mortality in general.
Irish Catholics also wrote Gothic fiction in the 19th century. Although some Anglo-Irish dominated and defined the subgenre decades later, they did not own it. Irish Catholic Gothic writers included Gerald Griffin, James Clarence Mangan, and John and Michael Banim. William Carleton was a notable Gothic writer, and converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism.
In Germany, Jeremias Gotthelf wrote The Black Spider (1842), an allegorical work that uses Gothic themes. The last work from the German writer Theodor Storm, The Rider on the White Horse (1888), also uses Gothic motives and themes.
After Gogol, Russian literature saw the rise of Realism, but many authors continued to write stories within Gothic fiction territory. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, one of the most celebrated Realists, wrote Faust (1856), Phantoms (1864), Song of the Triumphant Love (1881), and Clara Milich (1883). Another classic Russian Realist, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, incorporated Gothic elements into many of his works, although none can be seen as purely Gothic. Grigory Petrovich Danilevsky, who wrote historical and early science fiction novels and stories, wrote Mertvec-ubiytsa (Dead Murderer) in 1879. Also, Grigori Alexandrovich Machtet wrote "Zaklyatiy kazak", which may now also be considered Gothic.
The 1880s saw the revival of the Gothic as a powerful literary form allied to fin de siecle, which fictionalized contemporary fears like ethical degeneration and questioned the social structures of the time. Classic works of this Urban Gothic include Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), George du Maurier's Trilby (1894), Richard Marsh's The Beetle (1897), Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (1898), and the stories of Arthur Machen.
In Ireland, Gothic fiction tended to be purveyed by the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy. According to literary critic Terry Eagleton, Charles Maturin, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Bram Stoker form the core of the Irish Gothic subgenre with stories featuring castles set in a barren landscape and a cast of remote aristocrats dominating an atavistic peasantry, which represent an allegorical form the political plight of Catholic Ireland subjected to the Protestant Ascendancy. Le Fanu's use of the gloomy villain, forbidding mansion, and persecuted heroine in Uncle Silas (1864) shows direct influence from Walpole's Otranto and Radcliffe's Udolpho. Le Fanu's short story collection In a Glass Darkly (1872) includes the superlative vampire tale Carmilla, which provided fresh blood for that particular strand of the Gothic and influenced Bram Stoker's vampire novel Dracula (1897). Stoker's book created the most famous Gothic villain ever, Count Dracula, and established Transylvania and Eastern Europe as the locus classicus of the Gothic. Published in the same year as Dracula, Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire is another piece of vampire fiction. The Blood of the Vampire, which, like Carmilla, features a female vampire, is notable for its treatment of vampirism as both racial and medicalized. The vampire, Harriet Brandt, is also a psychic vampire, killing unintentionally.
In the United States, two notable late 19th-century writers in the Gothic tradition were Ambrose Bierce and Robert W. Chambers. Bierce's short stories were in the horrific and pessimistic tradition of Poe. Chambers indulged in the decadent style of Wilde and Machen, even including a character named Wilde in his The King in Yellow (1895). Some works of the Canadian writer Gilbert Parker also fall into the genre, including the stories in The Lane that had No Turning (1900).
The serialized novel The Phantom of the Opera (1909–1910) by the French writer Gaston Leroux is another well-known example of Gothic fiction from the early 20th century, when many German authors were writing works influenced by Schauerroman, including Hanns Heinz Ewers.
Until the 1990s, Russian Gothic critics did not view Russian Gothic as a genre or label. If used, the word "gothic" was used to describe (mostly early) works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky from the 1880s. Most critics used tags such as "Romanticism" and "fantastique", such as in the 1984 story collection translated into English as Russian 19th-Century Gothic Tales but originally titled Фантастический мир русской романтической повести, literally, "The Fantastic World of Russian Romanticism Short Story/Novella." However, since the mid-1980s, Russian gothic fiction as a genre began to be discussed in books such as The Gothic-Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature, European Gothic: A Spirited Exchange 1760–1960, The Russian Gothic Novel and its British Antecedents and Goticheskiy roman v Rossii (The Gothic Novel in Russia).
The first Russian author whose work has been described as gothic fiction is considered to be Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin. While many of his works feature gothic elements, the first to belong purely under the gothic fiction label is Ostrov Borngolm (Island of Bornholm) from 1793. Nearly ten years later, Nikolay Ivanovich Gnedich followed suit with his 1803 novel Don Corrado de Gerrera, set in Spain during the reign of Philip II. The term "Gothic" is sometimes also used to describe the ballads of Russian authors such as Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky, particularly "Ludmila" (1808) and "Svetlana" (1813), both translations based on Gottfreid August Burger's Gothic German ballad, "Lenore."
During the last years of Imperial Russia in the early 20th century, many authors continued to write in the Gothic fiction genre. They include the historian and historical fiction writer Alexander Valentinovich Amfiteatrov and Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev, who developed psychological characterization; the symbolist Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov, Alexander Grin, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov; and Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin. Nobel Prize winner Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin wrote Dry Valley (1912), which is seen as influenced by Gothic literature. In a monograph on the subject, Muireann Maguire writes, "The centrality of the Gothic-fantastic to Russian fiction is almost impossible to exaggerate, and certainly exceptional in the context of world literature."
Gothic fiction and Modernism influenced each other. This is often evident in detective fiction, horror fiction, and science fiction, but the influence of the Gothic can also be seen in the high literary Modernism of the 20th century. Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) initiated a re-working of older literary forms and myths that became common in the work of Yeats, Eliot, and Joyce, among others. In Joyce's Ulysses (1922), the living are transformed into ghosts, which points to an Ireland in stasis at the time and a history of cyclical trauma from the Great Famine in the 1840s through to the current moment in the text. The way Ulysses uses Gothic tropes such as ghosts and hauntings while removing the supernatural elements of 19th-century Gothic fiction indicates a general form of modernist Gothic writing in the first half of the 20th century.
In America, pulp magazines such as Weird Tales reprinted classic Gothic horror tales from the previous century by authors like Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and printed new stories by modern authors featuring both traditional and new horrors. The most significant of these was H. P. Lovecraft, who also wrote a conspectus of the Gothic and supernatural horror tradition in his Supernatural Horror in Literature (1936), and developed a Mythos that would influence Gothic and contemporary horror well into the 21st century. Lovecraft's protégé, Robert Bloch, contributed to Weird Tales and penned Psycho (1959), which drew on the classic interests of the genre. From these, the Gothic genre per se gave way to modern horror fiction, regarded by some literary critics as a branch of the Gothic, although others use the term to cover the entire genre.
The Romantic strand of Gothic was taken up in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1938), which is seen by some to have been influenced by Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Other books by du Maurier, such as Jamaica Inn (1936), also display Gothic tendencies. Du Maurier's work inspired a substantial body of "female Gothics," concerning heroines alternately swooning over or terrified by scowling Byronic men in possession of acres of prime real estate and the appertaining droit du seigneur.
The genre also influenced American writing, creating a Southern Gothic genre that combines some Gothic sensibilities, such as the grotesque, with the setting and style of the Southern United States. Examples include Erskine Caldwell, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, John Kennedy Toole, Manly Wade Wellman, Eudora Welty, Rhodi Hawk, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Davis Grubb, Anne Rice, Harper Lee, and Cormac McCarthy.
Mass-produced Gothic romances became popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with authors such as Phyllis A. Whitney, Joan Aiken, Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, Mary Stewart, Alicen White, and Jill Tattersall. Many featured covers show a terror-stricken woman in diaphanous attire in front of a gloomy castle, often with a single-lit window. Many were published under the Paperback Library Gothic imprint and marketed to female readers. While the authors were mostly women, some men wrote Gothic romances under female pseudonyms: the prolific Clarissa Ross and Marilyn Ross were pseudonyms of the male Dan Ross; Frank Belknap Long published Gothics under his wife's name, Lyda Belknap Long; the British writer Peter O'Donnell wrote under the pseudonym Madeleine Brent. Apart from imprints like Love Spell, discontinued in 2010, very few books embrace the term.
Gothic fiction continues to be extensively practised by contemporary authors.
Many modern writers of horror or other types of fiction exhibit considerable Gothic sensibilities – examples include Anne Rice, Stella Coulson, Susan Hill, Billy Martin, and Neil Gaiman, and in some works by Stephen King. Thomas M. Disch's novel The Priest (1994) was subtitled A Gothic Romance and partly modeled on Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Many writers such as Billy Martin, Stephen King, and particularly Clive Barker have focused on the body's surface and blood's visuality. England's Rhiannon Ward is among the recent writers of Gothic fiction. Catriona Ward won a British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel for her gothic novel Rawblood in 2016.
Contemporary American writers in the tradition include Joyce Carol Oates in such novels as Bellefleur, A Bloodsmoor Romance, and short story collections Night-Side (Skarda 1986b) and Raymond Kennedy in his novel Lulu Incognito.
Several Gothic traditions have also developed in New Zealand (with the subgenre referred to as New Zealand Gothic or Maori Gothic) and Australia (known as Australian Gothic). These explore everything from the multicultural natures of the two countries to their natural geography. Novels in the Australian Gothic tradition include Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the works of Kim Scott. An even smaller genre is Tasmanian Gothic, set exclusively on the island, with prominent examples including Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan and The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson.
Southern Ontario Gothic applies a similar sensibility to a Canadian cultural context. Robertson Davies, Alice Munro, Barbara Gowdy, Timothy Findley, and Margaret Atwood have all produced notable exemplars of this form. Another writer in the tradition was Henry Farrell, best known for his 1960 Hollywood horror novel What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Farrell's novels spawned a subgenre of "Grande Dame Guignol" in the cinema, represented by such films as the 1962 film based on Farrell's novel, which starred Bette Davis versus Joan Crawford; this subgenre of films was dubbed the "psycho-biddy" genre.
The many Gothic subgenres include a new "environmental Gothic" or "ecoGothic". It is an ecologically aware Gothic engaged in "dark nature" and "ecophobia." Writers and critics of the ecoGothic suggest that the Gothic genre is uniquely positioned to speak to anxieties about climate change and the planet's ecological future.
Among the bestselling books of the 21st century, the YA novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is now increasingly identified as a Gothic novel, as is Carlos Ruiz Zafón's 2001 novel The Shadow of the Wind.
Literary Gothic themes have been translated into other media.
There was a notable revival in 20th-century Gothic horror cinema, such as the classic Universal monsters films of the 1930s, Hammer Horror films, and Roger Corman's Poe cycle.
In Hindi cinema, the Gothic tradition was combined with aspects of Indian culture, particularly reincarnation, for an "Indian Gothic" genre, beginning with Mahal (1949) and Madhumati (1958).
The 1960s Gothic television series Dark Shadows borrowed liberally from Gothic traditions, with elements like haunted mansions, vampires, witches, doomed romances, werewolves, obsession, and madness.
The early 1970s saw a Gothic Romance comic book mini-trend with such titles as DC Comics' The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and The Sinister House of Secret Love, Charlton Comics' Haunted Love, Curtis Magazines' Gothic Tales of Love, and Atlas/Seaboard Comics' one-shot magazine Gothic Romances.
Twentieth-century rock music also had its Gothic side. Black Sabbath's 1970 debut album created a dark sound different from other bands at the time and has been called the first-ever "goth-rock" record.
However, the first recorded use of "gothic" to describe a style of music was for The Doors. Critic John Stickney used the term "gothic rock" to describe the music of The Doors in October 1967 in a review published in The Williams Record. The album recognized as initiating the goth music genre is Unknown Pleasures by the band Joy Division. However, earlier bands such as The Velvet Underground also contributed to the genre's distinctive style. Themes from Gothic writers such as H. P. Lovecraft were used among Gothic rock and heavy metal bands, especially in black metal, thrash metal (Metallica's The Call of Ktulu), death metal, and gothic metal. For example, in his compositions, heavy metal musician King Diamond delights in telling stories full of horror, theatricality, Satanism, and anti-Catholicism.
In role-playing games (RPG), the pioneering 1983 Dungeons & Dragons adventure Ravenloft instructs the players to defeat the vampire Strahd von Zarovich, who pines for his dead lover. It has been acclaimed as one of the best role-playing adventures ever and even inspired an entire fictional world of the same name. The World of Darkness is a gothic-punk RPG line set in the real world, with the added element of supernatural creatures such as werewolves and vampires. In addition to its flagship title Vampire: The Masquerade, the game line features a number of spin-off RPGs such as Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, Hunter: The Reckoning, and Changeling: The Dreaming, allowing for a wide range of characters in the gothic-punk setting. My Life with Master uses Gothic horror conventions as a metaphor for abusive relationships, placing the players in the shoes of minions of a tyrannical, larger-than-life Master.
Various video games feature Gothic horror themes and plots. The Castlevania series typically involves a hero of the Belmont lineage exploring a dark, old castle, fighting vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's Creature, and other Gothic monster staples, culminating in a battle against Dracula himself. Others, such as Ghosts 'n Goblins, feature a camper parody of Gothic fiction. 2017's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, a Southern Gothic reboot to the survival horror video game involves an everyman and his wife trapped in a derelict plantation and mansion owned by a family with sinister and hideous secrets and must face terrifying visions of a ghostly mutant in the shape of a little girl. This was followed by 2021's Resident Evil Village, a Gothic horror sequel focusing on an action hero searching for his kidnapped daughter in a mysterious Eastern European village under the control of a bizarre religious cult inhabited by werewolves, vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, and other monsters. The Devil May Cry series stands as an equally parodic and self-serious franchise, following the escapades, stunts and mishaps of series protagonist Dante as he explores dingy demonic castles, ancient occult monuments and ruined urban landscapes on his quest to avenge his mother and brother. Gothic literary themes appear all throughout the story, such as how the past physically creeps into the ambiguously modern setting, recurrent imagery of doubles (notably regarding Dante and his twin brother), and the persisting melodramas associated with Dante's father's fame, absence, and demonic heritage. Beginning with Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Female Gothic elements enter the series as deuteragonist Lady works through her own revenge plot against her murderous father, with the oppressive and consistent emotional and physical abuse instigated by a patriarchal figure serving as a heavy, understated counterweight to the extravagance of the rest of the story. Finally, Bloodborne takes place in the decaying Gothic city of Yharnam, where the player must face werewolves, shambling mutants, vampires, witches, and numerous other Gothic staple creatures. However, the game takes a marked turn midway shifting from gothic to Lovecraftian horror.
Popular tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering, known for its parallel universe consisting of "planes," features the plane known as Innistrad. Its general aesthetic is based on northeast European Gothic horror. Innistard's common residents include cultists, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and zombies.
Modern Gothic horror films include Sleepy Hollow, Interview with the Vampire, Underworld, The Wolfman, From Hell, Dorian Gray, Let the Right One In, The Woman in Black, and Crimson Peak.
The TV series Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) brings many classic Gothic characters together in a psychological thriller set in the dark corners of Victorian London.
The Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite has also been called Gothic – specifically, Revolutionary Gothic.
Recently, the Netflix original The Haunting of Hill House and its successor The Haunting of Bly Manor have integrated classic Gothic conventions into modern psychological horror.
Educators in literary, cultural, and architectural studies appreciate the Gothic as an area that facilitates investigation of the beginnings of scientific certainty. As Carol Senf has stated, "the Gothic was... a counterbalance produced by writers and thinkers who felt limited by such a confident worldview and recognized that the power of the past, the irrational, and the violent continue to sway in the world." As such, the Gothic helps students better understand their doubts about the self-assurance of today's scientists. Scotland is the location of what was probably the world's first postgraduate program to consider the genre exclusively: the MLitt in the Gothic Imagination at the University of Stirling, first recruited in 1996. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name refers to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The first work to call itself Gothic was Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, later subtitled \"A Gothic Story\". Subsequent 18th-century contributors included Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Thomas Beckford, and Matthew Lewis. The Gothic influence continued into the early 19th century; works by the Romantic poets, and novelists such as Mary Shelley, Charles Maturin, Walter Scott and E. T. A. Hoffmann frequently drew upon gothic motifs in their works.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The early Victorian period continued the use of gothic aesthetic in novels by Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters, as well as works by the American writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Later well-known works were Dracula by Bram Stoker, Richard Marsh's The Beetle and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Twentieth-century contributors include Daphne du Maurier, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, and Toni Morrison.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Gothic fiction is characterized by an environment of fear, the threat of supernatural events, and the intrusion of the past upon the present. The setting typically includes physical reminders of the past, especially through ruined buildings which stand as proof of a previously thriving world which is decaying in the present. Especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, characteristic settings include castles, religious buildings like monasteries and convents, and crypts. The atmosphere is typically claustrophobic, and common plot elements include vengeful persecution, imprisonment, and murder. The depiction of horrible events in Gothic fiction often serves as a metaphorical expression of psychological or social conflicts. The form of a Gothic story is usually discontinuous and convoluted, often incorporating tales within tales, changing narrators, and framing devices such as discovered manuscripts or interpolated histories. Other characteristics, regardless of relevance to the main plot, can include sleeplike and deathlike states, live burials, doubles, unnatural echoes or silences, the discovery of obscured family ties, unintelligible writings, nocturnal landscapes, remote locations, and dreams. Especially in the late 19th century, Gothic fiction often involved demons and demonic possession, ghosts, and other kinds of evil spirits.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Gothic fiction often moves between \"high culture\" and \"low\" or \"popular culture\".",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gothic literature is strongly associated with the Gothic Revival architecture of the same era. English Gothic writers often associated medieval buildings with what they saw as a dark and terrifying period, marked by harsh laws enforced by torture and with mysterious, fantastic, and superstitious rituals. Similar to the Gothic Revivalists' rejection of the clarity and rationalism of the Neoclassical style of the Enlightened Establishment, the literary Gothic embodies an appreciation of the joys of extreme emotion, the thrills of fearfulness and awe inherent in the sublime, and a quest for atmosphere. Gothic ruins invoke multiple linked emotions by representing inevitable decay and the collapse of human creations – hence the urge to add fake ruins as eyecatchers in English landscape parks.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Placing a story in a Gothic building serves several purposes. It inspires feelings of awe, implies that the story is set in the past, gives an impression of isolation or dissociation from the rest of the world, and conveys religious associations. Setting the novel in a Gothic castle was meant to imply a story set in the past and shrouded in darkness. The architecture often served as a mirror for the characters and events of the story. The buildings in The Castle of Otranto, for example, are riddled with tunnels that characters use to move back and forth in secret. This movement mirrors the secrets surrounding Manfred's possession of the castle and how it came into his family.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "From the castles, dungeons, forests, and hidden passages of the Gothic novel genre emerged female Gothic. Guided by the works of authors such as Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Brontë, the female Gothic allowed women's societal and sexual desires to be introduced. In many respects, the novel's intended reader of the time was the woman who, even as she enjoyed such novels, felt she had to \"[lay] down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame,\" according to Jane Austen. The Gothic novel shaped its form for woman readers to \"turn to Gothic romances to find support for their own mixed feelings.\"",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Female Gothic narratives focus on such topics as a persecuted heroine fleeing from a villainous father and searching for an absent mother. At the same time, male writers tend towards the masculine transgression of social taboos. The emergence of the ghost story gave women writers something to write about besides the common marriage plot, allowing them to present a more radical critique of male power, violence, and predatory sexuality.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "When the female Gothic coincides with the explained supernatural the natural cause of terror is not the supernatural, but female disability and societal horrors: rape, incest, and the threatening control of a male antagonist. Female Gothic novels also address women's discontent with patriarchal society, their difficult and unsatisfying maternal position, and their role within that society. Women's fears of entrapment in the domestic, their bodies, marriage, childbirth, or domestic abuse commonly appear in the genre.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "After the characteristic Gothic Bildungsroman-like plot sequence, female Gothic allowed readers to grow from \"adolescence to maturity\" in the face of the realized impossibilities of the supernatural. As protagonists like Adeline in The Romance of the Forest learn that their superstitious fantasies and terrors are replaced by natural cause and reasonable doubt, the reader may grasp the heroine's true position: \"The heroine possesses the romantic temperament that perceives strangeness where others see none. Her sensibility, therefore, prevents her from knowing that her true plight is her condition, the disability of being female.\"",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day Would quake to look on.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "— Lines from Shakespeare's Hamlet",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The components that would eventually combine into Gothic literature had a rich history by the time Walpole presented a fictitious medieval manuscript in The Castle of Otranto in 1764.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The plays of William Shakespeare, in particular, were a crucial reference point for early Gothic writers, in both an effort to bring credibility to their works, and to legitimize the emerging genre as serious literature to the public. Tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Richard III, with plots revolving around the supernatural, revenge, murder, ghosts, witchcraft, and omens, written in dramatic pathos, and set in medieval castles, were a huge influence upon early Gothic authors, who frequently quote, and make allusions to Shakespeare's works.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) was also very influential among Gothic writers, who were especially drawn to the tragic anti-hero character Satan, who became a model for many charismatic Gothic villains and Byronic heroes. Milton's \"version of the myth of the fall and redemption, creation and decreation, is, as Frankenstein again reveals, an important model for Gothic plots.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Alexander Pope, who had a considerable influence on Walpole, was the first significant poet of the 18th century to write a poem in an authentic Gothic manner. Eloisa to Abelard (1717), a tale of star-crossed lovers, one doomed to a life of seclusion in a convent, and the other in a monastery, abounds in gloomy imagery, religious terror, and suppressed passion. The influence of Pope's poem is found throughout 18th-century Gothic literature, including the novels of Walpole, Radcliffe, and Lewis.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Gothic literature is often described with words such as \"wonder\" and \"terror.\" This sense of wonder and terror that provides the suspension of disbelief so important to the Gothic—which, except for when it is parodied, even for all its occasional melodrama, is typically played straight, in a self-serious manner—requires the imagination of the reader to be willing to accept the idea that there might be something \"beyond that which is immediately in front of us.\" The mysterious imagination necessary for Gothic literature to have gained any traction had been growing for some time before the advent of the Gothic. The need for this came as the known world was becoming more explored, reducing the geographical mysteries of the world. The edges of the map were filling in, and no dragons were to be found. The human mind required a replacement. Clive Bloom theorizes that this void in the collective imagination was critical in developing the cultural possibility for the rise of the Gothic tradition.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The setting of most early Gothic works was medieval, but this was a common theme long before Walpole. In Britain especially, there was a desire to reclaim a shared past. This obsession frequently led to extravagant architectural displays, such as Fonthill Abbey, and sometimes mock tournaments were held. It was not merely in literature that a medieval revival made itself felt, and this, too, contributed to a culture ready to accept a perceived medieval work in 1764.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The Gothic often uses scenery of decay, death, and morbidity to achieve its effects (especially in the Italian Horror school of Gothic). However, Gothic literature was not the origin of this tradition; it was far older. The corpses, skeletons, and churchyards so commonly associated with early Gothic works were popularized by the Graveyard poets. They were also present in novels such as Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year, which contains comical scenes of plague carts and piles of corpses. Even earlier, poets like Edmund Spenser evoked a dreary and sorrowful mood in such poems as Epithalamion.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "All aspects of pre-Gothic literature occur to some degree in the Gothic, but even taken together, they still fall short of true Gothic. What needed to be added was an aesthetic to tie the elements together. Bloom notes that this aesthetic must take the form of a theoretical or philosophical core, which is necessary to \"sav[e] the best tales from becoming mere anecdote or incoherent sensationalism.\" In this case, the aesthetic needed to be emotional, and was finally provided by Edmund Burke's 1757 work, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, which \"finally codif[ied] the gothic emotional experience.\" Specifically, Burke's thoughts on the Sublime, Terror, and Obscurity were most applicable. These sections can be summarized thus: the Sublime is that which is or produces the \"strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling\"; Terror most often evoked the Sublime; and to cause Terror, we need some amount of Obscurity – we can't know everything about that which is inducing Terror – or else \"a great deal of the apprehension vanishes\"; Obscurity is necessary to experience the Terror of the unknown. Bloom asserts that Burke's descriptive vocabulary was essential to the Romantic works that eventually informed the Gothic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The birth of Gothic literature was thought to have been influenced by political upheaval. Researchers linked its birth with the English Civil War, culminating in a Jacobite rebellion (1745) more recent to the first Gothic novel (1764). The collective political memory and any deep cultural fears associated with it likely contributed to early Gothic villains as literary representatives of defeated Tory barons or Royalists \"rising\" from their political graves in the pages of early Gothic novels to terrorize the bourgeois reader of late eighteenth-century England.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The first work to call itself \"Gothic\" was Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). The first edition presented the story as a translation of a sixteenth- century manuscript and was widely popular. Walpole, in the second edition, revealed himself as the author which adding the subtitle \"A Gothic Story.\" The revelation prompted a backlash from readers, who considered it inappropriate for a modern author to write a supernatural story in a rational age. Walpole did not initially prompt many imitators. Beginning with Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron (1778), the 1780s saw more writers attempting his combination of supernatural plots with emotionally realistic characters. Examples include Sophia Lee's The Recess (1783–5) and William Beckford's Vathek (1786).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "At the height of the Gothic novel's popularity in the 1790s, the genre was almost synonymous with Ann Radcliffe, whose works were highly anticipated and widely imitated. The Romance of the Forest (1791) and The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) were particularly popular. In an essay on Radcliffe, Walter Scott, writes of the popularity of Udolpho at the time, \"The very name was fascinating, and the public, who rushed upon it with all the eagerness of curiosity, rose from it with unsated appetite. When a family was numerous, the volumes flew, and were sometimes torn from hand to hand.\" Radcliffe's novels were often seen as the feminine and rational opposite of a more violently horrifying male Gothic associated with Matthew Lewis. Radcliffe's final novel, The Italian (1797), responded to Lewis's The Monk (1796).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Other notable Gothic novels of the 1790s include William Godwin's Caleb Williams (1794), Regina Maria Roche's Clermont (1798), and Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland (1798), as well as large numbers of anonymous works published by the Minerva Press. In continental Europe, Romantic literary movements led to related Gothic genres such as the German Schauerroman and the French Roman noir. Eighteenth-century Gothic novels were typically set in a distant past and (for English novels) a distant European country, but without specific dates or historical figures that characterized the later development of historical fiction.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The saturation of Gothic-inspired literature during the 1790s was referred to in a letter by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, writing on 16 March 1797, \"indeed I am almost weary of the Terrible, having been a hireling in the Critical Review for the last six or eight months – I have been reviewing the Monk, the Italian, Hubert de Sevrac &c &c &c – in all of which dungeons, and old castles, & solitary Houses by the Sea Side & Caverns & Woods & extraordinary characters & all the tribe of Horror & Mystery, have crowded on me – even to surfeiting.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The excesses, stereotypes, and frequent absurdities of the Gothic genre made it rich territory for satire. After 1800 there was a period in which Gothic parodies outnumbered forthcoming Gothic novels. In The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett (1813), Gothic tropes are exaggerated for comic effect. In Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey (1818), the naive protagonist, a female named Catherine, conceives herself as a heroine of a Radcliffean romance and imagines murder and villainy on every side. However, the truth turns out to be much more prosaic. This novel is also noted for including a list of early Gothic works known as the Northanger Horrid Novels.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The poetry, romantic adventures, and character of Lord Byron—characterized by his spurned lover Lady Caroline Lamb as \"mad, bad and dangerous to know\"—were another inspiration for the Gothic novel, providing the archetype of the Byronic hero. For example, Byron is the title character in Lady Caroline's Gothic novel Glenarvon (1816).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Byron was also the host of the celebrated ghost-story competition involving himself, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and John William Polidori at the Villa Diodati on the banks of Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816. This occasion was productive of both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), and Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), featuring the Byronic Lord Ruthven. The Vampyre has been accounted by cultural critic Christopher Frayling as one of the most influential works of fiction ever written and spawned a craze for vampire fiction and theatre (and, latterly, film) that has not ceased to this day. Though clearly influenced by the Gothic tradition, Mary Shelley's novel is often considered the first science fiction novel, despite the novel's lack of any scientific explanation for the monster's animation and the focus instead on the moral dilemmas and consequences of such a creation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "John Keats' La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819) and Isabella, or the Pot of Basil (1820) feature mysteriously fey ladies. In the latter poem, the names of the characters, the dream visions, and the macabre physical details are influenced by the novels of premiere Gothicist Ann Radcliffe.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Although ushering in the historical novel, and turning popularity away from Gothic fiction, Walter Scott frequently employs Gothic elements in his novels and poetry. Scott drew upon oral folklore, fireside tails, and ancient superstitions, often juxtaposing rationality and the supernatural. Novels such as The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), in which the character's fates are decided by superstition and prophecy, or the poem Marmion (1808), in which a Nun is walled alive inside a convent, illustrate Scott's influence and use of Gothic themes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "A late example of a traditional Gothic novel is Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Maturin, which combines themes of anti-Catholicism with an outcast Byronic hero. Jane C. Loudon's The Mummy! (1827) features standard Gothic motifs, characters, and plot, but with one significant twist: it is set in the twenty-second century and speculates on fantastic scientific developments that might have occurred four hundred years in the future, making it and Frankenstein among the earliest examples of the science fiction genre developing from Gothic traditions.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "During two decades, the most famous author of Gothic literature in Germany was the polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann. Lewis's The Monk influenced and even mentioned it in his novel The Devil's Elixirs (1815). The novel explores the motive of Doppelgänger, a term coined by another German author and supporter of Hoffmann, Jean-Paul, in his humorous novel Siebenkäs (1796–1797). He also wrote an opera based on Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's Gothic story Undine (1816), for which de la Motte Fouqué wrote the libretto. Aside from Hoffmann and de la Motte Fouqué, three other important authors from the era were Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (The Marble Statue, 1818), Ludwig Achim von Arnim (Die Majoratsherren, 1819), and Adelbert von Chamisso (Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, 1814). After them, Wilhelm Meinhold wrote The Amber Witch (1838) and Sidonia von Bork (1847).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In Spain, the priest Pascual Pérez Rodríguez was the most diligent novelist in the Gothic way, closely aligned to the supernatural explained by Ann Radcliffe. At the same time, the poet José de Espronceda published The Student of Salamanca (1837-1840), a narrative poem that presents a horrid variation on the Don Juan legend.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In Russia, authors of the Romantic era include Antony Pogorelsky (penname of Alexey Alexeyevich Perovsky), Orest Somov, Oleksa Storozhenko, Alexandr Pushkin, Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy, Mikhail Lermontov (for his work Stuss), and Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Pushkin is particularly important, as his 1833 short story The Queen of Spades was so popular that it was adapted into operas and later films by Russian and foreign artists. Some parts of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's \"A Hero of Our Time\" (1840) are also considered to belong to the Gothic genre, but they lack the supernatural elements of other Russian Gothic stories.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The following poems are also now considered to belong to the Gothic genre: Meshchevskiy's \"Lila\", Katenin's \"Olga\", Pushkin's \"The Bridegroom\", Pletnev's \"The Gravedigger\" and Lermontov's \"Demon\" (1829–1839).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The key author of the transition from Romanticism to Realism, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, who was also one of the most important authors of Romanticism, produced a number of works that qualify as Gothic fiction. Each of his three short story collections features a number of stories that fall within the Gothic genre or contain Gothic elements. They include \"Saint John's Eve\" and \"A Terrible Vengeance\" from Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831–1832), \"The Portrait\" from Arabesques (1835), and \"Viy\" from Mirgorod (1835). While all are well known, the latter is probably the most famous, having inspired at least eight film adaptations (two now considered lost), one animated film, two documentaries, and a video game. Gogol's work differs from Western European Gothic fiction, as his cultural influences drew on Ukrainian folklore, the Cossack lifestyle, and, as a religious man, Orthodox Christianity.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Other relevant authors of this era include Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoevsky (The Living Corpse, written 1838, published 1844, The Ghost, The Sylphide, as well as short stories), Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (The Family of the Vourdalak, 1839, and The Vampire, 1841), Mikhail Zagoskin (Unexpected Guests), Józef Sękowski/Osip Senkovsky (Antar), and Yevgeny Baratynsky (The Ring).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "By the Victorian era, Gothic had ceased to be the dominant genre for novels in England, partly replaced by more sedate historical fiction. However, Gothic short stories continued to be popular, published in magazines or as small chapbooks called penny dreadfuls. The most influential Gothic writer from this period was the American Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote numerous short stories and poems reinterpreting Gothic tropes. His story \"The Fall of the House of Usher\" (1839) revisits classic Gothic tropes of aristocratic decay, death, and madness. Poe is now considered the master of the American Gothic. In England, one of the most influential penny dreadfuls is the anonymously authored Varney the Vampire (1847), which introduced the trope of vampires having sharpened teeth. Another notable English author of penny dreadfuls is George W. M. Reynolds, known for The Mysteries of London (1844), Faust (1846), Wagner the Wehr-wolf (1847), and The Necromancer (1857). Elizabeth Gaskell's tales \"The Doom of the Griffiths\" (1858), \"Lois the Witch\", and \"The Grey Woman\" all employ one of the most common themes of Gothic fiction: the power of ancestral sins to curse future generations, or the fear that they will. In Spain, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer stood out with his romantic poems and short tales, some depicting supernatural events. Today some consider him the most-read Spanish writer after Miguel de Cervantes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In addition to these short Gothic fictions, some novels, drew on the Gothic. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) transports the Gothic to the forbidding Yorkshire Moors and features ghostly apparitions and a Byronic hero in the person of the demonic Heathcliff. The Brontës' fictions were cited by feminist critic Ellen Moers as prime examples of Female Gothic, exploring woman's entrapment within domestic space and subjection to patriarchal authority and the transgressive and dangerous attempts to subvert and escape such restriction. Emily's Cathy and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre are examples of female protagonists in such roles. Louisa May Alcott's Gothic potboiler, A Long Fatal Love Chase (written in 1866 but published in 1995), is also an interesting specimen of this subgenre. In addition to Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë's Villette also shows the Gothic influence. Like other examples of the female Gothic, this book employs the explained supernatural. Throughout the book, a ghostly nun haunts the protagonist, Lucy Snowe. Lucy's doctor friend suggests that the nun is a product of her imagination, but the end of the book reveals that the nun was a disguised suitor coming to visit Ginevra, a friend of Lucy's. Another Gothic feature of Villette is an anti-Catholic bias. Like other gothic novels, like Radcliffe's The Italian, is set in a Catholic country. Lucy Snowe consistently says negative things about Catholicism and specific Catholic people. As an English Protestant, Lucy is very out of place in her Catholic setting.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The genre also heavily influenced mainstream writers such as Charles Dickens, who read Gothic novels as a teenager and incorporated their gloomy atmosphere and melodrama into his works, shifting them to a more modern period and an urban setting; for example, in Oliver Twist (1837–1838), Bleak House (1854) and Great Expectations (1860–1861). These works juxtapose wealthy, ordered, and affluent civilization with the disorder and barbarity of the poor in the same metropolis. Bleak House, in particular, is credited with introducing urban fog to the novel, which would become a frequent characteristic of urban Gothic literature and film (Mighall 2007). Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, is one of Dickens’ most Gothic characters. The bitter recluse who shuts herself away in her gloomy mansion ever since being jilted at the altar on her wedding day. His most explicitly Gothic work is his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which he did not live to complete and was published unfinished upon his death in 1870. The mood and themes of the Gothic novel held a particular fascination for the Victorians, with their obsession with mourning rituals, mementos, and mortality in general.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Irish Catholics also wrote Gothic fiction in the 19th century. Although some Anglo-Irish dominated and defined the subgenre decades later, they did not own it. Irish Catholic Gothic writers included Gerald Griffin, James Clarence Mangan, and John and Michael Banim. William Carleton was a notable Gothic writer, and converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In Germany, Jeremias Gotthelf wrote The Black Spider (1842), an allegorical work that uses Gothic themes. The last work from the German writer Theodor Storm, The Rider on the White Horse (1888), also uses Gothic motives and themes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "After Gogol, Russian literature saw the rise of Realism, but many authors continued to write stories within Gothic fiction territory. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, one of the most celebrated Realists, wrote Faust (1856), Phantoms (1864), Song of the Triumphant Love (1881), and Clara Milich (1883). Another classic Russian Realist, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, incorporated Gothic elements into many of his works, although none can be seen as purely Gothic. Grigory Petrovich Danilevsky, who wrote historical and early science fiction novels and stories, wrote Mertvec-ubiytsa (Dead Murderer) in 1879. Also, Grigori Alexandrovich Machtet wrote \"Zaklyatiy kazak\", which may now also be considered Gothic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The 1880s saw the revival of the Gothic as a powerful literary form allied to fin de siecle, which fictionalized contemporary fears like ethical degeneration and questioned the social structures of the time. Classic works of this Urban Gothic include Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), George du Maurier's Trilby (1894), Richard Marsh's The Beetle (1897), Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (1898), and the stories of Arthur Machen.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In Ireland, Gothic fiction tended to be purveyed by the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy. According to literary critic Terry Eagleton, Charles Maturin, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Bram Stoker form the core of the Irish Gothic subgenre with stories featuring castles set in a barren landscape and a cast of remote aristocrats dominating an atavistic peasantry, which represent an allegorical form the political plight of Catholic Ireland subjected to the Protestant Ascendancy. Le Fanu's use of the gloomy villain, forbidding mansion, and persecuted heroine in Uncle Silas (1864) shows direct influence from Walpole's Otranto and Radcliffe's Udolpho. Le Fanu's short story collection In a Glass Darkly (1872) includes the superlative vampire tale Carmilla, which provided fresh blood for that particular strand of the Gothic and influenced Bram Stoker's vampire novel Dracula (1897). Stoker's book created the most famous Gothic villain ever, Count Dracula, and established Transylvania and Eastern Europe as the locus classicus of the Gothic. Published in the same year as Dracula, Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire is another piece of vampire fiction. The Blood of the Vampire, which, like Carmilla, features a female vampire, is notable for its treatment of vampirism as both racial and medicalized. The vampire, Harriet Brandt, is also a psychic vampire, killing unintentionally.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In the United States, two notable late 19th-century writers in the Gothic tradition were Ambrose Bierce and Robert W. Chambers. Bierce's short stories were in the horrific and pessimistic tradition of Poe. Chambers indulged in the decadent style of Wilde and Machen, even including a character named Wilde in his The King in Yellow (1895). Some works of the Canadian writer Gilbert Parker also fall into the genre, including the stories in The Lane that had No Turning (1900).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The serialized novel The Phantom of the Opera (1909–1910) by the French writer Gaston Leroux is another well-known example of Gothic fiction from the early 20th century, when many German authors were writing works influenced by Schauerroman, including Hanns Heinz Ewers.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Until the 1990s, Russian Gothic critics did not view Russian Gothic as a genre or label. If used, the word \"gothic\" was used to describe (mostly early) works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky from the 1880s. Most critics used tags such as \"Romanticism\" and \"fantastique\", such as in the 1984 story collection translated into English as Russian 19th-Century Gothic Tales but originally titled Фантастический мир русской романтической повести, literally, \"The Fantastic World of Russian Romanticism Short Story/Novella.\" However, since the mid-1980s, Russian gothic fiction as a genre began to be discussed in books such as The Gothic-Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature, European Gothic: A Spirited Exchange 1760–1960, The Russian Gothic Novel and its British Antecedents and Goticheskiy roman v Rossii (The Gothic Novel in Russia).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The first Russian author whose work has been described as gothic fiction is considered to be Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin. While many of his works feature gothic elements, the first to belong purely under the gothic fiction label is Ostrov Borngolm (Island of Bornholm) from 1793. Nearly ten years later, Nikolay Ivanovich Gnedich followed suit with his 1803 novel Don Corrado de Gerrera, set in Spain during the reign of Philip II. The term \"Gothic\" is sometimes also used to describe the ballads of Russian authors such as Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky, particularly \"Ludmila\" (1808) and \"Svetlana\" (1813), both translations based on Gottfreid August Burger's Gothic German ballad, \"Lenore.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "During the last years of Imperial Russia in the early 20th century, many authors continued to write in the Gothic fiction genre. They include the historian and historical fiction writer Alexander Valentinovich Amfiteatrov and Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev, who developed psychological characterization; the symbolist Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov, Alexander Grin, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov; and Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin. Nobel Prize winner Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin wrote Dry Valley (1912), which is seen as influenced by Gothic literature. In a monograph on the subject, Muireann Maguire writes, \"The centrality of the Gothic-fantastic to Russian fiction is almost impossible to exaggerate, and certainly exceptional in the context of world literature.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Gothic fiction and Modernism influenced each other. This is often evident in detective fiction, horror fiction, and science fiction, but the influence of the Gothic can also be seen in the high literary Modernism of the 20th century. Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) initiated a re-working of older literary forms and myths that became common in the work of Yeats, Eliot, and Joyce, among others. In Joyce's Ulysses (1922), the living are transformed into ghosts, which points to an Ireland in stasis at the time and a history of cyclical trauma from the Great Famine in the 1840s through to the current moment in the text. The way Ulysses uses Gothic tropes such as ghosts and hauntings while removing the supernatural elements of 19th-century Gothic fiction indicates a general form of modernist Gothic writing in the first half of the 20th century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In America, pulp magazines such as Weird Tales reprinted classic Gothic horror tales from the previous century by authors like Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and printed new stories by modern authors featuring both traditional and new horrors. The most significant of these was H. P. Lovecraft, who also wrote a conspectus of the Gothic and supernatural horror tradition in his Supernatural Horror in Literature (1936), and developed a Mythos that would influence Gothic and contemporary horror well into the 21st century. Lovecraft's protégé, Robert Bloch, contributed to Weird Tales and penned Psycho (1959), which drew on the classic interests of the genre. From these, the Gothic genre per se gave way to modern horror fiction, regarded by some literary critics as a branch of the Gothic, although others use the term to cover the entire genre.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The Romantic strand of Gothic was taken up in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1938), which is seen by some to have been influenced by Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Other books by du Maurier, such as Jamaica Inn (1936), also display Gothic tendencies. Du Maurier's work inspired a substantial body of \"female Gothics,\" concerning heroines alternately swooning over or terrified by scowling Byronic men in possession of acres of prime real estate and the appertaining droit du seigneur.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The genre also influenced American writing, creating a Southern Gothic genre that combines some Gothic sensibilities, such as the grotesque, with the setting and style of the Southern United States. Examples include Erskine Caldwell, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, John Kennedy Toole, Manly Wade Wellman, Eudora Welty, Rhodi Hawk, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Davis Grubb, Anne Rice, Harper Lee, and Cormac McCarthy.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Mass-produced Gothic romances became popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with authors such as Phyllis A. Whitney, Joan Aiken, Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, Mary Stewart, Alicen White, and Jill Tattersall. Many featured covers show a terror-stricken woman in diaphanous attire in front of a gloomy castle, often with a single-lit window. Many were published under the Paperback Library Gothic imprint and marketed to female readers. While the authors were mostly women, some men wrote Gothic romances under female pseudonyms: the prolific Clarissa Ross and Marilyn Ross were pseudonyms of the male Dan Ross; Frank Belknap Long published Gothics under his wife's name, Lyda Belknap Long; the British writer Peter O'Donnell wrote under the pseudonym Madeleine Brent. Apart from imprints like Love Spell, discontinued in 2010, very few books embrace the term.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Gothic fiction continues to be extensively practised by contemporary authors.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Many modern writers of horror or other types of fiction exhibit considerable Gothic sensibilities – examples include Anne Rice, Stella Coulson, Susan Hill, Billy Martin, and Neil Gaiman, and in some works by Stephen King. Thomas M. Disch's novel The Priest (1994) was subtitled A Gothic Romance and partly modeled on Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Many writers such as Billy Martin, Stephen King, and particularly Clive Barker have focused on the body's surface and blood's visuality. England's Rhiannon Ward is among the recent writers of Gothic fiction. Catriona Ward won a British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel for her gothic novel Rawblood in 2016.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Contemporary American writers in the tradition include Joyce Carol Oates in such novels as Bellefleur, A Bloodsmoor Romance, and short story collections Night-Side (Skarda 1986b) and Raymond Kennedy in his novel Lulu Incognito.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Several Gothic traditions have also developed in New Zealand (with the subgenre referred to as New Zealand Gothic or Maori Gothic) and Australia (known as Australian Gothic). These explore everything from the multicultural natures of the two countries to their natural geography. Novels in the Australian Gothic tradition include Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the works of Kim Scott. An even smaller genre is Tasmanian Gothic, set exclusively on the island, with prominent examples including Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan and The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Southern Ontario Gothic applies a similar sensibility to a Canadian cultural context. Robertson Davies, Alice Munro, Barbara Gowdy, Timothy Findley, and Margaret Atwood have all produced notable exemplars of this form. Another writer in the tradition was Henry Farrell, best known for his 1960 Hollywood horror novel What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Farrell's novels spawned a subgenre of \"Grande Dame Guignol\" in the cinema, represented by such films as the 1962 film based on Farrell's novel, which starred Bette Davis versus Joan Crawford; this subgenre of films was dubbed the \"psycho-biddy\" genre.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The many Gothic subgenres include a new \"environmental Gothic\" or \"ecoGothic\". It is an ecologically aware Gothic engaged in \"dark nature\" and \"ecophobia.\" Writers and critics of the ecoGothic suggest that the Gothic genre is uniquely positioned to speak to anxieties about climate change and the planet's ecological future.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Among the bestselling books of the 21st century, the YA novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is now increasingly identified as a Gothic novel, as is Carlos Ruiz Zafón's 2001 novel The Shadow of the Wind.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Literary Gothic themes have been translated into other media.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "There was a notable revival in 20th-century Gothic horror cinema, such as the classic Universal monsters films of the 1930s, Hammer Horror films, and Roger Corman's Poe cycle.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In Hindi cinema, the Gothic tradition was combined with aspects of Indian culture, particularly reincarnation, for an \"Indian Gothic\" genre, beginning with Mahal (1949) and Madhumati (1958).",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The 1960s Gothic television series Dark Shadows borrowed liberally from Gothic traditions, with elements like haunted mansions, vampires, witches, doomed romances, werewolves, obsession, and madness.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The early 1970s saw a Gothic Romance comic book mini-trend with such titles as DC Comics' The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and The Sinister House of Secret Love, Charlton Comics' Haunted Love, Curtis Magazines' Gothic Tales of Love, and Atlas/Seaboard Comics' one-shot magazine Gothic Romances.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Twentieth-century rock music also had its Gothic side. Black Sabbath's 1970 debut album created a dark sound different from other bands at the time and has been called the first-ever \"goth-rock\" record.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "However, the first recorded use of \"gothic\" to describe a style of music was for The Doors. Critic John Stickney used the term \"gothic rock\" to describe the music of The Doors in October 1967 in a review published in The Williams Record. The album recognized as initiating the goth music genre is Unknown Pleasures by the band Joy Division. However, earlier bands such as The Velvet Underground also contributed to the genre's distinctive style. Themes from Gothic writers such as H. P. Lovecraft were used among Gothic rock and heavy metal bands, especially in black metal, thrash metal (Metallica's The Call of Ktulu), death metal, and gothic metal. For example, in his compositions, heavy metal musician King Diamond delights in telling stories full of horror, theatricality, Satanism, and anti-Catholicism.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "In role-playing games (RPG), the pioneering 1983 Dungeons & Dragons adventure Ravenloft instructs the players to defeat the vampire Strahd von Zarovich, who pines for his dead lover. It has been acclaimed as one of the best role-playing adventures ever and even inspired an entire fictional world of the same name. The World of Darkness is a gothic-punk RPG line set in the real world, with the added element of supernatural creatures such as werewolves and vampires. In addition to its flagship title Vampire: The Masquerade, the game line features a number of spin-off RPGs such as Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, Hunter: The Reckoning, and Changeling: The Dreaming, allowing for a wide range of characters in the gothic-punk setting. My Life with Master uses Gothic horror conventions as a metaphor for abusive relationships, placing the players in the shoes of minions of a tyrannical, larger-than-life Master.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Various video games feature Gothic horror themes and plots. The Castlevania series typically involves a hero of the Belmont lineage exploring a dark, old castle, fighting vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's Creature, and other Gothic monster staples, culminating in a battle against Dracula himself. Others, such as Ghosts 'n Goblins, feature a camper parody of Gothic fiction. 2017's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, a Southern Gothic reboot to the survival horror video game involves an everyman and his wife trapped in a derelict plantation and mansion owned by a family with sinister and hideous secrets and must face terrifying visions of a ghostly mutant in the shape of a little girl. This was followed by 2021's Resident Evil Village, a Gothic horror sequel focusing on an action hero searching for his kidnapped daughter in a mysterious Eastern European village under the control of a bizarre religious cult inhabited by werewolves, vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, and other monsters. The Devil May Cry series stands as an equally parodic and self-serious franchise, following the escapades, stunts and mishaps of series protagonist Dante as he explores dingy demonic castles, ancient occult monuments and ruined urban landscapes on his quest to avenge his mother and brother. Gothic literary themes appear all throughout the story, such as how the past physically creeps into the ambiguously modern setting, recurrent imagery of doubles (notably regarding Dante and his twin brother), and the persisting melodramas associated with Dante's father's fame, absence, and demonic heritage. Beginning with Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Female Gothic elements enter the series as deuteragonist Lady works through her own revenge plot against her murderous father, with the oppressive and consistent emotional and physical abuse instigated by a patriarchal figure serving as a heavy, understated counterweight to the extravagance of the rest of the story. Finally, Bloodborne takes place in the decaying Gothic city of Yharnam, where the player must face werewolves, shambling mutants, vampires, witches, and numerous other Gothic staple creatures. However, the game takes a marked turn midway shifting from gothic to Lovecraftian horror.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Popular tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering, known for its parallel universe consisting of \"planes,\" features the plane known as Innistrad. Its general aesthetic is based on northeast European Gothic horror. Innistard's common residents include cultists, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and zombies.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Modern Gothic horror films include Sleepy Hollow, Interview with the Vampire, Underworld, The Wolfman, From Hell, Dorian Gray, Let the Right One In, The Woman in Black, and Crimson Peak.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The TV series Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) brings many classic Gothic characters together in a psychological thriller set in the dark corners of Victorian London.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "The Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite has also been called Gothic – specifically, Revolutionary Gothic.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Recently, the Netflix original The Haunting of Hill House and its successor The Haunting of Bly Manor have integrated classic Gothic conventions into modern psychological horror.",
"title": "Other media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Educators in literary, cultural, and architectural studies appreciate the Gothic as an area that facilitates investigation of the beginnings of scientific certainty. As Carol Senf has stated, \"the Gothic was... a counterbalance produced by writers and thinkers who felt limited by such a confident worldview and recognized that the power of the past, the irrational, and the violent continue to sway in the world.\" As such, the Gothic helps students better understand their doubts about the self-assurance of today's scientists. Scotland is the location of what was probably the world's first postgraduate program to consider the genre exclusively: the MLitt in the Gothic Imagination at the University of Stirling, first recruited in 1996.",
"title": "Scholarship"
}
]
| Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name refers to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels. The first work to call itself Gothic was Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, later subtitled "A Gothic Story". Subsequent 18th-century contributors included Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Thomas Beckford, and Matthew Lewis. The Gothic influence continued into the early 19th century; works by the Romantic poets, and novelists such as Mary Shelley, Charles Maturin, Walter Scott and E. T. A. Hoffmann frequently drew upon gothic motifs in their works. The early Victorian period continued the use of gothic aesthetic in novels by Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters, as well as works by the American writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Later well-known works were Dracula by Bram Stoker, Richard Marsh's The Beetle and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Twentieth-century contributors include Daphne du Maurier, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, and Toni Morrison. | 2001-09-26T10:40:18Z | 2023-12-17T00:44:30Z | [
"Template:See also",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Wikisource-inline",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Quote box",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Fantasy fiction",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Narrative",
"Template:Gothic",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Clarify",
"Template:For",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Horror fiction",
"Template:Goth subculture",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Romanticism",
"Template:Romance novel",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite thesis",
"Template:Cite news"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction |
12,627 | Gospel | Gospel (Greek: Ευαγγέλιο; Latin: Evangelium; Hebrew: בשורות) originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words and deeds of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. Modern biblical scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later Christian authors.
The canonical gospels are the four which appear in the New Testament of the Bible. They were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (with the modern names of the "Four Evangelists" added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. According to the majority of scholars, Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources, followed by Matthew and Luke, which both independently used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with a collection of sayings called "the Q source", and additional material unique to each. There is near-consensus that John had its origins as the hypothetical Signs Gospel thought to have been circulated within a Johannine community.
Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. Important examples include the gospels of Thomas, Peter, Judas, and Mary; infancy gospels such as that of James (the first to introduce the perpetual virginity of Mary); and gospel harmonies such as the Diatessaron.
Gospel is the Old English translation of the Hellenistic Greek term εὐαγγέλιον, meaning "good news"; this may be seen from analysis of ευαγγέλιον (εὖ "good" + ἄγγελος "messenger" + -ιον diminutive suffix). The Greek term was Latinized as evangelium in the Vulgate, and translated into Latin as bona annuntiatio. In Old English, it was translated as gōdspel (gōd "good" + spel "news"). The Old English term was retained as gospel in Middle English Bible translations and hence remains in use also in Modern English.
The four canonical gospels share the same basic outline of the life of Jesus: he begins his public ministry in conjunction with that of John the Baptist, calls disciples, teaches and heals and confronts the Pharisees, dies on the cross and is raised from the dead. Each has its own distinctive understanding of him and his divine role and scholars recognize that the differences of detail between the gospels are irreconcilable, and any attempt to harmonize them would only disrupt their distinct theological messages.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are termed the synoptic gospels because they present very similar accounts of the life of Jesus. Mark begins with the baptism of the adult Jesus and the heavenly declaration that he is the son of God; he gathers followers and begins his ministry, and tells his disciples that he must die in Jerusalem but that he will rise; in Jerusalem, he is at first acclaimed but then rejected, betrayed, and crucified, and when the women who have followed him come to his tomb they find it empty. Mark never calls Jesus "God" or claims that he existed prior to his earthly life, apparently believes that he had a normal human parentage and birth, and makes no attempt to trace his ancestry back to King David or Adam; it originally ended at Mark 16:8 and had no post-resurrection appearances, although Mark 16:7, in which the young man discovered in the tomb instructs the women to tell "the disciples and Peter" that Jesus will see them again in Galilee, hints that the author knew of the tradition.
The authors of Matthew and Luke added infancy and resurrection narratives to the story they found in Mark, although the two differ markedly. Each also makes subtle theological changes to Mark: the Markan miracle stories, for example, confirm Jesus' status as an emissary of God (which was Mark's understanding of the Messiah), but in Matthew they demonstrate his divinity, and the "young man" who appears at Jesus' tomb in Mark becomes a radiant angel in Matthew. Luke, while following Mark's plot more faithfully than Matthew, has expanded on the source, corrected Mark's grammar and syntax, and eliminated some passages entirely, notably most of chapters 6 and 7.
John, the most overtly theological, is the first to make Christological judgements outside the context of the narrative of Jesus's life. He presents a significantly different picture of Jesus's career, omitting any mention of his ancestry, birth and childhood, his baptism, temptation and transfiguration; his chronology and arrangement of incidents is also distinctly different, clearly describing the passage of three years in Jesus's ministry in contrast to the single year of the synoptics, placing the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning rather than at the end, and the Last Supper on the day before Passover instead of being a Passover meal. The Gospel of John is the only gospel to call Jesus God, and in contrast to Mark, where Jesus hides his identity as messiah, in John he openly proclaims it.
Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses. A few conservative scholars defend the traditional ascriptions or attributions, but for a variety of reasons the majority of scholars have abandoned this view or hold it only tenuously.
In the immediate aftermath of Jesus' death his followers expected him to return at any moment, certainly within their own lifetimes, and in consequence there was little motivation to write anything down for future generations, but as eyewitnesses began to die, and as the missionary needs of the church grew, there was an increasing demand and need for written versions of the founder's life and teachings. The stages of this process can be summarised as follows:
Mark is generally agreed to be the first gospel; it uses a variety of sources, including conflict stories (Mark 2:1–3:6), apocalyptic discourse (4:1–35), and collections of sayings, although not the sayings gospel known as the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the hypothesized Q source used by Matthew and Luke. The authors of Matthew and Luke, acting independently, used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with the hypothesized collection of sayings called the Q source and additional material unique to each called the M source (Matthew) and the L source (Luke). Mark, Matthew and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because of the close similarities between them in terms of content, arrangement, and language. The authors and editors of John may have known the synoptics, but did not use them in the way that Matthew and Luke used Mark. There is a near-consensus that this gospel had its origins as a "signs" source (or gospel) that circulated within the Johannine community (which produced John and the three epistles associated with the name) and later expanded with a Passion narrative as well as a series of discourses.
All four also use the Jewish scriptures, by quoting or referencing passages, interpreting texts, or alluding to or echoing biblical themes. Such use can be extensive: Mark's description of the Parousia (second coming) is made up almost entirely of quotations from scripture. Matthew is full of quotations and allusions, and although John uses scripture in a far less explicit manner, its influence is still pervasive. Their source was the Greek version of the scriptures, called the Septuagint; they do not seem familiar with the original Hebrew.
The consensus among modern scholars is that the gospels are a subset of the ancient genre of bios, or ancient biography. Ancient biographies were concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while preserving and promoting the subject's reputation and memory; the gospels were never simply biographical, they were propaganda and kerygma (preaching). As such, they present the Christian message of the second half of the first century AD, and as Luke's attempt to link the birth of Jesus to the census of Quirinius demonstrates, there is no guarantee that the gospels are historically accurate.
The majority view among critical scholars is that the authors of Matthew and Luke have based their narratives on Mark's gospel, editing him to suit their own ends, and the contradictions and discrepancies between these three and John make it impossible to accept both traditions as equally reliable with regard to the historical Jesus. In addition, the gospels we read today have been edited and corrupted over time, leading Origen to complain in the 3rd century that "the differences among manuscripts have become great, ... [because copyists] either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they make additions or deletions as they please". Most of these are insignificant, but many are significant, an example being Matthew 1:18, altered to imply the pre-existence of Jesus. For these reasons modern scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors.
Scholars usually agree that John is not without historical value: certain of its sayings are as old or older than their synoptic counterparts, and its representation of the topography around Jerusalem is often superior to that of the synoptics. Its testimony that Jesus was executed before, rather than on, Passover, might well be more accurate, and its presentation of Jesus in the garden and the prior meeting held by the Jewish authorities are possibly more historically plausible than their synoptic parallels. Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely that the author had direct knowledge of events, or that his mentions of the Beloved Disciple as his source should be taken as a guarantee of his reliability.
The oldest gospel text known is 𝔓, a fragment of John dating from the first half of the 2nd century. The creation of a Christian canon was probably a response to the career of the heretic Marcion (c. 85–160), who established a canon of his own with just one gospel, the Gospel of Marcion, similar to the Gospel of Luke. The Muratorian canon, the earliest surviving list of books considered (by its own author at least) to form Christian scripture, included Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Irenaeus of Lyons went further, stating that there must be four gospels and only four because there were four corners of the Earth and thus the Church should have four pillars. He referred to the four collectively as the "fourfold gospel" (euangelion tetramorphon).
The many apocryphal gospels arose from the 1st century onward, frequently under assumed names to enhance their credibility and authority, and often from within branches of Christianity that were eventually branded heretical. They can be broadly organised into the following categories:
The apocryphal gospels can also be seen in terms of the communities which produced them: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gospel (Greek: Ευαγγέλιο; Latin: Evangelium; Hebrew: בשורות) originally meant the Christian message (\"the gospel\"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words and deeds of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. Modern biblical scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later Christian authors.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The canonical gospels are the four which appear in the New Testament of the Bible. They were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (with the modern names of the \"Four Evangelists\" added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. According to the majority of scholars, Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources, followed by Matthew and Luke, which both independently used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with a collection of sayings called \"the Q source\", and additional material unique to each. There is near-consensus that John had its origins as the hypothetical Signs Gospel thought to have been circulated within a Johannine community.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. Important examples include the gospels of Thomas, Peter, Judas, and Mary; infancy gospels such as that of James (the first to introduce the perpetual virginity of Mary); and gospel harmonies such as the Diatessaron.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Gospel is the Old English translation of the Hellenistic Greek term εὐαγγέλιον, meaning \"good news\"; this may be seen from analysis of ευαγγέλιον (εὖ \"good\" + ἄγγελος \"messenger\" + -ιον diminutive suffix). The Greek term was Latinized as evangelium in the Vulgate, and translated into Latin as bona annuntiatio. In Old English, it was translated as gōdspel (gōd \"good\" + spel \"news\"). The Old English term was retained as gospel in Middle English Bible translations and hence remains in use also in Modern English.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The four canonical gospels share the same basic outline of the life of Jesus: he begins his public ministry in conjunction with that of John the Baptist, calls disciples, teaches and heals and confronts the Pharisees, dies on the cross and is raised from the dead. Each has its own distinctive understanding of him and his divine role and scholars recognize that the differences of detail between the gospels are irreconcilable, and any attempt to harmonize them would only disrupt their distinct theological messages.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Matthew, Mark and Luke are termed the synoptic gospels because they present very similar accounts of the life of Jesus. Mark begins with the baptism of the adult Jesus and the heavenly declaration that he is the son of God; he gathers followers and begins his ministry, and tells his disciples that he must die in Jerusalem but that he will rise; in Jerusalem, he is at first acclaimed but then rejected, betrayed, and crucified, and when the women who have followed him come to his tomb they find it empty. Mark never calls Jesus \"God\" or claims that he existed prior to his earthly life, apparently believes that he had a normal human parentage and birth, and makes no attempt to trace his ancestry back to King David or Adam; it originally ended at Mark 16:8 and had no post-resurrection appearances, although Mark 16:7, in which the young man discovered in the tomb instructs the women to tell \"the disciples and Peter\" that Jesus will see them again in Galilee, hints that the author knew of the tradition.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The authors of Matthew and Luke added infancy and resurrection narratives to the story they found in Mark, although the two differ markedly. Each also makes subtle theological changes to Mark: the Markan miracle stories, for example, confirm Jesus' status as an emissary of God (which was Mark's understanding of the Messiah), but in Matthew they demonstrate his divinity, and the \"young man\" who appears at Jesus' tomb in Mark becomes a radiant angel in Matthew. Luke, while following Mark's plot more faithfully than Matthew, has expanded on the source, corrected Mark's grammar and syntax, and eliminated some passages entirely, notably most of chapters 6 and 7.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "John, the most overtly theological, is the first to make Christological judgements outside the context of the narrative of Jesus's life. He presents a significantly different picture of Jesus's career, omitting any mention of his ancestry, birth and childhood, his baptism, temptation and transfiguration; his chronology and arrangement of incidents is also distinctly different, clearly describing the passage of three years in Jesus's ministry in contrast to the single year of the synoptics, placing the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning rather than at the end, and the Last Supper on the day before Passover instead of being a Passover meal. The Gospel of John is the only gospel to call Jesus God, and in contrast to Mark, where Jesus hides his identity as messiah, in John he openly proclaims it.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses. A few conservative scholars defend the traditional ascriptions or attributions, but for a variety of reasons the majority of scholars have abandoned this view or hold it only tenuously.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In the immediate aftermath of Jesus' death his followers expected him to return at any moment, certainly within their own lifetimes, and in consequence there was little motivation to write anything down for future generations, but as eyewitnesses began to die, and as the missionary needs of the church grew, there was an increasing demand and need for written versions of the founder's life and teachings. The stages of this process can be summarised as follows:",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Mark is generally agreed to be the first gospel; it uses a variety of sources, including conflict stories (Mark 2:1–3:6), apocalyptic discourse (4:1–35), and collections of sayings, although not the sayings gospel known as the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the hypothesized Q source used by Matthew and Luke. The authors of Matthew and Luke, acting independently, used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with the hypothesized collection of sayings called the Q source and additional material unique to each called the M source (Matthew) and the L source (Luke). Mark, Matthew and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because of the close similarities between them in terms of content, arrangement, and language. The authors and editors of John may have known the synoptics, but did not use them in the way that Matthew and Luke used Mark. There is a near-consensus that this gospel had its origins as a \"signs\" source (or gospel) that circulated within the Johannine community (which produced John and the three epistles associated with the name) and later expanded with a Passion narrative as well as a series of discourses.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "All four also use the Jewish scriptures, by quoting or referencing passages, interpreting texts, or alluding to or echoing biblical themes. Such use can be extensive: Mark's description of the Parousia (second coming) is made up almost entirely of quotations from scripture. Matthew is full of quotations and allusions, and although John uses scripture in a far less explicit manner, its influence is still pervasive. Their source was the Greek version of the scriptures, called the Septuagint; they do not seem familiar with the original Hebrew.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The consensus among modern scholars is that the gospels are a subset of the ancient genre of bios, or ancient biography. Ancient biographies were concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while preserving and promoting the subject's reputation and memory; the gospels were never simply biographical, they were propaganda and kerygma (preaching). As such, they present the Christian message of the second half of the first century AD, and as Luke's attempt to link the birth of Jesus to the census of Quirinius demonstrates, there is no guarantee that the gospels are historically accurate.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The majority view among critical scholars is that the authors of Matthew and Luke have based their narratives on Mark's gospel, editing him to suit their own ends, and the contradictions and discrepancies between these three and John make it impossible to accept both traditions as equally reliable with regard to the historical Jesus. In addition, the gospels we read today have been edited and corrupted over time, leading Origen to complain in the 3rd century that \"the differences among manuscripts have become great, ... [because copyists] either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they make additions or deletions as they please\". Most of these are insignificant, but many are significant, an example being Matthew 1:18, altered to imply the pre-existence of Jesus. For these reasons modern scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Scholars usually agree that John is not without historical value: certain of its sayings are as old or older than their synoptic counterparts, and its representation of the topography around Jerusalem is often superior to that of the synoptics. Its testimony that Jesus was executed before, rather than on, Passover, might well be more accurate, and its presentation of Jesus in the garden and the prior meeting held by the Jewish authorities are possibly more historically plausible than their synoptic parallels. Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely that the author had direct knowledge of events, or that his mentions of the Beloved Disciple as his source should be taken as a guarantee of his reliability.",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The oldest gospel text known is 𝔓, a fragment of John dating from the first half of the 2nd century. The creation of a Christian canon was probably a response to the career of the heretic Marcion (c. 85–160), who established a canon of his own with just one gospel, the Gospel of Marcion, similar to the Gospel of Luke. The Muratorian canon, the earliest surviving list of books considered (by its own author at least) to form Christian scripture, included Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Irenaeus of Lyons went further, stating that there must be four gospels and only four because there were four corners of the Earth and thus the Church should have four pillars. He referred to the four collectively as the \"fourfold gospel\" (euangelion tetramorphon).",
"title": "Canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The many apocryphal gospels arose from the 1st century onward, frequently under assumed names to enhance their credibility and authority, and often from within branches of Christianity that were eventually branded heretical. They can be broadly organised into the following categories:",
"title": "Non-canonical (apocryphal) gospels"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The apocryphal gospels can also be seen in terms of the communities which produced them:",
"title": "Non-canonical (apocryphal) gospels"
}
]
| Gospel originally meant the Christian message, but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words and deeds of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. Modern biblical scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later Christian authors. The canonical gospels are the four which appear in the New Testament of the Bible. They were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous, almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. According to the majority of scholars, Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources, followed by Matthew and Luke, which both independently used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with a collection of sayings called "the Q source", and additional material unique to each. There is near-consensus that John had its origins as the hypothetical Signs Gospel thought to have been circulated within a Johannine community. Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. Important examples include the gospels of Thomas, Peter, Judas, and Mary; infancy gospels such as that of James; and gospel harmonies such as the Diatessaron. | 2001-11-08T03:50:01Z | 2023-12-18T12:04:56Z | [
"Template:NIE Poster",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Lang-he",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Jesus footer",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Wikiquote-inline",
"Template:Books of the Bible",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Christianity footer",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:About",
"Template:Lang-gr",
"Template:Lang-la",
"Template:Books of the New Testament",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Papyrus link",
"Template:History of Christianity"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel |
12,628 | GIMP | GNU Image Manipulation Program, commonly known by its acronym GIMP (/ɡɪmp/ GHIMP), is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized tasks. It is extensible by means of plugins, and scriptable. It is not designed to be used for drawing, though some artists and creators have used it in this way.
GIMP is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license and is available for Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.
In 1995, Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis began developing GIMP—originally named General Image Manipulation Program—as a semester-long project at the University of California, Berkeley for the eXperimental Computing Facility. The acronym was coined first, with the letter G being added to -IMP as a reference to "the gimp" in the scene from the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
1996 was the initial public release of GIMP (0.54). The editor was quickly adopted and a community of contributors formed. The community began developing tutorials and artwork and sharing better work-flows and techniques.
In the following year, Kimball and Mattis met with Richard Stallman of the GNU Project while he visited UC Berkeley and asked if they could change General in the application's name to GNU (the name of the operating system created by Stallman), and Stallman approved. The application subsequently formed part of the GNU software collection.
The first release supported Unix systems, such as Linux, SGI IRIX and HP-UX. Since then, GIMP has been ported to other operating systems, including Microsoft Windows (1997, GIMP 1.1) and macOS.
A GUI toolkit called GTK (at the time known as the GIMP ToolKit) was developed to facilitate the development of GIMP. The development of the GIMP ToolKit has been attributed to Peter Mattis becoming disenchanted with the Motif toolkit GIMP originally used. Motif was used up until GIMP 0.60.
In recent versions (since the GIMP 2.9 build), the removal of the Lanczos image scaling algorithm, which had been used by GIMP and other image editing programs for many years, in favor of pushing forward the new NoHalo and LoHalo algorithms developed by Nicolas Robidoux, caused some controversy among GIMP users, with some users standing by the change but others expressing their dissatisfaction about it, due to mixed quality results in some image scaling scenarios, leading some users to keep using the older 2.8 version of GIMP simply because it's the last build with Lanczos support, and a few users giving up on using the application altogether as a result. To this day, several users hope to see a future version of GIMP with the Lanczos algorithm added back as an option for image resampling.
GIMP's mascot is called Wilber and was created in GIMP by Tuomas Kuosmanen, known as tigert, on 25 September 1997. Wilber received additional accessories from other GIMP developers, which can be found in the Wilber Construction Kit, included in the GIMP source code as /docs/Wilber_Construction_Kit.xcf.gz.
GIMP is primarily developed by volunteers as a free and open source software project associated with both the GNU and GNOME projects. Development takes place in a public git source code repository, on public mailing lists and in public chat channels on the GIMPNET IRC network.
New features are held in public separate source code branches and merged into the main (or development) branch when the GIMP team is sure they won't damage existing functions. Sometimes this means that features that appear complete do not get merged or take months or years before they become available in GIMP.
GIMP itself is released as source code. After a source code release, installers and packages are made for different operating systems by parties who might not be in contact with the maintainers of GIMP.
The version number used in GIMP is expressed in a major-minor-micro format, with each number carrying a specific meaning: the first (major) number is incremented only for major developments (and is currently 2). The second (minor) number is incremented with each release of new features, with odd numbers reserved for in-progress development versions and even numbers assigned to stable releases; the third (micro) number is incremented before and after each release (resulting in even numbers for releases, and odd numbers for development snapshots) with any bug fixes subsequently applied and released for a stable version.
Previously, GIMP applied for several positions in the Google Summer of Code (GSoC). From 2006 to 2009 there have been nine GSoC projects that have been listed as successful, although not all successful projects have been merged into GIMP immediately. The healing brush and perspective clone tools and Ruby bindings were created as part of the 2006 GSoC and can be used in version 2.8.0 of GIMP, although there were three other projects that were completed and are later available in a stable version of GIMP; those projects being Vector Layers (end 2008 in 2.8 and master), and a JPEG 2000 plug-in (mid 2009 in 2.8 and master). Several of the GSoC projects were completed in 2008, but have been merged into a stable GIMP release later in 2009 to 2014 for Version 2.8.xx and 2.10.x. Some of them needed some more code work for the master tree.
Second public Development 2.9-Version was 2.9.4 with many deep improvements after initial Public Version 2.9.2. Third Public 2.9-Development version is Version 2.9.6. One of the new features is removing the 4 GB size limit of XCF file. Increase of possible threads to 64 is also an important point for modern parallel execution in actual AMD Ryzen and Intel Xeon processors. Version 2.9.8 included many bug fixes and improvements in gradients and clips. Improvements in performance and optimization beyond bug hunting were the development targets for 2.10.0. MacOS Beta is available with Version 2.10.4.
The next stable version in the roadmap is 3.0 with a GTK3 port. 2.99-Series is the development Series to 3.0.
GIMP developers meet during the annual Libre Graphics Meeting. Interaction designers from OpenUsability have also contributed to GIMP.
The current version of GIMP works with numerous operating systems, including Linux, macOS and Windows. Many Linux distributions, such as Fedora Linux and Debian., include GIMP as a part of their desktop operating systems.
GIMP began to host its own downloads after discontinuing use of SourceForge in 2013. The website later repossessed GIMP's dormant account and hosted advertising-laden versions of GIMP for Windows.
Lifewire reviewed GIMP favorably in March 2019, writing that "[f]or those who have never experienced Photoshop, GIMP is simply a very powerful image manipulation program," and "[i]f you're willing to invest some time learning it, it can be a very good graphics tool."
GIMP's fitness for use in professional environments is regularly reviewed; it is often compared to and suggested as a possible replacement for Adobe Photoshop. GIMP has similar functionality to Photoshop, but has a different user interface.
GIMP 2.6 was used to create nearly all of the art in Lucas the Game, an independent video game by developer Timothy Courtney. Courtney started development of Lucas the Game in early 2014, and the video game was published in July 2015 for PC and Mac. Courtney explains GIMP is a powerful tool, fully capable of large professional projects, such as video games.
The single-window mode introduced in GIMP 2.8 was reviewed in 2012 by Ryan Paul of Ars Technica, who noted that it made the user experience feel "more streamlined and less cluttered". Michael Burns, writing for Macworld in 2014, described the single-window interface of GIMP 2.8.10 as a "big improvement".
In his review of GIMP for ExtremeTech in October 2013, David Cardinal noted that GIMP's reputation of being hard to use and lacking features has "changed dramatically over the last couple years", and that it was "no longer a crippled alternative to Photoshop". He described GIMP's scripting as one of its strengths, but also remarked that some of Photoshop's features – such as Text, 3D commands, Adjustment Layers and History – are either less powerful or missing in GIMP. Cardinal favorably described the UFRaw converter for raw images used with GIMP, noting that it still "requires some patience to figure out how to use those more advanced capabilities". Cardinal stated that GIMP is "easy enough to try" despite not having as well developed documentation and help system as those for Photoshop, concluding that it "has become a worthy alternative to Photoshop for anyone on a budget who doesn't need all of Photoshop's vast feature set".
The user interface has been criticized for being "hard to use".
Tools used to perform image editing can be accessed via the toolbox, through menus and dialogue windows. They include filters and brushes, as well as transformation, selection, layer and masking tools.
There are several ways of selecting colors, including palettes, color choosers and using an eyedropper tool to select a color on the canvas. The built-in color choosers include RGB/HSV/LAB/LCH selector or scales, water-color selector, CMYK selector and a color-wheel selector. Colors can also be selected using hexadecimal color codes, as used in HTML color selection. GIMP has native support for indexed color and RGB color spaces; other color spaces are supported using decomposition, where each channel of the new color space becomes a black-and-white image. CMYK, LAB and HSV (hue, saturation, value) are supported this way. Color blending can be achieved using the Blend tool, by applying a gradient to the surface of an image and using GIMP's color modes. Gradients are also integrated into tools such as the brush tool, when the user paints this way the output color slowly changes. There are a number of default gradients included with GIMP; a user can also create custom gradients with tools provided. Gradient plug-ins are also available.
GIMP selection tools include a rectangular and circular selection tool, free select tool, and fuzzy select tool (also known as magic wand). More advanced selection tools include the select by color tool for selecting contiguous regions of color—and the scissors select tool, which creates selections semi-automatically between areas of highly contrasting colors. GIMP also supports a quick mask mode where a user can use a brush to paint the area of a selection. Visibly this looks like a red colored overlay being added or removed. The foreground select tool is an implementation of Simple interactive object extraction (SIOX), a method used to perform the extraction of foreground elements, such as a person or a tree in focus. The Paths Tool allows a user to create vectors (also known as Bézier curves). Users can use paths to create complex selections, including around natural curves. They can paint (or "stroke") the paths with brushes, patterns, or various line styles. Users can name and save paths for reuse.
There are many tools that can be used for editing images in GIMP. The more common tools include a paint brush, pencil, airbrush, eraser and ink tools used to create new or blended pixels. The Bucket Fill tool can be used to fill a selection with a color or pattern. The Blend tool can be used to fill a selection with a color gradient. These color transitions can be applied to large regions or smaller custom path selections.
GIMP also provides "smart" tools that use a more complex algorithm to do things that otherwise would be time-consuming or impossible. These include:
An image being edited in GIMP can consist of many layers in a stack. The user manual suggests that "A good way to visualize a GIMP image is as a stack of transparencies," where in GIMP terminology, each level (analogous to a transparency) is called a layer. Each layer in an image is made up of several channels. In an RGB image, there are normally 3 or 4 channels, each consisting of a red, green and blue channel. Color sublayers look like slightly different gray images, but when put together they make a complete image. The fourth channel that may be part of a layer is the alpha channel (or layer mask). This channel measures opacity where a whole or part of an image can be completely visible, partially visible or invisible. Each layer has a layer mode that can be set to change the colors in the image.
Text layers can be created using the text tool, allowing a user to write on an image. Text layers can be transformed in several ways, such as converting them to a path or selection.
GIMP has approximately 150 standard effects and filters, including Drop Shadow, Blur, Motion Blur and Noise.
GIMP operations can be automated with scripting languages. The Script-Fu is a Scheme-based language implemented using a TinyScheme interpreter built into GIMP. GIMP can also be scripted in Perl, Python (Python-Fu), or Tcl, using interpreters external to GIMP. New features can be added to GIMP not only by changing program code (GIMP core), but also by creating plug-ins. These are external programs that are executed and controlled by the main GIMP program. MathMap is an example of a plug-in written in C.
There is support for several methods of sharpening and blurring images, including the blur and sharpen tool. The unsharp mask tool is used to sharpen an image selectively – it sharpens only those areas of an image that are sufficiently detailed. The Unsharp Mask tool is considered to give more targeted results for photographs than a normal sharpening filter. The Selective Gaussian Blur tool works in a similar way, except it blurs areas of an image with little detail.
GIMP-ML is an extension for machine learning with 15 filters.
The Generic Graphics Library (GEGL) was first introduced as part of GIMP on the 2.6 release of GIMP. This initial introduction does not yet exploit all of the capabilities of GEGL; as of the 2.6 release, GIMP can use GEGL to perform high bit-depth color operations; because of this, less information is lost when performing color operations. When GEGL is fully integrated, GIMP will have a higher color bit depth and better non-destructive work-flow. GIMP 2.8.xx supports only 8-bit color, which is much lower than digital cameras, e.g., produce (12-bit or higher). Full support for high bit depth is included with GIMP 2.10. OpenCL enables hardware acceleration for some operations.
CTX is a new rasterizer for vector graphics in GIMP 3.0. Some simple objects, like lines and circles, can be reduced to vector objects.
GIMP supports importing and exporting with a large number of different file formats. GIMP's native format XCF is designed to store all information GIMP can contain about an image; XCF is named after the eXperimental Computing Facility where GIMP was authored. Import and export capability can be extended to additional file formats by means of plug-ins. XCF file size is extended to more than 4 GB since 2.9.6 and new stable tree 2.10.x.
Because of the free and open-source nature of GIMP, several forks, variants and derivatives of the computer program have been created to fit the needs of their creators. While GIMP is cross-platform, variants of GIMP may not be. These variants are neither hosted nor linked on the GIMP site. The GIMP site does not host GIMP builds for Windows or Unix-like operating systems either, although it does include a link to a Windows build.
GIMP's functionality can be extended with plugins. Notable ones include: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "GNU Image Manipulation Program, commonly known by its acronym GIMP (/ɡɪmp/ GHIMP), is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized tasks. It is extensible by means of plugins, and scriptable. It is not designed to be used for drawing, though some artists and creators have used it in this way.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "GIMP is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license and is available for Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1995, Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis began developing GIMP—originally named General Image Manipulation Program—as a semester-long project at the University of California, Berkeley for the eXperimental Computing Facility. The acronym was coined first, with the letter G being added to -IMP as a reference to \"the gimp\" in the scene from the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "1996 was the initial public release of GIMP (0.54). The editor was quickly adopted and a community of contributors formed. The community began developing tutorials and artwork and sharing better work-flows and techniques.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In the following year, Kimball and Mattis met with Richard Stallman of the GNU Project while he visited UC Berkeley and asked if they could change General in the application's name to GNU (the name of the operating system created by Stallman), and Stallman approved. The application subsequently formed part of the GNU software collection.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The first release supported Unix systems, such as Linux, SGI IRIX and HP-UX. Since then, GIMP has been ported to other operating systems, including Microsoft Windows (1997, GIMP 1.1) and macOS.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A GUI toolkit called GTK (at the time known as the GIMP ToolKit) was developed to facilitate the development of GIMP. The development of the GIMP ToolKit has been attributed to Peter Mattis becoming disenchanted with the Motif toolkit GIMP originally used. Motif was used up until GIMP 0.60.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In recent versions (since the GIMP 2.9 build), the removal of the Lanczos image scaling algorithm, which had been used by GIMP and other image editing programs for many years, in favor of pushing forward the new NoHalo and LoHalo algorithms developed by Nicolas Robidoux, caused some controversy among GIMP users, with some users standing by the change but others expressing their dissatisfaction about it, due to mixed quality results in some image scaling scenarios, leading some users to keep using the older 2.8 version of GIMP simply because it's the last build with Lanczos support, and a few users giving up on using the application altogether as a result. To this day, several users hope to see a future version of GIMP with the Lanczos algorithm added back as an option for image resampling.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "GIMP's mascot is called Wilber and was created in GIMP by Tuomas Kuosmanen, known as tigert, on 25 September 1997. Wilber received additional accessories from other GIMP developers, which can be found in the Wilber Construction Kit, included in the GIMP source code as /docs/Wilber_Construction_Kit.xcf.gz.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "GIMP is primarily developed by volunteers as a free and open source software project associated with both the GNU and GNOME projects. Development takes place in a public git source code repository, on public mailing lists and in public chat channels on the GIMPNET IRC network.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "New features are held in public separate source code branches and merged into the main (or development) branch when the GIMP team is sure they won't damage existing functions. Sometimes this means that features that appear complete do not get merged or take months or years before they become available in GIMP.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "GIMP itself is released as source code. After a source code release, installers and packages are made for different operating systems by parties who might not be in contact with the maintainers of GIMP.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The version number used in GIMP is expressed in a major-minor-micro format, with each number carrying a specific meaning: the first (major) number is incremented only for major developments (and is currently 2). The second (minor) number is incremented with each release of new features, with odd numbers reserved for in-progress development versions and even numbers assigned to stable releases; the third (micro) number is incremented before and after each release (resulting in even numbers for releases, and odd numbers for development snapshots) with any bug fixes subsequently applied and released for a stable version.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Previously, GIMP applied for several positions in the Google Summer of Code (GSoC). From 2006 to 2009 there have been nine GSoC projects that have been listed as successful, although not all successful projects have been merged into GIMP immediately. The healing brush and perspective clone tools and Ruby bindings were created as part of the 2006 GSoC and can be used in version 2.8.0 of GIMP, although there were three other projects that were completed and are later available in a stable version of GIMP; those projects being Vector Layers (end 2008 in 2.8 and master), and a JPEG 2000 plug-in (mid 2009 in 2.8 and master). Several of the GSoC projects were completed in 2008, but have been merged into a stable GIMP release later in 2009 to 2014 for Version 2.8.xx and 2.10.x. Some of them needed some more code work for the master tree.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Second public Development 2.9-Version was 2.9.4 with many deep improvements after initial Public Version 2.9.2. Third Public 2.9-Development version is Version 2.9.6. One of the new features is removing the 4 GB size limit of XCF file. Increase of possible threads to 64 is also an important point for modern parallel execution in actual AMD Ryzen and Intel Xeon processors. Version 2.9.8 included many bug fixes and improvements in gradients and clips. Improvements in performance and optimization beyond bug hunting were the development targets for 2.10.0. MacOS Beta is available with Version 2.10.4.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The next stable version in the roadmap is 3.0 with a GTK3 port. 2.99-Series is the development Series to 3.0.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "GIMP developers meet during the annual Libre Graphics Meeting. Interaction designers from OpenUsability have also contributed to GIMP.",
"title": "Development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The current version of GIMP works with numerous operating systems, including Linux, macOS and Windows. Many Linux distributions, such as Fedora Linux and Debian., include GIMP as a part of their desktop operating systems.",
"title": "Distribution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "GIMP began to host its own downloads after discontinuing use of SourceForge in 2013. The website later repossessed GIMP's dormant account and hosted advertising-laden versions of GIMP for Windows.",
"title": "Distribution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Lifewire reviewed GIMP favorably in March 2019, writing that \"[f]or those who have never experienced Photoshop, GIMP is simply a very powerful image manipulation program,\" and \"[i]f you're willing to invest some time learning it, it can be a very good graphics tool.\"",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "GIMP's fitness for use in professional environments is regularly reviewed; it is often compared to and suggested as a possible replacement for Adobe Photoshop. GIMP has similar functionality to Photoshop, but has a different user interface.",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "GIMP 2.6 was used to create nearly all of the art in Lucas the Game, an independent video game by developer Timothy Courtney. Courtney started development of Lucas the Game in early 2014, and the video game was published in July 2015 for PC and Mac. Courtney explains GIMP is a powerful tool, fully capable of large professional projects, such as video games.",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The single-window mode introduced in GIMP 2.8 was reviewed in 2012 by Ryan Paul of Ars Technica, who noted that it made the user experience feel \"more streamlined and less cluttered\". Michael Burns, writing for Macworld in 2014, described the single-window interface of GIMP 2.8.10 as a \"big improvement\".",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In his review of GIMP for ExtremeTech in October 2013, David Cardinal noted that GIMP's reputation of being hard to use and lacking features has \"changed dramatically over the last couple years\", and that it was \"no longer a crippled alternative to Photoshop\". He described GIMP's scripting as one of its strengths, but also remarked that some of Photoshop's features – such as Text, 3D commands, Adjustment Layers and History – are either less powerful or missing in GIMP. Cardinal favorably described the UFRaw converter for raw images used with GIMP, noting that it still \"requires some patience to figure out how to use those more advanced capabilities\". Cardinal stated that GIMP is \"easy enough to try\" despite not having as well developed documentation and help system as those for Photoshop, concluding that it \"has become a worthy alternative to Photoshop for anyone on a budget who doesn't need all of Photoshop's vast feature set\".",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The user interface has been criticized for being \"hard to use\".",
"title": "Professional reviews"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Tools used to perform image editing can be accessed via the toolbox, through menus and dialogue windows. They include filters and brushes, as well as transformation, selection, layer and masking tools.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "There are several ways of selecting colors, including palettes, color choosers and using an eyedropper tool to select a color on the canvas. The built-in color choosers include RGB/HSV/LAB/LCH selector or scales, water-color selector, CMYK selector and a color-wheel selector. Colors can also be selected using hexadecimal color codes, as used in HTML color selection. GIMP has native support for indexed color and RGB color spaces; other color spaces are supported using decomposition, where each channel of the new color space becomes a black-and-white image. CMYK, LAB and HSV (hue, saturation, value) are supported this way. Color blending can be achieved using the Blend tool, by applying a gradient to the surface of an image and using GIMP's color modes. Gradients are also integrated into tools such as the brush tool, when the user paints this way the output color slowly changes. There are a number of default gradients included with GIMP; a user can also create custom gradients with tools provided. Gradient plug-ins are also available.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "GIMP selection tools include a rectangular and circular selection tool, free select tool, and fuzzy select tool (also known as magic wand). More advanced selection tools include the select by color tool for selecting contiguous regions of color—and the scissors select tool, which creates selections semi-automatically between areas of highly contrasting colors. GIMP also supports a quick mask mode where a user can use a brush to paint the area of a selection. Visibly this looks like a red colored overlay being added or removed. The foreground select tool is an implementation of Simple interactive object extraction (SIOX), a method used to perform the extraction of foreground elements, such as a person or a tree in focus. The Paths Tool allows a user to create vectors (also known as Bézier curves). Users can use paths to create complex selections, including around natural curves. They can paint (or \"stroke\") the paths with brushes, patterns, or various line styles. Users can name and save paths for reuse.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "There are many tools that can be used for editing images in GIMP. The more common tools include a paint brush, pencil, airbrush, eraser and ink tools used to create new or blended pixels. The Bucket Fill tool can be used to fill a selection with a color or pattern. The Blend tool can be used to fill a selection with a color gradient. These color transitions can be applied to large regions or smaller custom path selections.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "GIMP also provides \"smart\" tools that use a more complex algorithm to do things that otherwise would be time-consuming or impossible. These include:",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "An image being edited in GIMP can consist of many layers in a stack. The user manual suggests that \"A good way to visualize a GIMP image is as a stack of transparencies,\" where in GIMP terminology, each level (analogous to a transparency) is called a layer. Each layer in an image is made up of several channels. In an RGB image, there are normally 3 or 4 channels, each consisting of a red, green and blue channel. Color sublayers look like slightly different gray images, but when put together they make a complete image. The fourth channel that may be part of a layer is the alpha channel (or layer mask). This channel measures opacity where a whole or part of an image can be completely visible, partially visible or invisible. Each layer has a layer mode that can be set to change the colors in the image.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Text layers can be created using the text tool, allowing a user to write on an image. Text layers can be transformed in several ways, such as converting them to a path or selection.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "GIMP has approximately 150 standard effects and filters, including Drop Shadow, Blur, Motion Blur and Noise.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "GIMP operations can be automated with scripting languages. The Script-Fu is a Scheme-based language implemented using a TinyScheme interpreter built into GIMP. GIMP can also be scripted in Perl, Python (Python-Fu), or Tcl, using interpreters external to GIMP. New features can be added to GIMP not only by changing program code (GIMP core), but also by creating plug-ins. These are external programs that are executed and controlled by the main GIMP program. MathMap is an example of a plug-in written in C.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "There is support for several methods of sharpening and blurring images, including the blur and sharpen tool. The unsharp mask tool is used to sharpen an image selectively – it sharpens only those areas of an image that are sufficiently detailed. The Unsharp Mask tool is considered to give more targeted results for photographs than a normal sharpening filter. The Selective Gaussian Blur tool works in a similar way, except it blurs areas of an image with little detail.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "GIMP-ML is an extension for machine learning with 15 filters.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Generic Graphics Library (GEGL) was first introduced as part of GIMP on the 2.6 release of GIMP. This initial introduction does not yet exploit all of the capabilities of GEGL; as of the 2.6 release, GIMP can use GEGL to perform high bit-depth color operations; because of this, less information is lost when performing color operations. When GEGL is fully integrated, GIMP will have a higher color bit depth and better non-destructive work-flow. GIMP 2.8.xx supports only 8-bit color, which is much lower than digital cameras, e.g., produce (12-bit or higher). Full support for high bit depth is included with GIMP 2.10. OpenCL enables hardware acceleration for some operations.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "CTX is a new rasterizer for vector graphics in GIMP 3.0. Some simple objects, like lines and circles, can be reduced to vector objects.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "GIMP supports importing and exporting with a large number of different file formats. GIMP's native format XCF is designed to store all information GIMP can contain about an image; XCF is named after the eXperimental Computing Facility where GIMP was authored. Import and export capability can be extended to additional file formats by means of plug-ins. XCF file size is extended to more than 4 GB since 2.9.6 and new stable tree 2.10.x.",
"title": "Features"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Because of the free and open-source nature of GIMP, several forks, variants and derivatives of the computer program have been created to fit the needs of their creators. While GIMP is cross-platform, variants of GIMP may not be. These variants are neither hosted nor linked on the GIMP site. The GIMP site does not host GIMP builds for Windows or Unix-like operating systems either, although it does include a link to a Windows build.",
"title": "Forks and derivatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "GIMP's functionality can be extended with plugins. Notable ones include:",
"title": "Extensions"
}
]
| GNU Image Manipulation Program, commonly known by its acronym GIMP, is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized tasks. It is extensible by means of plugins, and scriptable. It is not designed to be used for drawing, though some artists and creators have used it in this way. GIMP is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license and is available for Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. | 2001-09-30T18:44:33Z | 2023-12-31T15:38:56Z | [
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Respell",
"Template:Better source needed",
"Template:Cite tweet",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Openhub",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Wikibooks",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:GNU",
"Template:N/a",
"Template:Snd",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite CiteSeerX",
"Template:Wikiversity",
"Template:Raster graphics editors",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Version",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:GNOME",
"Template:Cite thesis",
"Template:FOSS",
"Template:Fractal software",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Curlie",
"Template:Infobox software",
"Template:TBA",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Third-party inline",
"Template:Cite arXiv",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:R",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Cite web"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP |
12,629 | Global illumination | Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not (indirect illumination).
Theoretically, reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another (as opposed to an object being affected only by a direct source of light). In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination.
Images rendered using global illumination algorithms often appear more photorealistic than those using only direct illumination algorithms. However, such images are computationally more expensive and consequently much slower to generate. One common approach is to compute the global illumination of a scene and store that information with the geometry (e.g., radiosity). The stored data can then be used to generate images from different viewpoints for generating walkthroughs of a scene without having to go through expensive lighting calculations repeatedly.
Radiosity, ray tracing, beam tracing, cone tracing, path tracing, volumetric path tracing, Metropolis light transport, ambient occlusion, photon mapping, signed distance field and image-based lighting are all examples of algorithms used in global illumination, some of which may be used together to yield results that are not fast, but accurate.
These algorithms model diffuse inter-reflection which is a very important part of global illumination; however most of these (excluding radiosity) also model specular reflection, which makes them more accurate algorithms to solve the lighting equation and provide a more realistically illuminated scene. The algorithms used to calculate the distribution of light energy between surfaces of a scene are closely related to heat transfer simulations performed using finite-element methods in engineering design.
Achieving accurate computation of global illumination in real-time remains difficult. In real-time 3D graphics, the diffuse inter-reflection component of global illumination is sometimes approximated by an "ambient" term in the lighting equation, which is also called "ambient lighting" or "ambient color" in 3D software packages. Though this method of approximation (also known as a "cheat" because it's not really a global illumination method) is easy to perform computationally, when used alone it does not provide an adequately realistic effect. Ambient lighting is known to "flatten" shadows in 3D scenes, making the overall visual effect more bland. However, used properly, ambient lighting can be an efficient way to make up for a lack of processing power.
More and more specialized algorithms are used in 3D programs that can effectively simulate the global illumination. These algorithms are numerical approximations to the rendering equation. Well known algorithms for computing global illumination include path tracing, photon mapping and radiosity. The following approaches can be distinguished here:
In Light-path notation global lighting the paths of the type L (D | S) corresponds * E.
A full treatment can be found in
Another way to simulate real global illumination is the use of high-dynamic-range images (HDRIs), also known as environment maps, which encircle and illuminate the scene. This process is known as image-based lighting. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not (indirect illumination).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Theoretically, reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another (as opposed to an object being affected only by a direct source of light). In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Images rendered using global illumination algorithms often appear more photorealistic than those using only direct illumination algorithms. However, such images are computationally more expensive and consequently much slower to generate. One common approach is to compute the global illumination of a scene and store that information with the geometry (e.g., radiosity). The stored data can then be used to generate images from different viewpoints for generating walkthroughs of a scene without having to go through expensive lighting calculations repeatedly.",
"title": "Algorithms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Radiosity, ray tracing, beam tracing, cone tracing, path tracing, volumetric path tracing, Metropolis light transport, ambient occlusion, photon mapping, signed distance field and image-based lighting are all examples of algorithms used in global illumination, some of which may be used together to yield results that are not fast, but accurate.",
"title": "Algorithms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "These algorithms model diffuse inter-reflection which is a very important part of global illumination; however most of these (excluding radiosity) also model specular reflection, which makes them more accurate algorithms to solve the lighting equation and provide a more realistically illuminated scene. The algorithms used to calculate the distribution of light energy between surfaces of a scene are closely related to heat transfer simulations performed using finite-element methods in engineering design.",
"title": "Algorithms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Achieving accurate computation of global illumination in real-time remains difficult. In real-time 3D graphics, the diffuse inter-reflection component of global illumination is sometimes approximated by an \"ambient\" term in the lighting equation, which is also called \"ambient lighting\" or \"ambient color\" in 3D software packages. Though this method of approximation (also known as a \"cheat\" because it's not really a global illumination method) is easy to perform computationally, when used alone it does not provide an adequately realistic effect. Ambient lighting is known to \"flatten\" shadows in 3D scenes, making the overall visual effect more bland. However, used properly, ambient lighting can be an efficient way to make up for a lack of processing power.",
"title": "Photorealism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "More and more specialized algorithms are used in 3D programs that can effectively simulate the global illumination. These algorithms are numerical approximations to the rendering equation. Well known algorithms for computing global illumination include path tracing, photon mapping and radiosity. The following approaches can be distinguished here:",
"title": "Procedure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In Light-path notation global lighting the paths of the type L (D | S) corresponds * E.",
"title": "Procedure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "A full treatment can be found in",
"title": "Procedure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Another way to simulate real global illumination is the use of high-dynamic-range images (HDRIs), also known as environment maps, which encircle and illuminate the scene. This process is known as image-based lighting.",
"title": "Image-based lighting"
}
]
| Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source, but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not. Theoretically, reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another. In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination. | 2001-09-27T07:15:03Z | 2023-08-03T18:33:21Z | [
"Template:3D computer graphics",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite arXiv",
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Computer graphics",
"Template:Redirect"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_illumination |
12,630 | Geometric series | In mathematics, a geometric series is the sum of an infinite number of terms that have a constant ratio between successive terms. For example, the series
is geometric, because each successive term can be obtained by multiplying the previous term by 1 / 2 {\displaystyle 1/2} . In general, a geometric series is written as a + a r + a r 2 + a r 3 + . . . {\displaystyle a+ar+ar^{2}+ar^{3}+...} , where a {\displaystyle a} is the coefficient of each term and r {\displaystyle r} is the common ratio between adjacent terms. The geometric series had an important role in the early development of calculus, is used throughout mathematics, and can serve as an introduction to frequently used mathematical tools such as the Taylor series, the Fourier series, and the matrix exponential.
The name geometric series indicates each term is the geometric mean of its two neighboring terms, similar to how the name arithmetic series indicates each term is the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring terms.
The geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... is written in expanded form. Every coefficient in the geometric series is the same. In contrast, the power series written as a0 + a1r + a2r + a3r + ... in expanded form has coefficients ai that can vary from term to term. In other words, the geometric series is a special case of the power series. The first term of a geometric series in expanded form is the coefficient a of that geometric series.
In addition to the expanded form of the geometric series, there is a generator form of the geometric series written as
and a closed form of the geometric series written as
The derivation of the closed form from the expanded form is shown in this article's § Sum section. However even without that derivation, the result can be confirmed with long division: a divided by (1 - r) results in a + ar + ar + ar + ... , which is the expanded form of the geometric series.
It is often a convenience in notation to set the series equal to the sum s and work with the geometric series
Changing even one of the coefficients to something other than coefficient a would change the resulting sum of functions to some function other than a / (1 − r) within the range |r| < 1. As an aside, a particularly useful change to the coefficients is defined by the Taylor series, which describes how to change the coefficients so that the sum of functions converges to any user selected, sufficiently smooth function within a range.
The geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... is an infinite series defined by just two parameters: coefficient a and common ratio r. Common ratio r is the ratio of any term with the previous term in the series. Or equivalently, common ratio r is the term multiplier used to calculate the next term in the series. The following table shows several geometric series:
The convergence of the geometric series depends on the value of the common ratio r:
The rate of convergence also depends on the value of the common ratio r. Specifically, the rate of convergence gets slower as r approaches 1 or −1. For example, the geometric series with a = 1 is 1 + r + r + r + ... and converges to 1 / (1 - r) when |r| < 1. However, the number of terms needed to converge approaches infinity as r approaches 1 because a / (1 - r) approaches infinity and each term of the series is less than or equal to one. In contrast, as r approaches −1 the sum of the first several terms of the geometric series starts to converge to 1/2 but slightly flips up or down depending on whether the most recently added term has a power of r that is even or odd. That flipping behavior near r = −1 is illustrated in the adjacent image showing the first 11 terms of the geometric series with a = 1 and |r| < 1.
The common ratio r and the coefficient a also define the geometric progression, which is a list of the terms of the geometric series but without the additions. Therefore the geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... has the geometric progression (also called the geometric sequence) a, ar, ar, ar, ... The geometric progression - as simple as it is - models a surprising number of natural phenomena,
As an aside, the common ratio r can be a complex number such as |r|e where |r| is the vector's magnitude (or length), θ is the vector's angle (or orientation) in the complex plane and i = -1. With a common ratio |r|e, the expanded form of the geometric series is a + a|r|e + a|r|e + a|r|e + ... Modeling the angle θ as linearly increasing over time at the rate of some angular frequency ω0 (in other words, making the substitution θ = ω0t), the expanded form of the geometric series becomes a + a|r|e + a|r|e + a|r|e + ... , where the first term is a vector of length a not rotating at all, and all the other terms are vectors of different lengths rotating at harmonics of the fundamental angular frequency ω0. The constraint |r|<1 is enough to coordinate this infinite number of vectors of different lengths all rotating at different speeds into tracing a circle, as shown in the adjacent video. Similar to how the Taylor series describes how to change the coefficients so the series converges to a user selected sufficiently smooth function within a range, the Fourier series describes how to change the coefficients (which can also be complex numbers in order to specify the initial angles of vectors) so the series converges to a user selected periodic function.
The sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, up to and including the r term, is given by the closed-form formula:
where r is the common ratio. One can derive that closed-form formula for the partial sum, sn, by subtracting out the many self-similar terms as follows:
As n approaches infinity, the absolute value of r must be less than one for the series to converge. The sum then becomes
The formula also holds for complex r, with the corresponding restriction that the modulus of r is strictly less than one.
As an aside, the question of whether an infinite series converges is fundamentally a question about the distance between two values: given enough terms, does the value of the partial sum get arbitrarily close to the finite value it is approaching? In the above derivation of the closed form of the geometric series, the interpretation of the distance between two values is the distance between their locations on the number line. That is the most common interpretation of the distance between two values. However, the p-adic metric, which has become a critical notion in modern number theory, offers a definition of distance such that the geometric series 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ... with a = 1 and r = 2 actually does converge to a / (1 - r) = 1 / (1 - 2) = -1 even though r is outside the typical convergence range |r| < 1.
We can prove that the geometric series converges using the sum formula for a geometric progression:
The second equality is true because if | r | < 1 , {\displaystyle |r|<1,} then r n + 1 → 0 {\displaystyle r^{n+1}\to 0} as n → ∞ {\displaystyle n\to \infty } and
Alternatively, a geometric interpretation of the convergence is shown in the adjacent diagram. The area of the white triangle is the series remainder = s − sn = ar / (1 − r). Each additional term in the partial series reduces the area of that white triangle remainder by the area of the trapezoid representing the added term. The trapezoid areas (i.e., the values of the terms) get progressively thinner and shorter and closer to the origin. In the limit, as the number of trapezoids approaches infinity, the white triangle remainder vanishes as it is filled by trapezoids and therefore sn converges to s, provided |r|<1. In contrast, if |r|>1, the trapezoid areas representing the terms of the series instead get progressively wider and taller and farther from the origin, not converging to the origin and not converging as a series.
After knowing that a series converges, there are some applications in which it is also important to know how quickly the series converges. For the geometric series, one convenient measure of the convergence rate is how much the previous series remainder decreases due to the last term of the partial series. Given that the last term is ar and the previous series remainder is s - sn-1 = ar / (1 - r)), this measure of the convergence rate of the geometric series is ar / (ar / (1 - r)) = 1 - r, if 0 ≤ r < 1.
If r < 0, adjacent terms in the geometric series alternate between being positive and negative. A geometric interpretation of a converging alternating geometric series is shown in the adjacent diagram in which the areas of the negative terms are shown below the x axis. Pairing and summing each positive area with its negative smaller area neighbor results in non-overlapped trapezoids separated by gaps. To remove the gaps, broaden each trapezoid to cover the rightmost 1 - r of the original triangle area instead of just the rightmost 1 - |r|. However, to maintain the same trapezoid areas during this broadening transformation, scaling is needed: scale*(1 - r) = (1 - |r|), or scale = (1 - |r|) / (1 - r) = (1 + r) / (1 - r) = (1 + r) / ((1 + r)(1 - r)) = 1 / (1 - r) where -1 < r ≤ 0. Note that because r < 0 this scale decreases the amplitude of the separated trapezoids in order to fill in the separation gaps. In contrast, for the case r > 0 the same scale 1 / (1 - r) increases the amplitude of the non-overlapped trapezoids in order to account for the loss of the overlapped areas.
With the gaps removed, pairs of terms in a converging alternating geometric series become a converging (non-alternating) geometric series with common ratio r to account for the pairing of terms, coefficient a = 1 / (1 - r) to account for the gap filling, and the degree (i.e., highest powered term) of the partial series called m instead of n to emphasize that terms have been paired. Similar to the r > 0 case, the r < 0 convergence rate = ar / (s - sm-1) = 1 - r, which is the same as the convergence rate of a non-alternating geometric series if its terms were similarly paired. Therefore, the convergence rate does not depend upon n or m and, perhaps more surprising, does not depend upon the sign of the common ratio. One perspective that helps explain the variable rate of convergence that is symmetric about r = 0 is that each added term of the partial series makes a finite contribution to the infinite sum at r = 1 and each added term of the partial series makes a finite contribution to the infinite slope at r = -1.
To derive this formula, first write a general geometric series as:
We can find a simpler formula for this sum by multiplying both sides of the above equation by 1 − r, and we'll see that
since all the other terms cancel. If r ≠ 1, we can rearrange the above to get the convenient formula for a geometric series that computes the sum of n terms:
If one were to begin the sum not from k=1 or 0 but from a different value, say m {\displaystyle m} , then
Differentiating this formula with respect to r {\displaystyle r} allows us to arrive at formulae for sums of the form
For example:
For a geometric series containing only even powers of r {\displaystyle r} multiply by 1 − r 2 {\displaystyle 1-r^{2}} :
Equivalently, take r 2 {\displaystyle r^{2}} as the common ratio and use the standard formulation.
For a series with only odd powers of r {\displaystyle r} ,
An exact formula for the generalized sum G s ( n , r ) {\displaystyle G_{s}(n,r)} when s ∈ N {\displaystyle s\in \mathbb {N} } is expanded by the Stirling numbers of the second kind as
An infinite geometric series is an infinite series whose successive terms have a common ratio. Such a series converges if and only if the absolute value of the common ratio is less than one (|r| < 1). Its value can then be computed from the finite sum formula
Since:
Then:
For a series containing only even powers of r {\displaystyle r} ,
and for odd powers only,
In cases where the sum does not start at k = 0,
The formulae given above are valid only for |r| < 1. The latter formula is valid in every Banach algebra, as long as the norm of r is less than one, and also in the field of p-adic numbers if |r|p < 1. As in the case for a finite sum, we can differentiate to calculate formulae for related sums. For example,
This formula only works for |r| < 1 as well. From this, it follows that, for |r| < 1,
Also, the infinite series 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ⋯ is an elementary example of a series that converges absolutely.
It is a geometric series whose first term is 1/2 and whose common ratio is 1/2, so its sum is
The inverse of the above series is 1/2 − 1/4 + 1/8 − 1/16 + ⋯ is a simple example of an alternating series that converges absolutely.
It is a geometric series whose first term is 1/2 and whose common ratio is −1/2, so its sum is
The summation formula for geometric series remains valid even when the common ratio is a complex number. In this case the condition that the absolute value of r be less than 1 becomes that the modulus of r be less than 1. It is possible to calculate the sums of some non-obvious geometric series. For example, consider the proposition
The proof of this comes from the fact that
which is a consequence of Euler's formula. Substituting this into the original series gives
This is the difference of two geometric series, and so it is a straightforward application of the formula for infinite geometric series that completes the proof.
2,500 years ago, Greek mathematicians had a problem when walking from one place to another: they thought that an infinitely long list of numbers greater than zero summed to infinity. Therefore, it was a paradox when Zeno of Elea pointed out that in order to walk from one place to another, you first have to walk half the distance, and then you have to walk half the remaining distance, and then you have to walk half of that remaining distance, and you continue halving the remaining distances an infinite number of times because no matter how small the remaining distance is you still have to walk the first half of it. Thus, Zeno of Elea transformed a short distance into an infinitely long list of halved remaining distances, all of which are greater than zero. And that was the problem: how can a distance be short when measured directly and also infinite when summed over its infinite list of halved remainders? The paradox revealed something was wrong with the assumption that an infinitely long list of numbers greater than zero summed to infinity.
Euclid's Elements of Geometry Book IX, Proposition 35, proof (of the proposition in adjacent diagram's caption):
Let AA', BC, DD', EF be any multitude whatsoever of continuously proportional numbers, beginning from the least AA'. And let BG and FH, each equal to AA', have been subtracted from BC and EF. I say that as GC is to AA', so EH is to AA', BC, DD'.
For let FK be made equal to BC, and FL to DD'. And since FK is equal to BC, of which FH is equal to BG, the remainder HK is thus equal to the remainder GC. And since as EF is to DD', so DD' to BC, and BC to AA' [Prop. 7.13], and DD' equal to FL, and BC to FK, and AA' to FH, thus as EF is to FL, so LF to FK, and FK to FH. By separation, as EL to LF, so LK to FK, and KH to FH [Props. 7.11, 7.13]. And thus as one of the leading is to one of the following, so (the sum of) all of the leading to (the sum of) all of the following [Prop. 7.12]. Thus, as KH is to FH, so EL, LK, KH to LF, FK, HF. And KH equal to CG, and FH to AA', and LF, FK, HF to DD', BC, AA'. Thus, as CG is to AA', so EH to DD', BC, AA'. Thus, as the excess of the second is to the first, so is the excess of the last is to all those before it. The very thing it was required to show.
The terseness of Euclid's propositions and proofs may have been a necessity. As is, the Elements of Geometry is over 500 pages of propositions and proofs. Making copies of this popular textbook was labor intensive given that the printing press was not invented until 1440. And the book's popularity lasted a long time: as stated in the cited introduction to an English translation, Elements of Geometry "has the distinction of being the world's oldest continuously used mathematical textbook." So being very terse was being very practical. The proof of Proposition 35 in Book IX could have been even more compact if Euclid could have somehow avoided explicitly equating lengths of specific line segments from different terms in the series. For example, the contemporary notation for geometric series (i.e., a + ar + ar + ar + ... + ar) does not label specific portions of terms that are equal to each other.
Also in the cited introduction the editor comments,
Most of the theorems appearing in the Elements were not discovered by Euclid himself, but were the work of earlier Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras (and his school), Hippocrates of Chios, Theaetetus of Athens, and Eudoxus of Cnidos. However, Euclid is generally credited with arranging these theorems in a logical manner, so as to demonstrate (admittedly, not always with the rigour demanded by modern mathematics) that they necessarily follow from five simple axioms. Euclid is also credited with devising a number of particularly ingenious proofs of previously discovered theorems (e.g., Theorem 48 in Book 1).
To help translate the proposition and proof into a form that uses current notation, a couple modifications are in the diagram. First, the four horizontal line lengths representing the values of the first four terms of a geometric series are now labeled a, ar, ar, ar in the diagram's left margin. Second, new labels A' and D' are now on the first and third lines so that all the diagram's line segment names consistently specify the segment's starting point and ending point.
Here is a phrase by phrase interpretation of the proposition:
Similarly, here is a sentence by sentence interpretation of the proof:
Archimedes used the sum of a geometric series to compute the area enclosed by a parabola and a straight line. His method was to dissect the area into an infinite number of triangles.
Archimedes' Theorem states that the total area under the parabola is 4/3 of the area of the blue triangle.
Archimedes determined that each green triangle has 1/8 the area of the blue triangle, each yellow triangle has 1/8 the area of a green triangle, and so forth.
Assuming that the blue triangle has area 1, the total area is an infinite sum:
The first term represents the area of the blue triangle, the second term the areas of the two green triangles, the third term the areas of the four yellow triangles, and so on. Simplifying the fractions gives
This is a geometric series with common ratio 1/4 and the fractional part is equal to
The sum is
This computation uses the method of exhaustion, an early version of integration. Using calculus, the same area could be found by a definite integral.
Among his insights into infinite series, in addition to his elegantly simple proof of the divergence of the harmonic series, Nicole Oresme proved that the series 1/2 + 2/4 + 3/8 + 4/16 + 5/32 + 6/64 + 7/128 + ... converges to 2. His diagram for his geometric proof, similar to the adjacent diagram, shows a two dimensional geometric series. The first dimension is horizontal, in the bottom row showing the geometric series S = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ... , which is the geometric series with coefficient a = 1/2 and common ratio r = 1/2 that converges to S = a / (1-r) = (1/2) / (1-1/2) = 1. The second dimension is vertical, where the bottom row is a new coefficient aT equal to S and each subsequent row above it is scaled by the same common ratio r = 1/2, making another geometric series T = 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ..., which is the geometric series with coefficient aT = S = 1 and common ratio r = 1/2 that converges to T = aT / (1-r) = S / (1-r) = a / (1-r) / (1-r) = (1/2) / (1-1/2) / (1-1/2) = 2.
Although difficult to visualize beyond three dimensions, Oresme's insight generalizes to any dimension d. Using the sum of the d−1 dimension of the geometric series as the coefficient a in the d dimension of the geometric series results in a d-dimensional geometric series converging to S / a = 1 / (1-r) within the range |r|<1. Pascal's triangle and long division reveals the coefficients of these multi-dimensional geometric series, where the closed form is valid only within the range |r|<1.
As an aside, instead of using long division, it is also possible to calculate the coefficients of the d-dimensional geometric series by integrating the coefficients of dimension d−1. This mapping from division by 1-r in the power series sum domain to integration in the power series coefficient domain is a discrete form of the mapping performed by the Laplace transform. MIT Professor Arthur Mattuck shows how to derive the Laplace transform from the power series in this lecture video, where the power series is a mapping between discrete coefficients and a sum and the Laplace transform is a mapping between continuous weights and an integral.
In economics, geometric series are used to represent the present value of an annuity (a sum of money to be paid in regular intervals).
For example, suppose that a payment of $100 will be made to the owner of the annuity once per year (at the end of the year) in perpetuity. Receiving $100 a year from now is worth less than an immediate $100, because one cannot invest the money until one receives it. In particular, the present value of $100 one year in the future is $100 / (1 + I {\displaystyle I} ), where I {\displaystyle I} is the yearly interest rate.
Similarly, a payment of $100 two years in the future has a present value of $100 / (1 + I {\displaystyle I} ) (squared because two years' worth of interest is lost by not receiving the money right now). Therefore, the present value of receiving $100 per year in perpetuity is
which is the infinite series:
This is a geometric series with common ratio 1 / (1 + I {\displaystyle I} ). The sum is the first term divided by (one minus the common ratio):
For example, if the yearly interest rate is 10% ( I {\displaystyle I} = 0.10), then the entire annuity has a present value of $100 / 0.10 = $1000.
This sort of calculation is used to compute the APR of a loan (such as a mortgage loan). It can also be used to estimate the present value of expected stock dividends, or the terminal value of a financial asset assuming a stable growth rate.
The area inside the Koch snowflake can be described as the union of infinitely many equilateral triangles (see figure). Each side of the green triangle is exactly 1/3 the size of a side of the large blue triangle, and therefore has exactly 1/9 the area. Similarly, each yellow triangle has 1/9 the area of a green triangle, and so forth. Taking the blue triangle as a unit of area, the total area of the snowflake is
The first term of this series represents the area of the blue triangle, the second term the total area of the three green triangles, the third term the total area of the twelve yellow triangles, and so forth. Excluding the initial 1, this series is geometric with constant ratio r = 4/9. The first term of the geometric series is a = 3(1/9) = 1/3, so the sum is
Thus the Koch snowflake has 8/5 of the area of the base triangle.
The derivative of f ( x ) = arctan ( u ( x ) ) is f ′ ( x ) = u ′ ( x ) / ( 1 + [ u ( x ) ] 2 ) {\displaystyle f(x)=\arctan(u(x)){\text{ is }}f'(x)=u'(x)/(1+[u(x)]^{2})} because, letting y and u represent f ( x ) and u ( x ) , {\displaystyle y{\text{ and }}u{\text{ represent }}f(x){\text{ and }}u(x),}
Therefore, letting u ( x ) = x , arctan ( x ) {\displaystyle u(x)=x,\arctan(x)} is the integral
which is called Gregory's series and is commonly attributed to Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1340 – c. 1425).
The geometric series has two degrees of freedom: one for its coefficient a and another for its common ratio r. In the map of polynomials, the big red circle represents the set of all geometric series.
Only a subset of all geometric series converge. Specifically, a geometric series converges if and only if its common ratio |r| < 1. In the map of polynomials, the red triangle represents the set of converging geometric series and being drawn inside the big red circle representing the set of all geometric series indicates the converging geometric series is a subset of the geometric series.
Only a subset of all converging geometric series converge to decimal fractions that have repeated patterns that continue forever (e.g., 0.7777... or 0.9999... or 0.123412341234...). In the map of polynomials, the little yellow triangle represents the set of geometric series that converge to infinitely repeated decimal patterns. It is drawn inside the red triangle to indicate it is a subset of the converging geometric series, which in turn is drawn inside the big red circle indicating both the converging geometric series and the geometric series that converge to infinitely repeated patterns are subsets of the geometric series.
Although fractions with infinitely repeated decimal patterns can only be approximated when encoded as floating point numbers, they can always be defined exactly as the ratio of two integers and those two integers can be calculated using the geometric series. For example, the repeated decimal fraction 0.7777... can be written as the geometric series
where coefficient a = 7/10 and common ratio r = 1/10. The geometric series closed form reveals the two integers that specify the repeated pattern:
This approach extends beyond base-ten numbers. In fact, any fraction that has an infinitely repeated pattern in base-ten numbers also has an infinitely repeated pattern in numbers written in any other base. For example, looking at the floating point encoding for the number 0.7777...
julia> bitstring(Float32(0.77777777777777777777)) "00111111010001110001110001110010"
reveals the binary fraction 0.110001110001110001... where the binary pattern 0b110001 repeats indefinitely and can be written in mostly (except for the powers) binary numbers as
where coefficient a = 0b110001 / 0b1000000 = 49 / 64 and common ratio r = 1 / 0b1000000 = 1 / 64. Using the geometric series closed form as before
You may have noticed that the floating point encoding does not capture the 0b110001 repeat pattern in the last couple (least significant) bits. This is because floating point encoding rounds the remainder instead of truncating it. Therefore, if the most significant bit of the remainder is 1, the least significant bit of the encoded fraction gets incremented and that will cause a carry if the least significant bit of the fraction is already 1, which can cause another carry if that bit of the fraction is already a 1, which can cause another carry, etc. This floating point rounding and the subsequent carry propagation explains why the floating point encoding for 0.99999... is exactly the same as the floating point encoding for 1.
julia> bitstring(Float32(0.99999999999999999999)) "00111111100000000000000000000000" julia> bitstring(Float32(1.0)) "00111111100000000000000000000000"
As an example that has four digits in the repeated pattern, 0.123412341234... can be written as the geometric series
where coefficient a = 1234/10000 and common ratio r = 1/10000. The geometric series closed form reveals the two integers that specify the repeated pattern:
Like the geometric series, the power series has one degree of freedom for its common ratio r (along the x-axis) but has n+1 degrees of freedom for its coefficients (along the y-axis), where n represents the power of the last term in the partial series. In the map of polynomials, the big blue circle represents the set of all power series.
In mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor series are equal near this point. Taylor series are named after Brook Taylor, who introduced them in 1715. A Taylor series is also called a Maclaurin series when 0 is the point where the derivatives are considered, after Colin Maclaurin, who made extensive use of this special case of Taylor series in the mid-18th century.
Zeno of Elea's geometric series with coefficient a=1/2 and common ratio r=1/2 is the foundation of binary encoded approximations of fractions in digital computers. Concretely, the geometric series written in its normalized vector form is s/a = [1 1 1 1 1 …][1 r r r r …]. Keeping the column vector of basis functions [1 r r r r …] the same but generalizing the row vector [1 1 1 1 1 …] so that each entry can be either a 0 or a 1 allows for an approximate encoding of any fraction. For example, the value v = 0.34375 is encoded as v/a = [0 1 0 1 1 0 …][1 r r r r …] where coefficient a = 1/2 and common ratio r = 1/2. Typically, the row vector is written in the more compact binary form v = 0.010110 which is 0.34375 in decimal.
Similarly, the geometric series with coefficient a=1 and common ratio r=2 is the foundation for binary encoded integers in digital computers. Again, the geometric series written in its normalized vector form is s/a = [1 1 1 1 1 …][1 r r r r …]. Keeping the column vector of basis functions [1 r r r r …] the same but generalizing the row vector [1 1 1 1 1 …] so that each entry can be either a 0 or a 1 allows for an encoding of any integer. For example, the value v = 151 is encoded as v/a = [1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 …][1 r r r r r r r r …] where coefficient a = 1 and common ratio r = 2. Typically, the row vector is written in reverse order (so that the most significant bit is first) in the more compact binary form v = …010010111 = 10010111 which is 151 in decimal.
As shown in the adjacent figure, the standard binary encoding of a 32-bit floating point number is a combination of a binary encoded integer and a binary encoded fraction, beginning at the most significant bit with
Building upon the previous example of 0.34375 having binary encoding of 0.010110, a floating point encoding (according to the IEEE 754 standard) of 0.34375 is
Although encoding floating point numbers by hand like this is possible, letting a computer do it is easier and less error prone. The following Julia code confirms the hand calculated floating point encoding of the number 0.34375:
julia> bitstring(Float32(0.34375)) "00111110101100000000000000000000"
As an example of the ability of the complex Fourier series to trace any 2D closed figure, in the adjacent animation a complex Fourier series traces the letter 'e' (for exponential). Given the intricate coordination of motions shown in the animation, a definition of the complex Fourier series can be surprisingly compact in just two equations:
where parameterized function s(t) traces some 2D closed figure in the complex plane as the parameter t progresses through the period from 0 to 1.
To help make sense of these compact equations defining the complex Fourier series, note that the complex Fourier series summation looks similar to the complex geometric series except that the complex Fourier series is basically two complex geometric series (one set of terms rotating in the positive direction and another set of terms rotating in the negative direction), and the coefficients of the complex Fourier series are complex constants that can vary from term to term. By allowing terms to rotate in either direction, the series becomes capable of tracing any 2D closed figure. In contrast, the complex geometric series has all the terms rotating in the same direction and it can trace only circles. Allowing the coefficients of the complex geometric series to vary from term to term would expand upon the shapes it can trace but all the possible shapes would still be limited to being puffy and cloud-like, not able to trace the shape of a simple line segment, for example going back and forth between 1 + i0 and -1 + i0. However, Euler's formula shows that the addition of just two terms rotating in opposite directions can trace that line segment between 1 + i0 and -1 + i0:
Concerning the complex Fourier series second equation defining how to calculate the coefficients, the coefficient of the non-rotating term c0 can be calculated by integrating the complex Fourier series first equation over the range of one period from 0 to 1. Over that range, all the rotating terms integrate to zero, leaving just c0. Similarly, any of the terms in the complex Fourier series first equation can be made to be a non-rotating term by multiplying both sides of the equation by e − 2 π i n t {\displaystyle e^{-2\pi int}} before integrating to calculate cn, and that is the complex Fourier series second equation.
In mathematics, a matrix polynomial is a polynomial with square matrices as variables. Given an ordinary, scalar-valued polynomial
this polynomial evaluated at a matrix A {\displaystyle A} is
where I {\displaystyle I} is the identity matrix.
Note that P ( A ) {\displaystyle P(A)} has the same dimension as A {\displaystyle A} .
A matrix polynomial equation is an equality between two matrix polynomials, which holds for the specific matrices in question. A matrix polynomial identity is a matrix polynomial equation which holds for all matrices A in a specified matrix ring Mn(R).
In mathematics, the matrix exponential is a matrix function on square matrices analogous to the ordinary exponential function. It is used to solve systems of linear differential equations. In the theory of Lie groups, the matrix exponential gives the exponential map between a matrix Lie algebra and the corresponding Lie group.
Let X be an n×n real or complex matrix. The exponential of X, denoted by e or exp(X), is the n×n matrix given by the power series
where X 0 {\displaystyle X^{0}} is defined to be the identity matrix I {\displaystyle I} with the same dimensions as X {\displaystyle X} . The series always converges, so the exponential of X is well-defined.
Equivalently,
where I is the n×n identity matrix. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In mathematics, a geometric series is the sum of an infinite number of terms that have a constant ratio between successive terms. For example, the series",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "is geometric, because each successive term can be obtained by multiplying the previous term by 1 / 2 {\\displaystyle 1/2} . In general, a geometric series is written as a + a r + a r 2 + a r 3 + . . . {\\displaystyle a+ar+ar^{2}+ar^{3}+...} , where a {\\displaystyle a} is the coefficient of each term and r {\\displaystyle r} is the common ratio between adjacent terms. The geometric series had an important role in the early development of calculus, is used throughout mathematics, and can serve as an introduction to frequently used mathematical tools such as the Taylor series, the Fourier series, and the matrix exponential.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The name geometric series indicates each term is the geometric mean of its two neighboring terms, similar to how the name arithmetic series indicates each term is the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring terms.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... is written in expanded form. Every coefficient in the geometric series is the same. In contrast, the power series written as a0 + a1r + a2r + a3r + ... in expanded form has coefficients ai that can vary from term to term. In other words, the geometric series is a special case of the power series. The first term of a geometric series in expanded form is the coefficient a of that geometric series.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In addition to the expanded form of the geometric series, there is a generator form of the geometric series written as",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "and a closed form of the geometric series written as",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The derivation of the closed form from the expanded form is shown in this article's § Sum section. However even without that derivation, the result can be confirmed with long division: a divided by (1 - r) results in a + ar + ar + ar + ... , which is the expanded form of the geometric series.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "It is often a convenience in notation to set the series equal to the sum s and work with the geometric series",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Changing even one of the coefficients to something other than coefficient a would change the resulting sum of functions to some function other than a / (1 − r) within the range |r| < 1. As an aside, a particularly useful change to the coefficients is defined by the Taylor series, which describes how to change the coefficients so that the sum of functions converges to any user selected, sufficiently smooth function within a range.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... is an infinite series defined by just two parameters: coefficient a and common ratio r. Common ratio r is the ratio of any term with the previous term in the series. Or equivalently, common ratio r is the term multiplier used to calculate the next term in the series. The following table shows several geometric series:",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The convergence of the geometric series depends on the value of the common ratio r:",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The rate of convergence also depends on the value of the common ratio r. Specifically, the rate of convergence gets slower as r approaches 1 or −1. For example, the geometric series with a = 1 is 1 + r + r + r + ... and converges to 1 / (1 - r) when |r| < 1. However, the number of terms needed to converge approaches infinity as r approaches 1 because a / (1 - r) approaches infinity and each term of the series is less than or equal to one. In contrast, as r approaches −1 the sum of the first several terms of the geometric series starts to converge to 1/2 but slightly flips up or down depending on whether the most recently added term has a power of r that is even or odd. That flipping behavior near r = −1 is illustrated in the adjacent image showing the first 11 terms of the geometric series with a = 1 and |r| < 1.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The common ratio r and the coefficient a also define the geometric progression, which is a list of the terms of the geometric series but without the additions. Therefore the geometric series a + ar + ar + ar + ... has the geometric progression (also called the geometric sequence) a, ar, ar, ar, ... The geometric progression - as simple as it is - models a surprising number of natural phenomena,",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "As an aside, the common ratio r can be a complex number such as |r|e where |r| is the vector's magnitude (or length), θ is the vector's angle (or orientation) in the complex plane and i = -1. With a common ratio |r|e, the expanded form of the geometric series is a + a|r|e + a|r|e + a|r|e + ... Modeling the angle θ as linearly increasing over time at the rate of some angular frequency ω0 (in other words, making the substitution θ = ω0t), the expanded form of the geometric series becomes a + a|r|e + a|r|e + a|r|e + ... , where the first term is a vector of length a not rotating at all, and all the other terms are vectors of different lengths rotating at harmonics of the fundamental angular frequency ω0. The constraint |r|<1 is enough to coordinate this infinite number of vectors of different lengths all rotating at different speeds into tracing a circle, as shown in the adjacent video. Similar to how the Taylor series describes how to change the coefficients so the series converges to a user selected sufficiently smooth function within a range, the Fourier series describes how to change the coefficients (which can also be complex numbers in order to specify the initial angles of vectors) so the series converges to a user selected periodic function.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, up to and including the r term, is given by the closed-form formula:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "where r is the common ratio. One can derive that closed-form formula for the partial sum, sn, by subtracting out the many self-similar terms as follows:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "As n approaches infinity, the absolute value of r must be less than one for the series to converge. The sum then becomes",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The formula also holds for complex r, with the corresponding restriction that the modulus of r is strictly less than one.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "As an aside, the question of whether an infinite series converges is fundamentally a question about the distance between two values: given enough terms, does the value of the partial sum get arbitrarily close to the finite value it is approaching? In the above derivation of the closed form of the geometric series, the interpretation of the distance between two values is the distance between their locations on the number line. That is the most common interpretation of the distance between two values. However, the p-adic metric, which has become a critical notion in modern number theory, offers a definition of distance such that the geometric series 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + ... with a = 1 and r = 2 actually does converge to a / (1 - r) = 1 / (1 - 2) = -1 even though r is outside the typical convergence range |r| < 1.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "We can prove that the geometric series converges using the sum formula for a geometric progression:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The second equality is true because if | r | < 1 , {\\displaystyle |r|<1,} then r n + 1 → 0 {\\displaystyle r^{n+1}\\to 0} as n → ∞ {\\displaystyle n\\to \\infty } and",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Alternatively, a geometric interpretation of the convergence is shown in the adjacent diagram. The area of the white triangle is the series remainder = s − sn = ar / (1 − r). Each additional term in the partial series reduces the area of that white triangle remainder by the area of the trapezoid representing the added term. The trapezoid areas (i.e., the values of the terms) get progressively thinner and shorter and closer to the origin. In the limit, as the number of trapezoids approaches infinity, the white triangle remainder vanishes as it is filled by trapezoids and therefore sn converges to s, provided |r|<1. In contrast, if |r|>1, the trapezoid areas representing the terms of the series instead get progressively wider and taller and farther from the origin, not converging to the origin and not converging as a series.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "After knowing that a series converges, there are some applications in which it is also important to know how quickly the series converges. For the geometric series, one convenient measure of the convergence rate is how much the previous series remainder decreases due to the last term of the partial series. Given that the last term is ar and the previous series remainder is s - sn-1 = ar / (1 - r)), this measure of the convergence rate of the geometric series is ar / (ar / (1 - r)) = 1 - r, if 0 ≤ r < 1.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "If r < 0, adjacent terms in the geometric series alternate between being positive and negative. A geometric interpretation of a converging alternating geometric series is shown in the adjacent diagram in which the areas of the negative terms are shown below the x axis. Pairing and summing each positive area with its negative smaller area neighbor results in non-overlapped trapezoids separated by gaps. To remove the gaps, broaden each trapezoid to cover the rightmost 1 - r of the original triangle area instead of just the rightmost 1 - |r|. However, to maintain the same trapezoid areas during this broadening transformation, scaling is needed: scale*(1 - r) = (1 - |r|), or scale = (1 - |r|) / (1 - r) = (1 + r) / (1 - r) = (1 + r) / ((1 + r)(1 - r)) = 1 / (1 - r) where -1 < r ≤ 0. Note that because r < 0 this scale decreases the amplitude of the separated trapezoids in order to fill in the separation gaps. In contrast, for the case r > 0 the same scale 1 / (1 - r) increases the amplitude of the non-overlapped trapezoids in order to account for the loss of the overlapped areas.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "With the gaps removed, pairs of terms in a converging alternating geometric series become a converging (non-alternating) geometric series with common ratio r to account for the pairing of terms, coefficient a = 1 / (1 - r) to account for the gap filling, and the degree (i.e., highest powered term) of the partial series called m instead of n to emphasize that terms have been paired. Similar to the r > 0 case, the r < 0 convergence rate = ar / (s - sm-1) = 1 - r, which is the same as the convergence rate of a non-alternating geometric series if its terms were similarly paired. Therefore, the convergence rate does not depend upon n or m and, perhaps more surprising, does not depend upon the sign of the common ratio. One perspective that helps explain the variable rate of convergence that is symmetric about r = 0 is that each added term of the partial series makes a finite contribution to the infinite sum at r = 1 and each added term of the partial series makes a finite contribution to the infinite slope at r = -1.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "To derive this formula, first write a general geometric series as:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "We can find a simpler formula for this sum by multiplying both sides of the above equation by 1 − r, and we'll see that",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "since all the other terms cancel. If r ≠ 1, we can rearrange the above to get the convenient formula for a geometric series that computes the sum of n terms:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "If one were to begin the sum not from k=1 or 0 but from a different value, say m {\\displaystyle m} , then",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Differentiating this formula with respect to r {\\displaystyle r} allows us to arrive at formulae for sums of the form",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "For example:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "For a geometric series containing only even powers of r {\\displaystyle r} multiply by 1 − r 2 {\\displaystyle 1-r^{2}} :",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Equivalently, take r 2 {\\displaystyle r^{2}} as the common ratio and use the standard formulation.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "For a series with only odd powers of r {\\displaystyle r} ,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "An exact formula for the generalized sum G s ( n , r ) {\\displaystyle G_{s}(n,r)} when s ∈ N {\\displaystyle s\\in \\mathbb {N} } is expanded by the Stirling numbers of the second kind as",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "An infinite geometric series is an infinite series whose successive terms have a common ratio. Such a series converges if and only if the absolute value of the common ratio is less than one (|r| < 1). Its value can then be computed from the finite sum formula",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Since:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Then:",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "For a series containing only even powers of r {\\displaystyle r} ,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "and for odd powers only,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In cases where the sum does not start at k = 0,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The formulae given above are valid only for |r| < 1. The latter formula is valid in every Banach algebra, as long as the norm of r is less than one, and also in the field of p-adic numbers if |r|p < 1. As in the case for a finite sum, we can differentiate to calculate formulae for related sums. For example,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "This formula only works for |r| < 1 as well. From this, it follows that, for |r| < 1,",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Also, the infinite series 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ⋯ is an elementary example of a series that converges absolutely.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "It is a geometric series whose first term is 1/2 and whose common ratio is 1/2, so its sum is",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The inverse of the above series is 1/2 − 1/4 + 1/8 − 1/16 + ⋯ is a simple example of an alternating series that converges absolutely.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "It is a geometric series whose first term is 1/2 and whose common ratio is −1/2, so its sum is",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The summation formula for geometric series remains valid even when the common ratio is a complex number. In this case the condition that the absolute value of r be less than 1 becomes that the modulus of r be less than 1. It is possible to calculate the sums of some non-obvious geometric series. For example, consider the proposition",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The proof of this comes from the fact that",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "which is a consequence of Euler's formula. Substituting this into the original series gives",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "This is the difference of two geometric series, and so it is a straightforward application of the formula for infinite geometric series that completes the proof.",
"title": "Sum"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "2,500 years ago, Greek mathematicians had a problem when walking from one place to another: they thought that an infinitely long list of numbers greater than zero summed to infinity. Therefore, it was a paradox when Zeno of Elea pointed out that in order to walk from one place to another, you first have to walk half the distance, and then you have to walk half the remaining distance, and then you have to walk half of that remaining distance, and you continue halving the remaining distances an infinite number of times because no matter how small the remaining distance is you still have to walk the first half of it. Thus, Zeno of Elea transformed a short distance into an infinitely long list of halved remaining distances, all of which are greater than zero. And that was the problem: how can a distance be short when measured directly and also infinite when summed over its infinite list of halved remainders? The paradox revealed something was wrong with the assumption that an infinitely long list of numbers greater than zero summed to infinity.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Euclid's Elements of Geometry Book IX, Proposition 35, proof (of the proposition in adjacent diagram's caption):",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Let AA', BC, DD', EF be any multitude whatsoever of continuously proportional numbers, beginning from the least AA'. And let BG and FH, each equal to AA', have been subtracted from BC and EF. I say that as GC is to AA', so EH is to AA', BC, DD'.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "For let FK be made equal to BC, and FL to DD'. And since FK is equal to BC, of which FH is equal to BG, the remainder HK is thus equal to the remainder GC. And since as EF is to DD', so DD' to BC, and BC to AA' [Prop. 7.13], and DD' equal to FL, and BC to FK, and AA' to FH, thus as EF is to FL, so LF to FK, and FK to FH. By separation, as EL to LF, so LK to FK, and KH to FH [Props. 7.11, 7.13]. And thus as one of the leading is to one of the following, so (the sum of) all of the leading to (the sum of) all of the following [Prop. 7.12]. Thus, as KH is to FH, so EL, LK, KH to LF, FK, HF. And KH equal to CG, and FH to AA', and LF, FK, HF to DD', BC, AA'. Thus, as CG is to AA', so EH to DD', BC, AA'. Thus, as the excess of the second is to the first, so is the excess of the last is to all those before it. The very thing it was required to show.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The terseness of Euclid's propositions and proofs may have been a necessity. As is, the Elements of Geometry is over 500 pages of propositions and proofs. Making copies of this popular textbook was labor intensive given that the printing press was not invented until 1440. And the book's popularity lasted a long time: as stated in the cited introduction to an English translation, Elements of Geometry \"has the distinction of being the world's oldest continuously used mathematical textbook.\" So being very terse was being very practical. The proof of Proposition 35 in Book IX could have been even more compact if Euclid could have somehow avoided explicitly equating lengths of specific line segments from different terms in the series. For example, the contemporary notation for geometric series (i.e., a + ar + ar + ar + ... + ar) does not label specific portions of terms that are equal to each other.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Also in the cited introduction the editor comments,",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Most of the theorems appearing in the Elements were not discovered by Euclid himself, but were the work of earlier Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras (and his school), Hippocrates of Chios, Theaetetus of Athens, and Eudoxus of Cnidos. However, Euclid is generally credited with arranging these theorems in a logical manner, so as to demonstrate (admittedly, not always with the rigour demanded by modern mathematics) that they necessarily follow from five simple axioms. Euclid is also credited with devising a number of particularly ingenious proofs of previously discovered theorems (e.g., Theorem 48 in Book 1).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "To help translate the proposition and proof into a form that uses current notation, a couple modifications are in the diagram. First, the four horizontal line lengths representing the values of the first four terms of a geometric series are now labeled a, ar, ar, ar in the diagram's left margin. Second, new labels A' and D' are now on the first and third lines so that all the diagram's line segment names consistently specify the segment's starting point and ending point.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Here is a phrase by phrase interpretation of the proposition:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Similarly, here is a sentence by sentence interpretation of the proof:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Archimedes used the sum of a geometric series to compute the area enclosed by a parabola and a straight line. His method was to dissect the area into an infinite number of triangles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Archimedes' Theorem states that the total area under the parabola is 4/3 of the area of the blue triangle.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Archimedes determined that each green triangle has 1/8 the area of the blue triangle, each yellow triangle has 1/8 the area of a green triangle, and so forth.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Assuming that the blue triangle has area 1, the total area is an infinite sum:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The first term represents the area of the blue triangle, the second term the areas of the two green triangles, the third term the areas of the four yellow triangles, and so on. Simplifying the fractions gives",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "This is a geometric series with common ratio 1/4 and the fractional part is equal to",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "The sum is",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "This computation uses the method of exhaustion, an early version of integration. Using calculus, the same area could be found by a definite integral.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Among his insights into infinite series, in addition to his elegantly simple proof of the divergence of the harmonic series, Nicole Oresme proved that the series 1/2 + 2/4 + 3/8 + 4/16 + 5/32 + 6/64 + 7/128 + ... converges to 2. His diagram for his geometric proof, similar to the adjacent diagram, shows a two dimensional geometric series. The first dimension is horizontal, in the bottom row showing the geometric series S = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ... , which is the geometric series with coefficient a = 1/2 and common ratio r = 1/2 that converges to S = a / (1-r) = (1/2) / (1-1/2) = 1. The second dimension is vertical, where the bottom row is a new coefficient aT equal to S and each subsequent row above it is scaled by the same common ratio r = 1/2, making another geometric series T = 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ..., which is the geometric series with coefficient aT = S = 1 and common ratio r = 1/2 that converges to T = aT / (1-r) = S / (1-r) = a / (1-r) / (1-r) = (1/2) / (1-1/2) / (1-1/2) = 2.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Although difficult to visualize beyond three dimensions, Oresme's insight generalizes to any dimension d. Using the sum of the d−1 dimension of the geometric series as the coefficient a in the d dimension of the geometric series results in a d-dimensional geometric series converging to S / a = 1 / (1-r) within the range |r|<1. Pascal's triangle and long division reveals the coefficients of these multi-dimensional geometric series, where the closed form is valid only within the range |r|<1.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "As an aside, instead of using long division, it is also possible to calculate the coefficients of the d-dimensional geometric series by integrating the coefficients of dimension d−1. This mapping from division by 1-r in the power series sum domain to integration in the power series coefficient domain is a discrete form of the mapping performed by the Laplace transform. MIT Professor Arthur Mattuck shows how to derive the Laplace transform from the power series in this lecture video, where the power series is a mapping between discrete coefficients and a sum and the Laplace transform is a mapping between continuous weights and an integral.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In economics, geometric series are used to represent the present value of an annuity (a sum of money to be paid in regular intervals).",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "For example, suppose that a payment of $100 will be made to the owner of the annuity once per year (at the end of the year) in perpetuity. Receiving $100 a year from now is worth less than an immediate $100, because one cannot invest the money until one receives it. In particular, the present value of $100 one year in the future is $100 / (1 + I {\\displaystyle I} ), where I {\\displaystyle I} is the yearly interest rate.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Similarly, a payment of $100 two years in the future has a present value of $100 / (1 + I {\\displaystyle I} ) (squared because two years' worth of interest is lost by not receiving the money right now). Therefore, the present value of receiving $100 per year in perpetuity is",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "which is the infinite series:",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "This is a geometric series with common ratio 1 / (1 + I {\\displaystyle I} ). The sum is the first term divided by (one minus the common ratio):",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "For example, if the yearly interest rate is 10% ( I {\\displaystyle I} = 0.10), then the entire annuity has a present value of $100 / 0.10 = $1000.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "This sort of calculation is used to compute the APR of a loan (such as a mortgage loan). It can also be used to estimate the present value of expected stock dividends, or the terminal value of a financial asset assuming a stable growth rate.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The area inside the Koch snowflake can be described as the union of infinitely many equilateral triangles (see figure). Each side of the green triangle is exactly 1/3 the size of a side of the large blue triangle, and therefore has exactly 1/9 the area. Similarly, each yellow triangle has 1/9 the area of a green triangle, and so forth. Taking the blue triangle as a unit of area, the total area of the snowflake is",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "The first term of this series represents the area of the blue triangle, the second term the total area of the three green triangles, the third term the total area of the twelve yellow triangles, and so forth. Excluding the initial 1, this series is geometric with constant ratio r = 4/9. The first term of the geometric series is a = 3(1/9) = 1/3, so the sum is",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Thus the Koch snowflake has 8/5 of the area of the base triangle.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "The derivative of f ( x ) = arctan ( u ( x ) ) is f ′ ( x ) = u ′ ( x ) / ( 1 + [ u ( x ) ] 2 ) {\\displaystyle f(x)=\\arctan(u(x)){\\text{ is }}f'(x)=u'(x)/(1+[u(x)]^{2})} because, letting y and u represent f ( x ) and u ( x ) , {\\displaystyle y{\\text{ and }}u{\\text{ represent }}f(x){\\text{ and }}u(x),}",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Therefore, letting u ( x ) = x , arctan ( x ) {\\displaystyle u(x)=x,\\arctan(x)} is the integral",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "which is called Gregory's series and is commonly attributed to Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1340 – c. 1425).",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The geometric series has two degrees of freedom: one for its coefficient a and another for its common ratio r. In the map of polynomials, the big red circle represents the set of all geometric series.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Only a subset of all geometric series converge. Specifically, a geometric series converges if and only if its common ratio |r| < 1. In the map of polynomials, the red triangle represents the set of converging geometric series and being drawn inside the big red circle representing the set of all geometric series indicates the converging geometric series is a subset of the geometric series.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Only a subset of all converging geometric series converge to decimal fractions that have repeated patterns that continue forever (e.g., 0.7777... or 0.9999... or 0.123412341234...). In the map of polynomials, the little yellow triangle represents the set of geometric series that converge to infinitely repeated decimal patterns. It is drawn inside the red triangle to indicate it is a subset of the converging geometric series, which in turn is drawn inside the big red circle indicating both the converging geometric series and the geometric series that converge to infinitely repeated patterns are subsets of the geometric series.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Although fractions with infinitely repeated decimal patterns can only be approximated when encoded as floating point numbers, they can always be defined exactly as the ratio of two integers and those two integers can be calculated using the geometric series. For example, the repeated decimal fraction 0.7777... can be written as the geometric series",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "where coefficient a = 7/10 and common ratio r = 1/10. The geometric series closed form reveals the two integers that specify the repeated pattern:",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "This approach extends beyond base-ten numbers. In fact, any fraction that has an infinitely repeated pattern in base-ten numbers also has an infinitely repeated pattern in numbers written in any other base. For example, looking at the floating point encoding for the number 0.7777...",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "julia> bitstring(Float32(0.77777777777777777777)) \"00111111010001110001110001110010\"",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "reveals the binary fraction 0.110001110001110001... where the binary pattern 0b110001 repeats indefinitely and can be written in mostly (except for the powers) binary numbers as",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "where coefficient a = 0b110001 / 0b1000000 = 49 / 64 and common ratio r = 1 / 0b1000000 = 1 / 64. Using the geometric series closed form as before",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "You may have noticed that the floating point encoding does not capture the 0b110001 repeat pattern in the last couple (least significant) bits. This is because floating point encoding rounds the remainder instead of truncating it. Therefore, if the most significant bit of the remainder is 1, the least significant bit of the encoded fraction gets incremented and that will cause a carry if the least significant bit of the fraction is already 1, which can cause another carry if that bit of the fraction is already a 1, which can cause another carry, etc. This floating point rounding and the subsequent carry propagation explains why the floating point encoding for 0.99999... is exactly the same as the floating point encoding for 1.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "julia> bitstring(Float32(0.99999999999999999999)) \"00111111100000000000000000000000\" julia> bitstring(Float32(1.0)) \"00111111100000000000000000000000\"",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "As an example that has four digits in the repeated pattern, 0.123412341234... can be written as the geometric series",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "where coefficient a = 1234/10000 and common ratio r = 1/10000. The geometric series closed form reveals the two integers that specify the repeated pattern:",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Like the geometric series, the power series has one degree of freedom for its common ratio r (along the x-axis) but has n+1 degrees of freedom for its coefficients (along the y-axis), where n represents the power of the last term in the partial series. In the map of polynomials, the big blue circle represents the set of all power series.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "In mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor series are equal near this point. Taylor series are named after Brook Taylor, who introduced them in 1715. A Taylor series is also called a Maclaurin series when 0 is the point where the derivatives are considered, after Colin Maclaurin, who made extensive use of this special case of Taylor series in the mid-18th century.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Zeno of Elea's geometric series with coefficient a=1/2 and common ratio r=1/2 is the foundation of binary encoded approximations of fractions in digital computers. Concretely, the geometric series written in its normalized vector form is s/a = [1 1 1 1 1 …][1 r r r r …]. Keeping the column vector of basis functions [1 r r r r …] the same but generalizing the row vector [1 1 1 1 1 …] so that each entry can be either a 0 or a 1 allows for an approximate encoding of any fraction. For example, the value v = 0.34375 is encoded as v/a = [0 1 0 1 1 0 …][1 r r r r …] where coefficient a = 1/2 and common ratio r = 1/2. Typically, the row vector is written in the more compact binary form v = 0.010110 which is 0.34375 in decimal.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "Similarly, the geometric series with coefficient a=1 and common ratio r=2 is the foundation for binary encoded integers in digital computers. Again, the geometric series written in its normalized vector form is s/a = [1 1 1 1 1 …][1 r r r r …]. Keeping the column vector of basis functions [1 r r r r …] the same but generalizing the row vector [1 1 1 1 1 …] so that each entry can be either a 0 or a 1 allows for an encoding of any integer. For example, the value v = 151 is encoded as v/a = [1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 …][1 r r r r r r r r …] where coefficient a = 1 and common ratio r = 2. Typically, the row vector is written in reverse order (so that the most significant bit is first) in the more compact binary form v = …010010111 = 10010111 which is 151 in decimal.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "As shown in the adjacent figure, the standard binary encoding of a 32-bit floating point number is a combination of a binary encoded integer and a binary encoded fraction, beginning at the most significant bit with",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Building upon the previous example of 0.34375 having binary encoding of 0.010110, a floating point encoding (according to the IEEE 754 standard) of 0.34375 is",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "Although encoding floating point numbers by hand like this is possible, letting a computer do it is easier and less error prone. The following Julia code confirms the hand calculated floating point encoding of the number 0.34375:",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "julia> bitstring(Float32(0.34375)) \"00111110101100000000000000000000\"",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "As an example of the ability of the complex Fourier series to trace any 2D closed figure, in the adjacent animation a complex Fourier series traces the letter 'e' (for exponential). Given the intricate coordination of motions shown in the animation, a definition of the complex Fourier series can be surprisingly compact in just two equations:",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "where parameterized function s(t) traces some 2D closed figure in the complex plane as the parameter t progresses through the period from 0 to 1.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "To help make sense of these compact equations defining the complex Fourier series, note that the complex Fourier series summation looks similar to the complex geometric series except that the complex Fourier series is basically two complex geometric series (one set of terms rotating in the positive direction and another set of terms rotating in the negative direction), and the coefficients of the complex Fourier series are complex constants that can vary from term to term. By allowing terms to rotate in either direction, the series becomes capable of tracing any 2D closed figure. In contrast, the complex geometric series has all the terms rotating in the same direction and it can trace only circles. Allowing the coefficients of the complex geometric series to vary from term to term would expand upon the shapes it can trace but all the possible shapes would still be limited to being puffy and cloud-like, not able to trace the shape of a simple line segment, for example going back and forth between 1 + i0 and -1 + i0. However, Euler's formula shows that the addition of just two terms rotating in opposite directions can trace that line segment between 1 + i0 and -1 + i0:",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Concerning the complex Fourier series second equation defining how to calculate the coefficients, the coefficient of the non-rotating term c0 can be calculated by integrating the complex Fourier series first equation over the range of one period from 0 to 1. Over that range, all the rotating terms integrate to zero, leaving just c0. Similarly, any of the terms in the complex Fourier series first equation can be made to be a non-rotating term by multiplying both sides of the equation by e − 2 π i n t {\\displaystyle e^{-2\\pi int}} before integrating to calculate cn, and that is the complex Fourier series second equation.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In mathematics, a matrix polynomial is a polynomial with square matrices as variables. Given an ordinary, scalar-valued polynomial",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "this polynomial evaluated at a matrix A {\\displaystyle A} is",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "where I {\\displaystyle I} is the identity matrix.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Note that P ( A ) {\\displaystyle P(A)} has the same dimension as A {\\displaystyle A} .",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "A matrix polynomial equation is an equality between two matrix polynomials, which holds for the specific matrices in question. A matrix polynomial identity is a matrix polynomial equation which holds for all matrices A in a specified matrix ring Mn(R).",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "In mathematics, the matrix exponential is a matrix function on square matrices analogous to the ordinary exponential function. It is used to solve systems of linear differential equations. In the theory of Lie groups, the matrix exponential gives the exponential map between a matrix Lie algebra and the corresponding Lie group.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "Let X be an n×n real or complex matrix. The exponential of X, denoted by e or exp(X), is the n×n matrix given by the power series",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "where X 0 {\\displaystyle X^{0}} is defined to be the identity matrix I {\\displaystyle I} with the same dimensions as X {\\displaystyle X} . The series always converges, so the exponential of X is well-defined.",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "Equivalently,",
"title": "Instances"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "where I is the n×n identity matrix.",
"title": "Instances"
}
]
| In mathematics, a geometric series is the sum of an infinite number of terms that have a constant ratio between successive terms. For example, the series is geometric, because each successive term can be obtained by multiplying the previous term by 1 / 2 . In general, a geometric series is written as a + a r + a r 2 + a r 3 + . . . , where a is the coefficient of each term and r is the common ratio between adjacent terms. The geometric series had an important role in the early development of calculus, is used throughout mathematics, and can serve as an introduction to frequently used mathematical tools such as the Taylor series, the Fourier series, and the matrix exponential. The name geometric series indicates each term is the geometric mean of its two neighboring terms, similar to how the name arithmetic series indicates each term is the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring terms. | 2001-09-27T18:14:06Z | 2023-12-24T12:40:33Z | [
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:MathWorld",
"Template:Springer",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Tmath",
"Template:Abs",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Calculus",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Math",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Slink",
"Template:Annotated link",
"Template:Harvtxt",
"Template:PlanetMath",
"Template:Pipe",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Break",
"Template:Excerpt",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Calculus topics",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_series |
12,634 | List of islands of Greece | Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227.
The largest Greek island by both area and population is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island in area is Euboea or Evvia, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the Central Greece region. After the third and fourth largest Greek islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller.
The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic Gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of Euboea; and the Ionian Islands, chiefly located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Crete with its surrounding islets and Euboea are traditionally excluded from this grouping.
This article excludes the Peloponnese, which has technically been an island since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893, but is rarely considered to be an island due to its artificial origins
The following are the 40 largest Greek islands listed by surface area.
This list includes Argo-Saronic islands, which are located in the Saronic Gulf. The largest Argo-Saronic island is Salamis. The main islands are in bold. Uninhabited islands are indicated, including those that may have been inhabited in the past:
The two lists below show the islands, islets, and rocks that surround the island of Crete that are in the Aegean Sea or Libyan Sea.
Islands on the south coast of Crete are considered in the Libyan Sea.
The Cyclades islands comprise around 220 islands and islets. The main islands are indicated in bold below.
There are 164 total Dodecanese Islands of which 26 are inhabited. There are 12 main islands, as listed in bold below:
There are also two North Aegean islands in the Thracian Sea:
The 30 islands in the Sporades are listed below with the four major islands in bold. The largest Sporades island is Skyros.
Islands in the Ionian Sea are listed below. The seven largest and most popular islands are listed in bold.
The following islands are close to the mainland and not part of a sea: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The largest Greek island by both area and population is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island in area is Euboea or Evvia, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the Central Greece region. After the third and fourth largest Greek islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic Gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of Euboea; and the Ionian Islands, chiefly located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Crete with its surrounding islets and Euboea are traditionally excluded from this grouping.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "This article excludes the Peloponnese, which has technically been an island since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893, but is rarely considered to be an island due to its artificial origins",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The following are the 40 largest Greek islands listed by surface area.",
"title": "Islands of Greece by size"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "This list includes Argo-Saronic islands, which are located in the Saronic Gulf. The largest Argo-Saronic island is Salamis. The main islands are in bold. Uninhabited islands are indicated, including those that may have been inhabited in the past:",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The two lists below show the islands, islets, and rocks that surround the island of Crete that are in the Aegean Sea or Libyan Sea.",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Islands on the south coast of Crete are considered in the Libyan Sea.",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Cyclades islands comprise around 220 islands and islets. The main islands are indicated in bold below.",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "There are 164 total Dodecanese Islands of which 26 are inhabited. There are 12 main islands, as listed in bold below:",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "There are also two North Aegean islands in the Thracian Sea:",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The 30 islands in the Sporades are listed below with the four major islands in bold. The largest Sporades island is Skyros.",
"title": "Islands of the Aegean Sea"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Islands in the Ionian Sea are listed below. The seven largest and most popular islands are listed in bold.",
"title": "Ionian Sea islands"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The following islands are close to the mainland and not part of a sea:",
"title": "Islets close to mainland"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by both area and population is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island in area is Euboea or Evvia, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the Central Greece region. After the third and fourth largest Greek islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller. The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic Gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of Euboea; and the Ionian Islands, chiefly located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Crete with its surrounding islets and Euboea are traditionally excluded from this grouping. This article excludes the Peloponnese, which has technically been an island since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893, but is rarely considered to be an island due to its artificial origins | 2001-09-28T08:05:16Z | 2023-12-13T15:33:36Z | [
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Ionian Islands",
"Template:Islands of Europe",
"Template:The Sporades",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:The Cyclades",
"Template:Saronic",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Wikivoyage-inline",
"Template:Aegean Sea",
"Template:Echinades",
"Template:Dodecanese Islands",
"Template:GeoGroup",
"Template:Cvt",
"Template:Coord",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Greece topics",
"Template:Cretan islands"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Greece |
12,635 | Gian Lorenzo Bernini | Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (UK: /bɛərˈniːni/, US: /bərˈ-/, Italian: [ˈdʒan loˈrɛntso berˈniːni]; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ..." In addition, he was a painter (mostly small canvases in oil) and a man of the theatre: he wrote, directed and acted in plays (mostly Carnival satires), for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.
As an architect and city planner, he designed secular buildings, churches, chapels, and public squares, as well as massive works combining both architecture and sculpture, especially elaborate public fountains and funerary monuments and a whole series of temporary structures (in stucco and wood) for funerals and festivals. His broad technical versatility, boundless compositional inventiveness and sheer skill in manipulating marble ensured that he would be considered a worthy successor of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his generation. His talent extended beyond the confines of sculpture to a consideration of the setting in which it would be situated; his ability to synthesize sculpture, painting, and architecture into a coherent conceptual and visual whole has been termed by the late art historian Irving Lavin the "unity of the visual arts".
Bernini was born on 7 December 1598 in Naples to Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan, and Mannerist sculptor Pietro Bernini, originally from Florence. He was the sixth of their thirteen children. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was "recognized as a prodigy when he was only eight years old, [and] he was consistently encouraged by his father, Pietro. His precocity earned him the admiration and favour of powerful patrons who hailed him as 'the Michelangelo of his century'”. More specifically, it was Pope Paul V, who after first attesting to the boy Bernini's talent, famously remarked, 'This child will be the Michelangelo of his age,' later repeating that prophecy to Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (the future Pope Urban VIII), as Domenico Bernini reports in his biography of his father. In 1606 his father received a papal commission (to contribute a marble relief in the Cappella Paolina of Santa Maria Maggiore) and so moved from Naples to Rome, taking his entire family with him and continuing in earnest the training of his son Gian Lorenzo.
Several extant works, dating circa 1615–1620, are by general scholarly consensus, collaborative efforts by both father and son: they include the Faun Teased by Putti (c. 1615, Metropolitan Museum, NYC), Boy with a Dragon (c. 1616–17, Getty Museum, Los Angeles), the Aldobrandini Four Seasons (c. 1620, private collection), and the recently discovered Bust of the Savior (1615–16, New York, private collection). Sometime after the arrival of the Bernini family in Rome, word about the great talent of the boy Gian Lorenzo spread throughout the city and he soon caught the attention of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew to the reigning pope, Paul V, who spoke of the boy genius to his uncle. Bernini was therefore presented before Pope Paul V, curious to see if the stories about Gian Lorenzo's talent were true. The boy improvised a sketch of Saint Paul for the marvelling pope, and this was the beginning of the pope's attention on this young talent.
Once he was brought to Rome, he rarely left its walls, except (much against his will) for a five-month stay in Paris in the service of King Louis XIV and brief trips to nearby towns (including Civitavecchia, Tivoli and Castelgandolfo), mostly for work-related reasons. Rome was Bernini's city: "You are made for Rome," said Pope Urban VIII to him, "and Rome for you." It was in this world of 17th-century Rome and the international religious-political power which resided there that Bernini created his greatest works. Bernini's works are therefore often characterized as perfect expressions of the spirit of the assertive, triumphal but self-defensive Counter Reformation Catholic Church. Certainly, Bernini was a man of his times and deeply religious (at least later in life), but he and his artistic production should not be reduced simply to instruments of the papacy and its political-doctrinal programs, an impression that is at times communicated by the works of the three most eminent Bernini scholars of the previous generation, Rudolf Wittkower, Howard Hibbard, and Irving Lavin. As Tomaso Montanari's recent revisionist monograph, La libertà di Bernini (Turin: Einaudi, 2016) argues and Franco Mormando's anti-hagiographic biography, Bernini: His Life and His Rome (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), illustrates, Bernini and his artistic vision maintained a certain degree of freedom from the mindset and mores of Counter-Reformation Roman Catholicism.
Under the patronage of the extravagantly wealthy and most powerful Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a sculptor. Among his early works for the cardinal, as an assistant in his father's workshop, would have been small contributions to decorative pieces for the garden of the Villa Borghese, such as perhaps The Allegory of Autumn (formerly in the Hester Diamond collection in New York). Another small garden ornament work (in the Galleria Borghese since Bernini's lifetime), The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun, was from 1926 until 2022 generally considered by scholars to be the earliest work executed entirely by the young Bernini himself, despite the fact that it is never mentioned in any of the contemporary sources, except for a late reference (1675) as a Bernini work by Joachim von Sandrart, a German visitor to Rome, an attribution that was given no credence until the twentieth century. However, the official 2022 Catalogo generale (vol. 1, Sculture moderne, cat. 41) of the Galleria Borghese, edited by Anna Coliva (former director of the gallery) formally removes the attribution to Bernini completely, on the basis of both stylistic, technical, and historical (documentary) grounds.
Instead, among Bernini's earliest and securely documented work is his collaboration on his father's commission of February 1618 from Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to create four marble putti for the Barberini family chapel in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the contract stipulating that his son Gian Lorenzo would assist in the execution of the statues. Also dating to 1618 is a letter by Maffeo Barberini in Rome to his brother Carlo in Florence, which mentions that he (Maffeo) was thinking of asking the young Gian Lorenzo to finish one of the statues left incomplete by Michelangelo, then in possession of Michelangelo's grandnephew which Maffeo was hoping to purchase, a remarkable attestation of the great skill that the young Bernini was already believed to possess.
Although the Michelangelo statue-completion commission came to nought, the young Bernini was shortly thereafter (in 1619) commissioned to repair and complete a famous work of antiquity, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus owned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese (Galleria Borghese, Rome) and later (circa 1622) restored the so-called Ludovisi Ares (Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome).
Also dating to this early period are the so-called Damned Soul and Blessed Soul of circa 1619, two small marble busts which may have been influenced by a set of prints by Pieter de Jode I or Karel van Mallery, but which were in fact unambiguously catalogued in the inventory of their first documented owner, Fernando de Botinete y Acevedo, as depicting a nymph and a satyr, a commonly paired duo in ancient sculpture (they were not commissioned by nor ever belonged to either Scipione Borghese or, as most scholarship erroneously claims, the Spanish cleric, Pedro Foix Montoya). By the time he was twenty-two, Bernini was considered talented enough to have been given a commission for a papal portrait, the Bust of Pope Paul V, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Bernini's reputation, however, was definitively established by four masterpieces, executed between 1619 and 1625, all now displayed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. To the art historian Rudolf Wittkower these four works—Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius (1619), The Rape of Proserpina (1621–22), Apollo and Daphne (1622–1625), and David (1623–24)—"inaugurated a new era in the history of European sculpture." It is a view repeated by other scholars, such as Howard Hibbard who proclaimed that, in all of the seventeenth century, "there were no sculptors or architects comparable to Bernini." Adapting the classical grandeur of Renaissance sculpture and the dynamic energy of the Mannerist period, Bernini forged a new, distinctly Baroque conception for religious and historical sculpture, powerfully imbued with dramatic realism, stirring emotion and dynamic, theatrical compositions. Bernini's early sculpture groups and portraits manifest "a command of the human form in motion and a technical sophistication rivalled only by the greatest sculptors of classical antiquity." Moreover, Bernini possessed the ability to depict highly dramatic narratives with characters showing intense psychological states, but also to organize large-scale sculptural works that convey a magnificent grandeur.
Unlike sculptures done by his predecessors, these focus on specific points of narrative tension in the stories they are trying to tell: Aeneas and his family fleeing the burning Troy; the instant that Pluto finally grasps the hunted Persephone; the precise moment that Apollo sees his beloved Daphne begin her transformation into a tree. They are transitory but dramatic powerful moments in each story. Bernini's David is another stirring example of this. Michelangelo's motionless, idealized David shows the subject holding a rock in one hand and a sling in the other, contemplating the battle; similarly immobile versions by other Renaissance artists, including Donatello's, show the subject in his triumph after the battle with Goliath. Bernini illustrates David during his active combat with the giant, as he twists his body to catapult toward Goliath. To emphasize these moments and to ensure that they were appreciated by the viewer, Bernini designed the sculptures with a specific viewpoint in mind, though he sculpted them fully in the round. Their original placements within the Villa Borghese were against walls so that the viewers' first view was the dramatic moment of the narrative.
The result of such an approach is to invest the sculptures with greater psychological energy. The viewer finds it easier to gauge the state of mind of the characters and therefore understands the larger story at work: Daphne's wide open mouth in fear and astonishment, David biting his lip in determined concentration, or Proserpina desperately struggling to free herself. This is shown by how Bernini portrays her braids coming undone which reveals her emotional distress. In addition to portraying psychological realism, they show a greater concern for representing physical details. The tousled hair of Pluto, the pliant flesh of Proserpina, or the forest of leaves beginning to envelop Daphne all demonstrate Bernini's exactitude and delight for representing complex real world textures in marble form.
In 1621 Pope Paul V Borghese was succeeded on the throne of St. Peter by another admiring friend of Bernini's, Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi, who became Pope Gregory XV: although his reign was very short (he died in 1623), Pope Gregory commissioned portraits of himself (both in marble and bronze) by Bernini. The pontiff also bestowed upon Bernini the honorific rank of 'Cavaliere,' the title with which for the rest of his life the artist was habitually referred. In 1623 came the ascent to the papal throne of his aforementioned friend and former tutor, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, as Pope Urban VIII, and henceforth (until Urban's death in 1644) Bernini enjoyed near monopolistic patronage from the Barberini pope and family. The new Pope Urban is reported to have remarked, "It is a great fortune for you, O Cavaliere, to see Cardinal Maffeo Barberini made pope, but our fortune is even greater to have Cavalier Bernini alive in our pontificate." Although he did not fare as well during the reign (1644–55) of Innocent X, under Innocent's successor, Alexander VII (reigned 1655–67), Bernini once again gained pre-eminent artistic domination and continued in the successive pontificate to be held in high regard by Clement IX during his short reign (1667–69).
Under Urban VIII's patronage, Bernini's horizons rapidly and widely broadened: he was not just producing sculpture for private residences, but playing the most significant artistic (and engineering) role on the city stage, as sculptor, architect, and urban planner. His official appointments also testify to this—"curator of the papal art collection, director of the papal foundry at Castel Sant'Angelo, commissioner of the fountains of Piazza Navona". Such positions gave Bernini the opportunity to demonstrate his versatile skills throughout the city. To great protest from older, experienced master architects, he, with virtually no architectural training to his name, was appointed "Architect of St Peter's" in 1629, upon the death of Carlo Maderno. From then on, Bernini's work and artistic vision would be placed at the symbolic heart of Rome.
Bernini's artistic pre-eminence under Urban VIII (and later under Alexander VII) meant he was able to secure the most important commissions in the Rome of his day, namely, the various massive embellishment projects of the newly finished St. Peter's Basilica, completed under Pope Paul V with the addition of Maderno's nave and facade and finally re-consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on 18 November 1626, after 100 years of planning and building. Within the basilica he was responsible for the Baldacchino, the decoration of the four piers under the cupola, the Cathedra Petri or Chair of St. Peter in the apse, the Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the right nave, and the decoration (floor, walls and arches) of the new nave. The St Peter's Baldacchino immediately became the visual centrepiece of the new St. Peter's. Designed as a massive spiralling gilded bronze canopy over the tomb of St Peter, Bernini's four-pillared creation reached nearly 30 m (98 ft) from the ground and cost around 200,000 Roman scudi (about 8 million US dollars in the currency of the early 21st century). "Quite simply", writes one art historian, "nothing like it had ever been seen before". Soon after the St Peter's Baldacchino, Bernini undertook the whole-scale embellishment of the four massive piers at the crossing of the basilica (i.e., the structures supporting the cupola) including, most notably, four colossal, theatrically dramatic statues. Among the latter is the majestic St. Longinus executed by Bernini himself (the other three are by other contemporary sculptors François Duquesnoy, Francesco Mochi, and Bernini's disciple, Andrea Bolgi).
In the basilica, Bernini also began work on the tomb for Urban VIII, completed only after Urban's death in 1644, one in a long, distinguished series of tombs and funerary monuments for which Bernini is famous and a traditional genre upon which his influence left an enduring mark, often copied by subsequent artists. Indeed, Bernini's final and most original tomb monument, the Tomb of Pope Alexander VII, in St. Peter's Basilica, represents, according to Erwin Panofsky, the very pinnacle of European funerary art, whose creative inventiveness subsequent artists could not hope to surpass.
Despite this busy engagement with large works of public architecture, Bernini was still able to devote himself to his sculpture, especially portraits in marble, but also large statues such as the life-size Saint Bibiana (1624, Church of Santa Bibiana, Rome). Bernini's portraits show his ever-increasing ability to capture the utterly distinctive personal characteristics of his sitters, as well as his ability to achieve in cold white marble almost painterly-like effects that render with convincing realism the various surfaces involved: human flesh, hair, fabric of varying type, metal, etc. These portraits included a number of busts of Urban VIII himself, the family bust of Francesco Barberini and most notably, the Two Busts of Scipione Borghese—the second of which had been rapidly created by Bernini once a flaw had been found in the marble of the first. The transitory nature of the expression on Scipione's face is often noted by art historians, as iconic of the Baroque concern for representing fleeting movement in static artworks. To Rudolf Wittkower the "beholder feels that in the twinkle of an eye not only might the expression and attitude change but also the folds of the casually arranged mantle".
Other marble portraits in this period include that of Costanza Bonarelli unusual in its more personal, intimate nature. (At the time of the sculpting of the portrait, Bernini was having an affair with Costanza, wife of one of his assistants, sculptor, Matteo.) Indeed, it would appear to be the first marble portrait of a non-aristocratic woman by a major artist in European history.
Beginning in the late 1630s, now known in Europe as one of the most accomplished portraitists in marble, Bernini also began to receive royal commissions from outside Rome, for subjects such as Cardinal Richelieu of France, Francesco I d'Este the powerful Duke of Modena, Charles I of England and his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. The bust of Charles I was produced in Rome from a triple portrait (oil on canvas) executed by Van Dyck, that survives today in the British Royal Collection. The bust of Charles was lost in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698 (though its design is known through contemporary copies and drawings) and that of Henrietta Maria was not undertaken due to the outbreak of the English Civil War.
In 1644, with the death of Pope Urban with whom Bernini had been so intimately connected and the ascent to power of the fierce Barberini-enemy Pope Innocent X Pamphilj, Bernini's career suffered a major, unprecedented eclipse, which was to last four years. This had not only to do with Innocent's anti-Barberini politics but also with Bernini's role in the disastrous project of the new bell towers for St. Peter's basilica, designed and supervised entirely by Bernini.
The infamous bell tower affair was to be the biggest failure of his career, both professionally and financially. In 1636, eager to finally finish the exterior of St. Peter's, Pope Urban had ordered Bernini to design and build the two, long-intended bell towers for its facade: the foundations of the two towers had already been designed and constructed (namely, the last bays at either extremity of the facade) by Carlo Maderno (architect of the nave and the façade) decades earlier. Once the first tower was finished in 1641, cracks began to appear in the façade but, curiously enough, work nonetheless continued on the second tower and the first storey was completed. Despite the presence of the cracks, work only stopped in July 1642 once the papal treasury had been exhausted by the disastrous Wars of Castro. Knowing that Bernini could no longer depend on the protection of a favourable pope, his enemies (especially Francesco Borromini) raised a great alarm over the cracks, predicting a disaster for the whole basilica and placing the blame entirely on Bernini. The subsequent investigations, in fact, revealed the cause of the cracks as Maderno's defective foundations and not Bernini's elaborate design, an exoneration later confirmed by the meticulous investigation conducted in 1680 under Pope Innocent XI.
Nonetheless, Bernini's opponents in Rome succeeded in seriously damaging the reputation of Urban's artist and in persuading Pope Innocent to order (in February 1646) the complete demolition of both towers, to Bernini's great humiliation and indeed financial detriment (in the form of a substantial fine for the failure of the work). After this, one of the rare failures of his career, Bernini retreated into himself: according to his son, Domenico. his subsequent unfinished statue of 1647, Truth Unveiled by Time, was intended to be his self-consoling commentary on this affair, expressing his faith that eventually Time would reveal the actual Truth behind the story and exonerate him fully, as indeed did occur.
Although he received no personal commissions from Innocent or the Pamphilj family in the early years of the new papacy, Bernini did not lose his former positions granted to him by previous popes. Innocent X maintained Bernini in all of the official roles given to him by Urban, including his most prestigious one as "Architect of St. Peter's." Under Bernini's design and direction, work continued on decorating the massive, recently completed but still entirely unadorned nave of St. Peter's, with the addition of elaborate multi-coloured marble flooring, marble facing on the walls and pilasters, and scores of stuccoed statues and reliefs. It is not without reason that Pope Alexander VII once quipped, 'If one were to remove from Saint Peter's everything that had been made by the Cavalier Bernini, that temple would be stripped bare.' Indeed, given all of his many and various works within the basilica over several decades, it is to Bernini that is due the lion's share of responsibility for the final and enduring aesthetic appearance and emotional impact of St. Peter's. He was also allowed to continue to work on Urban VIII's tomb, despite Innocent's antipathy for the Barberini. A few months after completing Urban's tomb, in 1648 Bernini won (through furtive manoeuvring with the complicity of the pope's sister-in-law Donna Olimpia) the Pamphilj commission for the prestigious Four Rivers Fountain on Piazza Navona, marking the end of his disgrace and the beginning a yet another glorious chapter in his life.
If there had been doubts over Bernini's position as Rome's preeminent artist, they were definitively removed by the unqualified success of the marvellously delightful and technically ingenious Four Rivers Fountain, featuring a heavy ancient obelisk placed over a void created by a cavelike rock formation placed in the centre of an ocean of exotic sea creatures. Bernini continued to receive commissions from Pope Innocent X and other senior members of Rome's clergy and aristocracy, as well as from exalted patrons outside of Rome, such as Francesco d'Este. Recovering quickly form the humiliation of the bell towers, Bernini's boundless creativity continued as before. New types of funerary monument were designed, such as, in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the seemingly floating medallion, hovering in the air as it were, for the deceased nun Maria Raggi, while chapels he designed, such as the Raimondi Chapel in the church of San Pietro in Montorio, illustrated how Bernini could use hidden lighting to help suggest divine intervention within the narratives he was depicting and to add a dramatically theatrical "spotlight" to enhance the main focus of the space.
One of the most accomplished and celebrated works to come from Bernini's hand in this period was the Cornaro Family Chapel in the small Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. The Cornaro Chapel (inaugurated in 1651) showcased Bernini's ability to integrate sculpture, architecture, fresco, stucco, and lighting into "a marvellous whole" (bel composto, to use early biographer Filippo Baldinucci's term to describe his approach to architecture) and thus create what scholar Irving Lavin has called the "unified work of art". The central focus of the Cornaro Chapel is the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, depicting the so-called "transverberation" of the Spanish nun and saint-mystic, Teresa of Avila. Bernini presents the spectator with a theatrically vivid portrait, in gleaming white marble, of the swooning Teresa and the quietly smiling angel, who delicately grips the arrow piercing the saint's heart. On either side of the chapel the artist places (in what can only strike the viewer as theatre boxes), portraits in relief of various members of the Cornaro family—the Venetian family memorialized in the chapel, including Cardinal Federico Cornaro who commissioned the chapel from Bernini—who are in animated conversation among themselves, presumably about the event taking place before them. The result is a complex but subtly orchestrated architectural environment providing the spiritual context (a heavenly setting with a hidden source of light) that suggests to viewers the ultimate nature of this miraculous event.
Nonetheless, during Bernini's lifetime and in the centuries following till this very day, Bernini's Saint Teresa has been accused of crossing a line of decency by sexualizing the visual depiction of the saint's experience, to a degree that no artist, before or after Bernini, dared to do: in depicting her at an impossibly young chronological age, as an idealized delicate beauty, in a semi-prostrate position with her mouth open and her legs splayed-apart, her wimple coming undone, with prominently displayed bare feet (Discalced Carmelites, for modesty, always wore sandals with heavy stockings) and with the seraph "undressing" her by (unnecessarily) parting her mantle to penetrate her heart with his arrow.
Matters of decorum aside, Bernini's Teresa was still an artistic tour de force that incorporates all of the multiple forms of visual art and technique that Bernini had at his disposal, including hidden lighting, thin gilded beams, recessive architectural space, secret lens, and over twenty diverse types of colored marble: these all combine to create the final artwork—"a perfected, highly dramatic and deeply satisfying seamless ensemble".
Upon his accession to the Chair of St Peter, Pope Alexander VII Chigi (reigned 1655–1667) began to implement his extremely ambitious plan to transform Rome into a magnificent world capital by means of systematic, bold (and costly) urban planning. In so doing, he brought to fruition the long, slow recreation of the urban glory of Rome—the deliberate campaign for the "renovatio Romae"—that had begun in the fifteenth century under the Renaissance popes. Over the course of his pontificate, Alexander commissioned many large-scale architectural changes in the city—indeed, some of the most significant ones in the city's recent history and for years to come—choosing Bernini as his principal collaborator (though other architects, especially Pietro da Cortona, were also involved). Thus did commence another extraordinarily prolific and successful chapter in Bernini's career.
Bernini's major commissions during this period include St. Peter's Square. In a previously broad, irregular, and completely unstructured space, he created two massive semi-circular colonnades, each row of which was formed of four simple white Doric columns. This resulted in an oval shape that formed an inclusive arena within which any gathering of citizens, pilgrims and visitors could witness the appearance of the pope—either as he appeared on the loggia on the façade of St Peter's or at the traditional window of the neighbouring Palazzo Vaticano, to the right of the square. In addition to being logistically efficient for carriages and crowds, Bernini's design was completely in harmony with the pre-existing buildings and added to the majesty of the basilica. Often likened to two arms reaching out from the church to embrace the waiting crowd, Bernini's creation extended the symbolic greatness of the Vatican area, creating an emotionally thrilling and "exhilarating expanse" that was, architecturally, an "unequivocal success".
Elsewhere within the Vatican, Bernini created systematic rearrangements and majestic embellishment of either empty or aesthetically undistinguished spaces that exist as he designed them to the present day and have become indelible icons of the splendour of the papal precincts. Within the hitherto unadorned apse of the basilica, the Cathedra Petri, the symbolic throne of St Peter, was rearranged as a monumental gilded bronze extravagance that matched the Baldacchino created earlier in the century. Bernini's complete reconstruction of the Scala Regia, the stately papal stairway between St. Peters's and the Vatican Palace, was slightly less ostentatious in appearance but still taxed Bernini's creative powers (employing, for example, clever tricks of optical illusion) to create a seemingly uniform, totally functional, but nonetheless regally impressive stairway to connect two irregular buildings within an even more irregular space.
Not all works during this era were on such a large scale. Indeed, the commission Bernini received to build the church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale for the Jesuits was relatively modest in physical size (though great in its interior chromatic splendour), which Bernini executed completely free of charge. Sant'Andrea shared with Piazza San Pietro—unlike the complex geometries of his rival Francesco Borromini—a focus on basic geometric shapes, circles, and ovals to create spiritually intense spaces. He also designed the church of Santa Maria Assunta (1662–65) in the town of Ariccia with its circular outline, rounded dome and three-arched portico, reminiscent of the Pantheon. In Santa Maria Assunta, as in his church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castelgandolfo (1658-61), Bernini completely eschewed the rich polychrome marble decoration dramatically seen in Sant'Andrea and the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, in favour of an essentially white, somewhat stark interior, albeit still much adorned with stucco work and painted altarpieces.
At the end of April 1665, and still considered the most important artist in Rome, if indeed not in all of Europe, Bernini was forced by political pressure (from both the French court and Pope Alexander VII) to travel to Paris to work for King Louis XIV, who required an architect to complete work on the royal palace of the Louvre. Bernini would remain in Paris until mid-October. Louis XIV assigned a member of his court to serve as Bernini's translator, tourist guide, and overall companion, Paul Fréart de Chantelou, who kept a Journal of Bernini's visit that records much of Bernini's behaviour and utterances in Paris. The writer Charles Perrault, who was serving at this time as an assistant to the French Controller-General of Finances Jean-Baptiste Colbert, also provided a first-hand account of Bernini's visit.
Bernini was popular among the crowds who gathered wherever he stopped, which led him to compare his itinerary to the travelling exhibition of an elephant. On his walks in Paris the streets were lined with admiring crowds too. But things soon turned sour. Bernini presented finished designs for the east front (i.e., the all-important principal facade of the entire palace) of the Louvre, which were ultimately rejected, albeit not formally until 1667, well after his departure from Paris (indeed, the already constructed foundations for Bernini's Louvre addition were inaugurated in October 1665 in an elaborate ceremony, with both Bernini and King Louis in attendance). It is often stated in the scholarship on Bernini that his Louvre designs were turned down because Louis and his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert considered them too Italianate or too Baroque in style. In fact, as Franco Mormando points out, "aesthetics are never mentioned in any of [the] ... surviving memos" by Colbert or any of the artistic advisors at the French court. The explicit reasons for the rejections were utilitarian, namely, on the level of physical security and comfort (e.g., location of the latrines). It is also indisputable that there was an interpersonal conflict between Bernini and the young French king, each one feeling insufficiently respected by the other. Though his design for the Louvre went unbuilt, it circulated widely throughout Europe by means of engravings and its direct influence can be seen in subsequent stately residences such as Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, England, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire.
Other projects in Paris suffered a similar fate, such as Bernini's plans for the Bourbon funerary chapel in the cathedral of Saint Denis and the main altar of the Church of Val de Grâce (done at the request of its patron the Queen Mother), as well as his idea for a fountain for Saint-Cloud, the estate of King Louis's brother, Philippe. With the exception of Chantelou, Bernini failed to forge significant friendships at the French court. His frequent negative comments on various aspects of French culture, especially its art and architecture, did not go down well, particularly in juxtaposition to his praise for the art and architecture of Italy (especially Rome); he said that a painting by Guido Reni, the Annunciation altarpiece (then in the Carmelite convent, now the Louvre Museum), was "alone worth half of Paris." The sole work remaining from his time in Paris is the Bust of Louis XIV although he also contributed a great deal to the execution of the Christ Child Playing with a Nail marble relief (now in the Louvre) by his son Paolo as a gift to Queen Maria Theresa. Back in Rome, Bernini created a monumental equestrian statue of Louis XIV; when it finally reached Paris (in 1685, five years after the artist's death), the French king found it extremely repugnant and wanted it destroyed; it was instead re-carved into a representation of the ancient Roman hero Marcus Curtius.
Bernini remained physically and mentally vigorous and active in his profession until just two weeks before his death which came as a result of a stroke. The pontificate of his old friend, Clement IX, was too short (barely two years) to accomplish more than the dramatic refurbishment by Bernini of the Ponte Sant'Angelo, while the artist's elaborate plan, under Clement, for a new apse for the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore came to an unpleasant end in the midst of public uproar over its cost and the destruction of ancient mosaics that it entailed. The last two popes of Bernini's life, Clement X and Innocent XI, were both not especially close or sympathetic to Bernini and not particularly interested in financing works of art and architecture, especially given the disastrous conditions of the papal treasury. The most important commission by Bernini, executed entirely by him in just six months in 1674, under Clement X was the statue of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, another nun-mystic. The work, reminiscent of Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, is located in the chapel dedicated to Ludovica remodelled under Bernini's supervision in the Trastevere church of San Francesco a Ripa, whose façade was designed by Bernini's disciple, Mattia de' Rossi.
In his last two years, Bernini also carved (supposedly for Queen Christina) the bust of the Savior (Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le Mura, Rome) and supervised the restoration of the historic Palazzo della Cancelleria, a direct commission from Pope Innocent XI. The latter commission is an outstanding confirmation of both Bernini's continuing professional reputation and good health of mind and body even in advanced old age, inasmuch as the pope had chosen him over any number of talented younger architects plentiful in Rome, for this prestigious and most difficult assignment since, as his son Domenico points out, "deterioration of the palace had advanced to such an extent that the threat of its imminent collapse was quite apparent."
Shortly after the completion of the latter project, Bernini died in his home on 28 November 1680 and was buried, with little public fanfare, in the simple, unadorned Bernini family vault, along with his parents, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Though an elaborate funerary monument had once been planned (documented by a single extant sketch of circa 1670 by disciple Ludovico Gimignani), it was never built and Bernini remained with no permanent public acknowledgement of his life and career in Rome until 1898 when, on the anniversary of his birth, a simple plaque and small bust was affixed to the face of his home on the Via della Mercede, proclaiming "Here lived and died Gianlorenzo Bernini, a sovereign of art, before whom reverently bowed popes, princes, and a multitude of peoples."
In the late 1630s, Bernini had an affair with a married woman named Costanza (wife of his workshop assistant, Matteo Bonucelli, also called Bonarelli) and sculpted a bust of her (now in the Bargello, Florence) during the height of their romance. However, at some point, Costanza began at the same time an affair also with Bernini's younger brother, Luigi, who was Bernini's right-hand man in his studio. When Bernini found out about Costanza and his brother, in a fit of mad fury, he chased Luigi through the streets of Rome and into the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, almost ending his life. To punish his unfaithful mistress, Bernini had a servant go to the house of Costanza, where the servant slashed her face several times with a razor. The servant was later jailed, while Costanza herself was jailed for adultery. Bernini himself was exonerated by the pope, even though he had committed a crime in ordering the face-slashing. Soon after, in May 1639, at age forty-one, Bernini wed a twenty-two-year-old Roman woman, Caterina Tezio, in an arranged marriage, under orders from Pope Urban. She had eleven children, including youngest son Domenico Bernini, who would later be his father's first biographer. After his never-repeated episode of stalking and disfigurement by proxy, in his subsequent marriage, Bernini turned more sincerely to the practice of his faith, according to his early official biographers, whereas brother Luigi was to once again, in 1670, bring great grief and scandal to his family by his sodomitic rape of a young Bernini workshop assistant at the construction site of the 'Constantine' memorial in St. Peter's Basilica.
During his lifetime Bernini lived in various residences throughout the city: principal among them, a palazzo right across from Santa Maria Maggiore and still extant at Via Liberiana 24, while his father was still alive; after his father died in 1629, Bernini moved the clan to the long-ago-demolished Santa Marta neighbourhood behind the apse of St. Peter's Basilica, which afforded him more convenient access to the Vatican Foundry and to his working studio also on the Vatican site. In 1639, Bernini bought property on the corner of the Via della Mercede and the Via del Collegio di Propaganda Fide in Rome. This gave him the distinction of being only one of two artists (the other is Pietro da Cortona) to be the proprietor of his own large palatial (though not sumptuous) residence, furnished as well with its own water supply. Bernini refurbished and expanded the existing palazzo on the Via della Mercede site, at what are now Nos. 11 and 12. (The building is sometimes referred to as "Palazzo Bernini", but that title more properly pertains to the Bernini family's later and larger home on Via del Corso, to which they moved in the early nineteenth century, now known as the Palazzo Manfroni-Bernini.) Bernini lived at No. 11 (extensively remodelled in the 19th century), where his working studio was located, as well as a large collection of works of art, his own and those of other artists. It is imagined that it must have been galling for Bernini to witness through the windows of his dwelling, the construction of the tower and dome of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte by his rival, Borromini, and also the demolition of the chapel that he, Bernini, had designed at the Collegio di Propaganda Fide to see it replaced by Borromini's chapel. The construction of Sant'Andrea, however, was completed by Bernini's close disciple, Mattia de Rossi, and it contains (to this day) the marble originals of two of Bernini's own angels executed by the master for the Ponte Sant'Angelo.
Although he proved during his long lifetime to be a uomo universale, truly accomplished in so many areas of artistic production like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci before him, Bernini was first and foremost a sculptor. He was trained from his earliest youth in that profession by his sculptor father, Pietro. The most recent and most comprehensive catalogue raisonné of his works of sculpture compiled by Maria Grazia Bernardini (Bernini: Catalogo delle sculture; Turin: Allemandi, 2022, 2 vols.) comprises 143 entries (not including those of debated attribution): they span Bernini’s entire productive life, the first securely attributed work dating to 1610-1612 (the marble portrait bust of Bishop Giovanni Battista Santoni, for his tomb monument in Rome’s Santa Prassede) and the last to 1679 (the marble Salvator Mundi bust, Basilica of San Sebastian fuori le Mura, Rome).
These many works range in size from small garden pieces of his earliest years (e.g., the Boy with a Dragon, 1617, Getty Museum, Los Angeles) to colossal works such as the Saint Longinus (1629-38, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome). The majority are in marble, with other works being in bronze (most notably his various papal portrait busts and the monumental statues adorning his Baldacchino (1624-33) and Cathedra Petri (1656-66) in St. Peter’s Basilica. In virtually all cases, Bernini first produced numerous clay models as preparation for the final product; these models are now treasured as works of art in themselves, though, regrettably, only a minuscule percentage have survived from what must have been a great multitude.
The single largest sub-group of his sculptural production is represented by his portrait busts (either free-standing or incorporated into larger funerary monuments), mostly of his papal patrons or other ecclesiastical personages, as well as those few secular potentates who could afford the extraordinary expense of commissioning a portrait from Bernini (e.g., King Louis XIV of France, 1665, in the palace of Versailles, France). Other large groups are represented by his religious works – statues of Biblical figures, angels, saints of the church, the crucified Christ, etc. – and his mythological figures either free-standing (such as his earliest masterpieces in the Galleria Borghese, Rome) or serving as ornaments in his complex fountain designs (such as the Fountain of the Four Rivers, 1647-51, Piazza Navona, Rome).
Bernini’s vast sculptural output can also be categorized according to the degree to which Bernini himself contributed to both the design and execution of the final product: to wit, some works are entirely of his own design and execution; others, of his design and partial but still substantial execution; while others of his design but with little or no actual execution by Bernini (such as the Madonna and Child in the Carmelite Church of Saint Joseph in Paris). A further category contains those works commissioned from Bernini and fully credited to his workshop, but represent neither his direct design nor execution, only his signature stylistic inspiration (such as several of the angels on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo, refurbished by Bernini, and all of the saints atop the two arms of the portico of Saint Peter’s Square. In general, the more prestigious the commission, and the earlier the commission in his career, the greater is Bernini’s role in both design and execution, though notable exceptions exist to both of these general rules.
Bernini's architectural works include sacred and secular buildings and sometimes their urban settings and interiors. He made adjustments to existing buildings and designed new constructions. Among his most well-known works are St. Peter's Square (1656–67), the piazza and colonnades in front of St. Peter's Basilica and the interior decoration of the basilica. Among his secular works are a number of Roman palaces: following the death of Carlo Maderno, he took over the supervision of the building works at the Palazzo Barberini from 1630 on which he worked with Francesco Borromini; the Palazzo Ludovisi (now Palazzo Montecitorio, started 1650); and the Palazzo Chigi (now Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi, started 1664).
His first architectural projects were the creation of the new façade and refurbishment of the interior of the church of Santa Bibiana (1624–26) and the St. Peter's Baldachin (1624–33), the bronze columned canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica. In 1629, and before St. Peter's Baldachin was complete, Urban VIII put him in charge of all the ongoing architectural works at St Peter's. However, Bernini fell out of favour during the papacy of Innocent X Pamphili because of that pope's already-mentioned animosity towards the Barberini (and hence towards their clients including Bernini) and the above-described failure of the bell towers designed and built by Bernini for St. Peter's Basilica. Never wholly without patronage during the Pamphili years, after Innocent's death in 1655 Bernini regained a major role in the decoration of St. Peter's with the Pope Alexander VII Chigi, leading to his design of the piazza and colonnade in front of St. Peter's. Further significant works by Bernini at the Vatican include the Scala Regia (1663–66), the monumental grand stairway entrance to the Vatican Palace, and the Cathedra Petri, the Chair of Saint Peter, in the apse of St. Peter's, in addition to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the nave.
Bernini did not build many churches ex novo, from the ground up; rather, his efforts were concentrated on pre-existing structures, such as the restored church of Santa Bibiana and in particular St. Peter's. He fulfilled three commissions for new churches in Rome and nearby small towns. Best known is the small but richly ornamented oval church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, done (beginning in 1658) for the Jesuit novitiate, representing one of the rare works of his hand with which Bernini's son, Domenico, reports that his father was truly and very pleased. Bernini also designed churches in Castelgandolfo (San Tommaso da Villanova, 1658–1661) and Ariccia (Santa Maria Assunta, 1662–1664), and was responsible for the re-modelling of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Galloro, Ariccia, endowing it with a majestic new façade.
When Bernini was invited to Paris in 1665 to prepare works for Louis XIV, he presented designs for the east façade of the Louvre Palace, but his projects were ultimately turned down in favour of the more sober and classic proposals of a committee consisting of three Frenchmen: Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun, and the doctor and amateur architect Claude Perrault, signalling the waning influence of Italian artistic hegemony in France. Bernini's projects were essentially rooted in the Italian Baroque urbanist tradition of relating public buildings to their settings, often leading to innovative architectural expression in urban spaces like piazze or squares. However, by this time, the French absolutist monarchy now preferred the classicizing monumental severity of the Louvre's facade, no doubt with the added political bonus that it had been designed by Frenchmen. The final version did, however, include Bernini's feature of a flat roof behind a Palladian balustrade.
True to the decorative dynamism of Baroque which loved the aesthetic pleasure and emotional delight afforded by the sight and sound of water in motion, among Bernini's most gifted and applauded creations were his Roman fountains, which were both utilitarian public works and personal monuments to their patrons, papal or otherwise. His first fountain, the 'Barcaccia' (commissioned in 1627, finished 1629) at the foot of the Spanish Steps, cleverly surmounted a challenge that Bernini was to face in several other fountain commissions, the low water pressure in many parts of Rome (Roman fountains were all driven by gravity alone), creating a low-lying flat boat that was able to take greatest advantage of the small amount of water available. Another example is the long-ago dismantled "Woman Drying Her Hair" fountain that Bernini created for the no-longer-extant Villa Barberini ai Bastioni on the edge of the Janiculum Hill overlooking St. Peter's Basilica.
His other fountains include the Fountain of the Triton, or Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini (celebrated in Ottorino Respighi's Fountains of Rome), and the nearby Barberini Fountain of the Bees, the Fontana delle Api. The Fountain of the Four Rivers, or Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, in the Piazza Navona is an exhilarating masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory in which Bernini again brilliantly overcame the problem of the piazza's low water pressure creating the illusion of an abundance of water that in reality did not exist. An oft-repeated, but false, anecdote tells that one of the Bernini's river gods defers his gaze in disapproval of the façade of Sant'Agnese in Agone (designed by the talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco Borromini), impossible because the fountain was built several years before the façade of the church was completed. Bernini was also the artist of the statue of the Moor in La Fontana del Moro in Piazza Navona (1653).
Another major category of Bernini's activity was that of the tomb monument, a genre on which his distinctive new style exercised a decisive and long-enduring influence; included in this category are his tombs for Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII (both in St. Peter's Basilica), Cardinal Domenico Pimentel (Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, design only), and Matilda of Canossa (St. Peter's Basilica). Related to the tomb monument is the funerary memorial, of which Bernini executed several (including that, most notably, of Maria Raggi (Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome) also of greatly innovative style and long enduring influence.
Among his smaller commissions, although not mentioned by either of his earliest biographers, Baldinucci or Domenico Bernini, the Elephant and Obelisk is a sculpture located near the Pantheon, in the Piazza della Minerva, in front of the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Pope Alexander VII decided that he wanted a small ancient Egyptian obelisk (that was discovered beneath the piazza) to be erected on the same site, and in 1665 he commissioned Bernini to create a sculpture to support the obelisk. The sculpture of an elephant bearing the obelisk on its back was executed by one of Bernini's students, Ercole Ferrata, upon a design by his master, and finished in 1667. An inscription on the base relates the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Roman goddess Minerva to the Virgin Mary, who supposedly supplanted those pagan goddesses and to whom the church is dedicated. Bernini's elephants are highly realistic as Bernini had twice the opportunity to see a live elephant: Don Diego in 1630 and Hansken in 1655. A popular anecdote concerns the elephant's smile. To find out why it is smiling, legend has it, the viewer must examine the rear end of the animal and notice that its muscles are tensed and its tail is shifted to the left as if it were defecating. The animal's rear is pointed directly at one of the headquarters of the Dominican Order, housing the offices of its Inquisitors as well as the office of Father Giuseppe Paglia, a Dominican friar who was one of the main antagonists of Bernini, as a final salute and last word.
Among his minor commissions for non-Roman patrons or venues, in 1677 Bernini worked along with Ercole Ferrata to create a fountain for the Lisbon palace of the Portuguese nobleman, Luís de Meneses, 3rd Count of Ericeira: copying his earlier fountains, Bernini supplied the design of the fountain sculpted by Ferrata, featuring Neptune with four tritons around a basin. The fountain has survived and since 1945 has been outside the precincts of the gardens of the Palace of Queluz, several miles outside of Lisbon.
Bernini would have studied painting as a normal part of his artistic training begun in early adolescence under the guidance of his father, Pietro, in addition to some further training in the studio of the Florentine painter, Cigoli. His earliest activity as a painter was probably no more than a sporadic diversion practised mainly in his youth, until the mid-1620s, that is, the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII (reigned 1623–1644) who ordered Bernini to study painting in greater earnest because the pontiff wanted him to decorate the Benediction Loggia of St. Peter's. The latter commission was never executed most likely because the required large-scale narrative compositions were simply beyond Bernini's ability as a painter. According to his early biographers, Baldinucci and Domenico Bernini, Bernini completed at least 150 canvases, mostly in the decades of the 1620s and 30s, but currently, there are no more than 35–40 surviving paintings that can be confidently attributed to his hand. The extant, securely attributed works are mostly portraits, seen close up and set against an empty background, employing a confident, indeed brilliant, painterly brushstroke (similar to that of his Spanish contemporary Velasquez), free from any trace of pedantry, and a very limited palette of mostly warm, subdued colours with deep chiaroscuro. His work was immediately sought after by major collectors. Most noteworthy among these extant works are several, vividly penetrating self-portraits (all dating to the mid-1620s – early 1630s), especially that in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, purchased during Bernini's lifetime by Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici. Bernini's Apostles Andrew and Thomas in London's National Gallery is the sole canvas by the artist whose attribution, approximate date of execution (circa 1625) and provenance (the Barberini Collection, Rome) are securely known.
As for Bernini's drawings, about 350 still exist; but this represents a minuscule percentage of the drawings he would have created in his lifetime; these include rapid sketches relating to major sculptural or architectural commissions, presentation drawings given as gifts to his patrons and aristocratic friends, and exquisite, fully finished portraits, such as those of Agostino Mascardi (Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris) and Scipione Borghese and Sisinio Poli (both in New York's Morgan Library).
Another area of artistic endeavour to which Bernini devoted much of his spare time between major commissions and which earned him further popular acclaim was that of the theatre. For many years (especially during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, 1623-44), Bernini created a long series of theatrical productions in which he simultaneously served as scriptwriter, stage director, actor, scenographer, and special-effects technician. These plays were mostly Carnival comedies (held often in his own home) which drew large audiences and much attention and in which the artist satirized contemporary Roman life (especially court life) with his pungent witticisms. At the same time, they also dazzled spectators with daring displays of special effects such as the flooding of the Tiber river or a controlled but very real fiery blaze, as reported by his son Domenico's biography. However, although there is much disparate, scattered documentation showing that all of this theatrical work was not simply a limited or passing diversion for Bernini, the only extant remains of these endeavours are the partial script of one play and a drawing of a sunset (or sunrise) relating to the creation of a special effect on stage.
Among the many sculptors who worked under his supervision (even though most were accomplished masters in their own right) were Luigi Bernini, Stefano Speranza, Giuliano Finelli, Andrea Bolgi, Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, Lazzaro Morelli, Francesco Baratta, Ercole Ferrata, the Frenchman Niccolò Sale, Giovanni Antonio Mari, Antonio Raggi, and François Duquesnoy. But his most trusted right-hand man in sculpture was Giulio Cartari, while in architecture it was Mattia de Rossi, both of whom travelled to Paris with Bernini to assist him in his work there for King Louis XIV. Other architect disciples include Giovanni Battista Contini and Carlo Fontana while Swedish architect, Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, who visited Rome twice after Bernini's death, was also much influenced by him.
Among his rivals in architecture were, above all, Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona. Early in their careers, they had all worked at the same time at the Palazzo Barberini, initially under Carlo Maderno and, following his death, under Bernini. Later on, however, they were in competition for commissions, and fierce rivalries developed, particularly between Bernini and Borromini. In sculpture, Bernini competed with Alessandro Algardi and François Duquesnoy, but they both died decades earlier than Bernini (respectively in 1654 and 1643), leaving Bernini effectively with no sculptor of his same exalted status in Rome. Francesco Mochi can also be included among Bernini's significant rivals, though he was not as accomplished in his art as Bernini, Algardi or Duquesnoy.
There was also a succession of painters (the so-called 'pittori berniniani') who, working under the master's close guidance and at times according to his designs, produced canvases and frescos that were integral components of Bernini's larger multi-media works such as churches and chapels: Carlo Pellegrini, Guido Ubaldo Abbatini, Frenchman Guillaume Courtois (Guglielmo Cortese, known as 'Il Borgognone'), Ludovico Gimignani, and Giovanni Battista Gaulli (who, thanks to Bernini, was granted the prized commission to fresco the vault of the Jesuit mother Church of the Gesù by Bernini's friend, Jesuit Superior General, Giovanni Paolo Oliva).
As far as Caravaggio is concerned, in all the voluminous Bernini sources, his name appears only once: this occurs in the Chantelou Diary in which the French diarist claims that Bernini agreed with his disparaging remark about Caravaggio (specifically his Fortune Teller that had just arrived from Italy as a Pamphilj gift to King Louis XIV). Yet, how much Bernini really scorned Caravaggio's art is a matter of debate whereas arguments have been made in favour of a strong influence of Caravaggio on Bernini. Bernini would, of course, have heard much about Caravaggio and seen many of his works not only because in Rome at the time such contact was impossible to avoid, but also because during his own lifetime, Caravaggio had come to the favourable attention of Bernini's own early patrons, both the Borghese and the Barberini. Indeed, much like Caravaggio, Bernini often devised strikingly bold compositions, akin to theatrical tableaux that arrest the scene at its dramatic key moment (such as in his Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria). And again much like Caravaggio, he made full and skillful use of theatrical lighting as an important aesthetic and metaphorical device in his religious settings, often employing hidden light sources that could intensify the focus of religious worship or enhance the dramatic moment of a sculptural narrative.
The most important primary source for the life of Bernini is the biography written by his youngest son, Domenico, entitled Vita del Cavalier Gio. Lorenzo Bernino, published in 1713 though first compiled in the last years of his father's life (c. 1675–80). Filippo Baldinucci's Life of Bernini was published in 1682, and a meticulous private journal, the Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini's Visit to France, was kept by the Frenchman Paul Fréart de Chantelou during the artist's four-month stay from June through October 1665 at the court of King Louis XIV. Also, there is a short biographical narrative, The Vita Brevis of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, written by his eldest son, Monsignor Pietro Filippo Bernini, in the mid-1670s.
Until the late 20th century, it was generally believed that two years after Bernini's death, Queen Christina of Sweden, then living in Rome, commissioned Filippo Baldinucci to write his biography, which was published in Florence in 1682. However, recent research now strongly suggests that it was in fact Bernini's sons (and specifically the eldest son, Mons. Pietro Filippo) who commissioned the biography from Baldinucci sometime in the late 1670s, with the intent of publishing it while their father was still alive. This would mean that first, the commission did not at all originate in Queen Christina who would have merely lent her name as patron (in order to hide the fact that the biography was coming directly from the family) and secondly, that Baldinucci's narrative was largely derived from some pre-publication version of Domenico Bernini's much longer biography of his father, as evidenced by the extremely large amount of text repeated verbatim (there is no other explanation, otherwise, for the massive amount of verbatim repetition, and it is known that Baldinucci routinely copied verbatim material for his artists' biographies supplied by family and friends of his subjects). As the most detailed account and the only one coming directly from a member of the artist's immediate family, Domenico's biography, despite having been published later than Baldinucci's, therefore represents the earliest and more important full-length biographical source of Bernini's life, even though it idealizes its subject and whitewashes a number of less-than-flattering facts about his life and personality.
As one Bernini scholar has summarized, "Perhaps the most important result of all of the [Bernini] studies and research of these past few decades has been to restore to Bernini his status as the great, principal protagonist of Baroque art, the one who was able to create undisputed masterpieces, to interpret in an original and genial fashion the new spiritual sensibilities of the age, to give the city of Rome an entirely new face, and to unify the [artistic] language of the times." Few artists have had as decisive an influence on the physical appearance and emotional tenor of a city as Bernini had on Rome. Maintaining a controlling influence over all aspects of his many and large commissions and over those who aided him in executing them, he was able to carry out his unique and harmoniously uniform vision over decades of work with his long and productive life Although by the end of Bernini's life there was in motion a decided reaction against his brand of flamboyant Baroque, the fact is that sculptors and architects continued to study his works and be influenced by them for several more decades (Nicola Salvi's later Trevi Fountain [inaugurated in 1735] is a prime example of the enduring post-mortem influence of Bernini on the city's landscape).
In the eighteenth century, Bernini and virtually all Baroque artists fell from favor in the neoclassical criticism of the Baroque, that criticism aimed above all at the latter's supposedly extravagant (and thus illegitimate) departures from the pristine, sober models of Greek and Roman antiquity. It is only from the late nineteenth century that art historical scholarship, in seeking a more objective understanding of artistic output within the specific cultural context in which it was produced, without the a priori prejudices of neoclassicism, began to recognize Bernini's achievements and slowly began to restore his artistic reputation. However, the reaction against Bernini and the too-sensual (and therefore "decadent"), too-emotionally charged Baroque in the larger culture (especially in non-Catholic countries of northern Europe, and particularly in Victorian England) remained in effect until well into the twentieth century (most notable are the public disparagement of Bernini by Francesco Milizia, Joshua Reynolds, and Jacob Burkhardt).
Among the influential 18th- and 19th-century figures who despised Bernini's art was also and most prominently Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–68), considered by many the father of the modern discipline of art history. For the neo-classicist Winkelmann, the one true, laudable "high style" of art was characterized by noble simplicity joined with a quiet grandeur that eschewed any exuberance of emotion, whether positive or negative, as exemplified by ancient Greek sculpture. The Baroque Bernini, instead, represented the opposite of this ideal and, moreover, according to Winkelmann, had been “utterly corrupted...by a vulgar flattery of the coarse and uncultivated, in attempting to render everything more intelligible to them.” Another major condemning voice is that of Colen Campbell (1676-1729), who on the very first page of his monumental and influential Vitruvius Britannicus (London, 1715, Introduction, vol. 1, p. 1) singles out Bernini and Borromini as examples of the utter degradation of post-Palladian architecture in Italy: "With (the great Palladio) the great Manner and exquisite Taste of Building is lost; for the Italians can no more now relish the Antique Simplicity, but are entirely employed in capricious Ornaments, which must at last end in the Gothick. For Proof of this Assertion, I appeal to the Productions of the last Century: How affected and licentious are the Works of Bernini and Fontana? How wildly Extravagant are the Designs of Boromini, who has endeavoured to debauch Mankind with his odd and chimerical Beauties…?" Accordingly, most of the popular eighteenth- and nineteenth-century tourist guides to Rome all but ignore Bernini and his work, or treat it with disdain, as in the case of the best-selling Walks in Rome (22 editions between 1871 and 1925) by Augustus J.C. Hare, who describes the angels on the Ponte Sant'Angelo as 'Bernini's Breezy Maniacs.'
But now in the twenty-first century, Bernini and his Baroque have been fully and enthusiastically restored to favour, both critical and popular. Since the anniversary year of his birth in 1998, there have been numerous Bernini exhibitions throughout the world, especially in Europe and North America, on all aspects of his work, expanding our knowledge of his work and its influence. In the late twentieth century, Bernini was commemorated on the front of the Bank of Italy's 50,000 lire banknote in the 1980s and 90s (before Italy switched to the euro) with the back showing his equestrian statue of Constantine. Another outstanding sign of Bernini's enduring reputation came in the decision by architect I.M. Pei to insert a faithful copy in lead of his King Louis XIV Equestrian statue as the sole ornamental element in his massive modernist redesign of the entrance plaza to the Louvre Museum, completed to great acclaim in 1989, and featuring the giant Louvre Pyramid in glass. In 2000 best-selling novelist, Dan Brown, made Bernini and several of his Roman works, the centrepiece of his political thriller, Angels & Demons, while British novelist Iain Pears made a missing Bernini bust the centrepiece of his best-selling murder mystery, The Bernini Bust (2003). There is even a crater near the south pole of Mercury named after Bernini (in 1976). | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (UK: /bɛərˈniːni/, US: /bərˈ-/, Italian: [ˈdʒan loˈrɛntso berˈniːni]; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, \"What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ...\" In addition, he was a painter (mostly small canvases in oil) and a man of the theatre: he wrote, directed and acted in plays (mostly Carnival satires), for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "As an architect and city planner, he designed secular buildings, churches, chapels, and public squares, as well as massive works combining both architecture and sculpture, especially elaborate public fountains and funerary monuments and a whole series of temporary structures (in stucco and wood) for funerals and festivals. His broad technical versatility, boundless compositional inventiveness and sheer skill in manipulating marble ensured that he would be considered a worthy successor of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his generation. His talent extended beyond the confines of sculpture to a consideration of the setting in which it would be situated; his ability to synthesize sculpture, painting, and architecture into a coherent conceptual and visual whole has been termed by the late art historian Irving Lavin the \"unity of the visual arts\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Bernini was born on 7 December 1598 in Naples to Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan, and Mannerist sculptor Pietro Bernini, originally from Florence. He was the sixth of their thirteen children. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was \"recognized as a prodigy when he was only eight years old, [and] he was consistently encouraged by his father, Pietro. His precocity earned him the admiration and favour of powerful patrons who hailed him as 'the Michelangelo of his century'”. More specifically, it was Pope Paul V, who after first attesting to the boy Bernini's talent, famously remarked, 'This child will be the Michelangelo of his age,' later repeating that prophecy to Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (the future Pope Urban VIII), as Domenico Bernini reports in his biography of his father. In 1606 his father received a papal commission (to contribute a marble relief in the Cappella Paolina of Santa Maria Maggiore) and so moved from Naples to Rome, taking his entire family with him and continuing in earnest the training of his son Gian Lorenzo.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Several extant works, dating circa 1615–1620, are by general scholarly consensus, collaborative efforts by both father and son: they include the Faun Teased by Putti (c. 1615, Metropolitan Museum, NYC), Boy with a Dragon (c. 1616–17, Getty Museum, Los Angeles), the Aldobrandini Four Seasons (c. 1620, private collection), and the recently discovered Bust of the Savior (1615–16, New York, private collection). Sometime after the arrival of the Bernini family in Rome, word about the great talent of the boy Gian Lorenzo spread throughout the city and he soon caught the attention of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew to the reigning pope, Paul V, who spoke of the boy genius to his uncle. Bernini was therefore presented before Pope Paul V, curious to see if the stories about Gian Lorenzo's talent were true. The boy improvised a sketch of Saint Paul for the marvelling pope, and this was the beginning of the pope's attention on this young talent.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Once he was brought to Rome, he rarely left its walls, except (much against his will) for a five-month stay in Paris in the service of King Louis XIV and brief trips to nearby towns (including Civitavecchia, Tivoli and Castelgandolfo), mostly for work-related reasons. Rome was Bernini's city: \"You are made for Rome,\" said Pope Urban VIII to him, \"and Rome for you.\" It was in this world of 17th-century Rome and the international religious-political power which resided there that Bernini created his greatest works. Bernini's works are therefore often characterized as perfect expressions of the spirit of the assertive, triumphal but self-defensive Counter Reformation Catholic Church. Certainly, Bernini was a man of his times and deeply religious (at least later in life), but he and his artistic production should not be reduced simply to instruments of the papacy and its political-doctrinal programs, an impression that is at times communicated by the works of the three most eminent Bernini scholars of the previous generation, Rudolf Wittkower, Howard Hibbard, and Irving Lavin. As Tomaso Montanari's recent revisionist monograph, La libertà di Bernini (Turin: Einaudi, 2016) argues and Franco Mormando's anti-hagiographic biography, Bernini: His Life and His Rome (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), illustrates, Bernini and his artistic vision maintained a certain degree of freedom from the mindset and mores of Counter-Reformation Roman Catholicism.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Under the patronage of the extravagantly wealthy and most powerful Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a sculptor. Among his early works for the cardinal, as an assistant in his father's workshop, would have been small contributions to decorative pieces for the garden of the Villa Borghese, such as perhaps The Allegory of Autumn (formerly in the Hester Diamond collection in New York). Another small garden ornament work (in the Galleria Borghese since Bernini's lifetime), The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun, was from 1926 until 2022 generally considered by scholars to be the earliest work executed entirely by the young Bernini himself, despite the fact that it is never mentioned in any of the contemporary sources, except for a late reference (1675) as a Bernini work by Joachim von Sandrart, a German visitor to Rome, an attribution that was given no credence until the twentieth century. However, the official 2022 Catalogo generale (vol. 1, Sculture moderne, cat. 41) of the Galleria Borghese, edited by Anna Coliva (former director of the gallery) formally removes the attribution to Bernini completely, on the basis of both stylistic, technical, and historical (documentary) grounds.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Instead, among Bernini's earliest and securely documented work is his collaboration on his father's commission of February 1618 from Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to create four marble putti for the Barberini family chapel in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the contract stipulating that his son Gian Lorenzo would assist in the execution of the statues. Also dating to 1618 is a letter by Maffeo Barberini in Rome to his brother Carlo in Florence, which mentions that he (Maffeo) was thinking of asking the young Gian Lorenzo to finish one of the statues left incomplete by Michelangelo, then in possession of Michelangelo's grandnephew which Maffeo was hoping to purchase, a remarkable attestation of the great skill that the young Bernini was already believed to possess.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Although the Michelangelo statue-completion commission came to nought, the young Bernini was shortly thereafter (in 1619) commissioned to repair and complete a famous work of antiquity, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus owned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese (Galleria Borghese, Rome) and later (circa 1622) restored the so-called Ludovisi Ares (Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome).",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Also dating to this early period are the so-called Damned Soul and Blessed Soul of circa 1619, two small marble busts which may have been influenced by a set of prints by Pieter de Jode I or Karel van Mallery, but which were in fact unambiguously catalogued in the inventory of their first documented owner, Fernando de Botinete y Acevedo, as depicting a nymph and a satyr, a commonly paired duo in ancient sculpture (they were not commissioned by nor ever belonged to either Scipione Borghese or, as most scholarship erroneously claims, the Spanish cleric, Pedro Foix Montoya). By the time he was twenty-two, Bernini was considered talented enough to have been given a commission for a papal portrait, the Bust of Pope Paul V, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Bernini's reputation, however, was definitively established by four masterpieces, executed between 1619 and 1625, all now displayed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. To the art historian Rudolf Wittkower these four works—Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius (1619), The Rape of Proserpina (1621–22), Apollo and Daphne (1622–1625), and David (1623–24)—\"inaugurated a new era in the history of European sculpture.\" It is a view repeated by other scholars, such as Howard Hibbard who proclaimed that, in all of the seventeenth century, \"there were no sculptors or architects comparable to Bernini.\" Adapting the classical grandeur of Renaissance sculpture and the dynamic energy of the Mannerist period, Bernini forged a new, distinctly Baroque conception for religious and historical sculpture, powerfully imbued with dramatic realism, stirring emotion and dynamic, theatrical compositions. Bernini's early sculpture groups and portraits manifest \"a command of the human form in motion and a technical sophistication rivalled only by the greatest sculptors of classical antiquity.\" Moreover, Bernini possessed the ability to depict highly dramatic narratives with characters showing intense psychological states, but also to organize large-scale sculptural works that convey a magnificent grandeur.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Unlike sculptures done by his predecessors, these focus on specific points of narrative tension in the stories they are trying to tell: Aeneas and his family fleeing the burning Troy; the instant that Pluto finally grasps the hunted Persephone; the precise moment that Apollo sees his beloved Daphne begin her transformation into a tree. They are transitory but dramatic powerful moments in each story. Bernini's David is another stirring example of this. Michelangelo's motionless, idealized David shows the subject holding a rock in one hand and a sling in the other, contemplating the battle; similarly immobile versions by other Renaissance artists, including Donatello's, show the subject in his triumph after the battle with Goliath. Bernini illustrates David during his active combat with the giant, as he twists his body to catapult toward Goliath. To emphasize these moments and to ensure that they were appreciated by the viewer, Bernini designed the sculptures with a specific viewpoint in mind, though he sculpted them fully in the round. Their original placements within the Villa Borghese were against walls so that the viewers' first view was the dramatic moment of the narrative.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The result of such an approach is to invest the sculptures with greater psychological energy. The viewer finds it easier to gauge the state of mind of the characters and therefore understands the larger story at work: Daphne's wide open mouth in fear and astonishment, David biting his lip in determined concentration, or Proserpina desperately struggling to free herself. This is shown by how Bernini portrays her braids coming undone which reveals her emotional distress. In addition to portraying psychological realism, they show a greater concern for representing physical details. The tousled hair of Pluto, the pliant flesh of Proserpina, or the forest of leaves beginning to envelop Daphne all demonstrate Bernini's exactitude and delight for representing complex real world textures in marble form.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In 1621 Pope Paul V Borghese was succeeded on the throne of St. Peter by another admiring friend of Bernini's, Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi, who became Pope Gregory XV: although his reign was very short (he died in 1623), Pope Gregory commissioned portraits of himself (both in marble and bronze) by Bernini. The pontiff also bestowed upon Bernini the honorific rank of 'Cavaliere,' the title with which for the rest of his life the artist was habitually referred. In 1623 came the ascent to the papal throne of his aforementioned friend and former tutor, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, as Pope Urban VIII, and henceforth (until Urban's death in 1644) Bernini enjoyed near monopolistic patronage from the Barberini pope and family. The new Pope Urban is reported to have remarked, \"It is a great fortune for you, O Cavaliere, to see Cardinal Maffeo Barberini made pope, but our fortune is even greater to have Cavalier Bernini alive in our pontificate.\" Although he did not fare as well during the reign (1644–55) of Innocent X, under Innocent's successor, Alexander VII (reigned 1655–67), Bernini once again gained pre-eminent artistic domination and continued in the successive pontificate to be held in high regard by Clement IX during his short reign (1667–69).",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Under Urban VIII's patronage, Bernini's horizons rapidly and widely broadened: he was not just producing sculpture for private residences, but playing the most significant artistic (and engineering) role on the city stage, as sculptor, architect, and urban planner. His official appointments also testify to this—\"curator of the papal art collection, director of the papal foundry at Castel Sant'Angelo, commissioner of the fountains of Piazza Navona\". Such positions gave Bernini the opportunity to demonstrate his versatile skills throughout the city. To great protest from older, experienced master architects, he, with virtually no architectural training to his name, was appointed \"Architect of St Peter's\" in 1629, upon the death of Carlo Maderno. From then on, Bernini's work and artistic vision would be placed at the symbolic heart of Rome.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Bernini's artistic pre-eminence under Urban VIII (and later under Alexander VII) meant he was able to secure the most important commissions in the Rome of his day, namely, the various massive embellishment projects of the newly finished St. Peter's Basilica, completed under Pope Paul V with the addition of Maderno's nave and facade and finally re-consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on 18 November 1626, after 100 years of planning and building. Within the basilica he was responsible for the Baldacchino, the decoration of the four piers under the cupola, the Cathedra Petri or Chair of St. Peter in the apse, the Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the right nave, and the decoration (floor, walls and arches) of the new nave. The St Peter's Baldacchino immediately became the visual centrepiece of the new St. Peter's. Designed as a massive spiralling gilded bronze canopy over the tomb of St Peter, Bernini's four-pillared creation reached nearly 30 m (98 ft) from the ground and cost around 200,000 Roman scudi (about 8 million US dollars in the currency of the early 21st century). \"Quite simply\", writes one art historian, \"nothing like it had ever been seen before\". Soon after the St Peter's Baldacchino, Bernini undertook the whole-scale embellishment of the four massive piers at the crossing of the basilica (i.e., the structures supporting the cupola) including, most notably, four colossal, theatrically dramatic statues. Among the latter is the majestic St. Longinus executed by Bernini himself (the other three are by other contemporary sculptors François Duquesnoy, Francesco Mochi, and Bernini's disciple, Andrea Bolgi).",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the basilica, Bernini also began work on the tomb for Urban VIII, completed only after Urban's death in 1644, one in a long, distinguished series of tombs and funerary monuments for which Bernini is famous and a traditional genre upon which his influence left an enduring mark, often copied by subsequent artists. Indeed, Bernini's final and most original tomb monument, the Tomb of Pope Alexander VII, in St. Peter's Basilica, represents, according to Erwin Panofsky, the very pinnacle of European funerary art, whose creative inventiveness subsequent artists could not hope to surpass.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Despite this busy engagement with large works of public architecture, Bernini was still able to devote himself to his sculpture, especially portraits in marble, but also large statues such as the life-size Saint Bibiana (1624, Church of Santa Bibiana, Rome). Bernini's portraits show his ever-increasing ability to capture the utterly distinctive personal characteristics of his sitters, as well as his ability to achieve in cold white marble almost painterly-like effects that render with convincing realism the various surfaces involved: human flesh, hair, fabric of varying type, metal, etc. These portraits included a number of busts of Urban VIII himself, the family bust of Francesco Barberini and most notably, the Two Busts of Scipione Borghese—the second of which had been rapidly created by Bernini once a flaw had been found in the marble of the first. The transitory nature of the expression on Scipione's face is often noted by art historians, as iconic of the Baroque concern for representing fleeting movement in static artworks. To Rudolf Wittkower the \"beholder feels that in the twinkle of an eye not only might the expression and attitude change but also the folds of the casually arranged mantle\".",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Other marble portraits in this period include that of Costanza Bonarelli unusual in its more personal, intimate nature. (At the time of the sculpting of the portrait, Bernini was having an affair with Costanza, wife of one of his assistants, sculptor, Matteo.) Indeed, it would appear to be the first marble portrait of a non-aristocratic woman by a major artist in European history.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Beginning in the late 1630s, now known in Europe as one of the most accomplished portraitists in marble, Bernini also began to receive royal commissions from outside Rome, for subjects such as Cardinal Richelieu of France, Francesco I d'Este the powerful Duke of Modena, Charles I of England and his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. The bust of Charles I was produced in Rome from a triple portrait (oil on canvas) executed by Van Dyck, that survives today in the British Royal Collection. The bust of Charles was lost in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698 (though its design is known through contemporary copies and drawings) and that of Henrietta Maria was not undertaken due to the outbreak of the English Civil War.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In 1644, with the death of Pope Urban with whom Bernini had been so intimately connected and the ascent to power of the fierce Barberini-enemy Pope Innocent X Pamphilj, Bernini's career suffered a major, unprecedented eclipse, which was to last four years. This had not only to do with Innocent's anti-Barberini politics but also with Bernini's role in the disastrous project of the new bell towers for St. Peter's basilica, designed and supervised entirely by Bernini.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The infamous bell tower affair was to be the biggest failure of his career, both professionally and financially. In 1636, eager to finally finish the exterior of St. Peter's, Pope Urban had ordered Bernini to design and build the two, long-intended bell towers for its facade: the foundations of the two towers had already been designed and constructed (namely, the last bays at either extremity of the facade) by Carlo Maderno (architect of the nave and the façade) decades earlier. Once the first tower was finished in 1641, cracks began to appear in the façade but, curiously enough, work nonetheless continued on the second tower and the first storey was completed. Despite the presence of the cracks, work only stopped in July 1642 once the papal treasury had been exhausted by the disastrous Wars of Castro. Knowing that Bernini could no longer depend on the protection of a favourable pope, his enemies (especially Francesco Borromini) raised a great alarm over the cracks, predicting a disaster for the whole basilica and placing the blame entirely on Bernini. The subsequent investigations, in fact, revealed the cause of the cracks as Maderno's defective foundations and not Bernini's elaborate design, an exoneration later confirmed by the meticulous investigation conducted in 1680 under Pope Innocent XI.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Nonetheless, Bernini's opponents in Rome succeeded in seriously damaging the reputation of Urban's artist and in persuading Pope Innocent to order (in February 1646) the complete demolition of both towers, to Bernini's great humiliation and indeed financial detriment (in the form of a substantial fine for the failure of the work). After this, one of the rare failures of his career, Bernini retreated into himself: according to his son, Domenico. his subsequent unfinished statue of 1647, Truth Unveiled by Time, was intended to be his self-consoling commentary on this affair, expressing his faith that eventually Time would reveal the actual Truth behind the story and exonerate him fully, as indeed did occur.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Although he received no personal commissions from Innocent or the Pamphilj family in the early years of the new papacy, Bernini did not lose his former positions granted to him by previous popes. Innocent X maintained Bernini in all of the official roles given to him by Urban, including his most prestigious one as \"Architect of St. Peter's.\" Under Bernini's design and direction, work continued on decorating the massive, recently completed but still entirely unadorned nave of St. Peter's, with the addition of elaborate multi-coloured marble flooring, marble facing on the walls and pilasters, and scores of stuccoed statues and reliefs. It is not without reason that Pope Alexander VII once quipped, 'If one were to remove from Saint Peter's everything that had been made by the Cavalier Bernini, that temple would be stripped bare.' Indeed, given all of his many and various works within the basilica over several decades, it is to Bernini that is due the lion's share of responsibility for the final and enduring aesthetic appearance and emotional impact of St. Peter's. He was also allowed to continue to work on Urban VIII's tomb, despite Innocent's antipathy for the Barberini. A few months after completing Urban's tomb, in 1648 Bernini won (through furtive manoeuvring with the complicity of the pope's sister-in-law Donna Olimpia) the Pamphilj commission for the prestigious Four Rivers Fountain on Piazza Navona, marking the end of his disgrace and the beginning a yet another glorious chapter in his life.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "If there had been doubts over Bernini's position as Rome's preeminent artist, they were definitively removed by the unqualified success of the marvellously delightful and technically ingenious Four Rivers Fountain, featuring a heavy ancient obelisk placed over a void created by a cavelike rock formation placed in the centre of an ocean of exotic sea creatures. Bernini continued to receive commissions from Pope Innocent X and other senior members of Rome's clergy and aristocracy, as well as from exalted patrons outside of Rome, such as Francesco d'Este. Recovering quickly form the humiliation of the bell towers, Bernini's boundless creativity continued as before. New types of funerary monument were designed, such as, in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the seemingly floating medallion, hovering in the air as it were, for the deceased nun Maria Raggi, while chapels he designed, such as the Raimondi Chapel in the church of San Pietro in Montorio, illustrated how Bernini could use hidden lighting to help suggest divine intervention within the narratives he was depicting and to add a dramatically theatrical \"spotlight\" to enhance the main focus of the space.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "One of the most accomplished and celebrated works to come from Bernini's hand in this period was the Cornaro Family Chapel in the small Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. The Cornaro Chapel (inaugurated in 1651) showcased Bernini's ability to integrate sculpture, architecture, fresco, stucco, and lighting into \"a marvellous whole\" (bel composto, to use early biographer Filippo Baldinucci's term to describe his approach to architecture) and thus create what scholar Irving Lavin has called the \"unified work of art\". The central focus of the Cornaro Chapel is the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, depicting the so-called \"transverberation\" of the Spanish nun and saint-mystic, Teresa of Avila. Bernini presents the spectator with a theatrically vivid portrait, in gleaming white marble, of the swooning Teresa and the quietly smiling angel, who delicately grips the arrow piercing the saint's heart. On either side of the chapel the artist places (in what can only strike the viewer as theatre boxes), portraits in relief of various members of the Cornaro family—the Venetian family memorialized in the chapel, including Cardinal Federico Cornaro who commissioned the chapel from Bernini—who are in animated conversation among themselves, presumably about the event taking place before them. The result is a complex but subtly orchestrated architectural environment providing the spiritual context (a heavenly setting with a hidden source of light) that suggests to viewers the ultimate nature of this miraculous event.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Nonetheless, during Bernini's lifetime and in the centuries following till this very day, Bernini's Saint Teresa has been accused of crossing a line of decency by sexualizing the visual depiction of the saint's experience, to a degree that no artist, before or after Bernini, dared to do: in depicting her at an impossibly young chronological age, as an idealized delicate beauty, in a semi-prostrate position with her mouth open and her legs splayed-apart, her wimple coming undone, with prominently displayed bare feet (Discalced Carmelites, for modesty, always wore sandals with heavy stockings) and with the seraph \"undressing\" her by (unnecessarily) parting her mantle to penetrate her heart with his arrow.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Matters of decorum aside, Bernini's Teresa was still an artistic tour de force that incorporates all of the multiple forms of visual art and technique that Bernini had at his disposal, including hidden lighting, thin gilded beams, recessive architectural space, secret lens, and over twenty diverse types of colored marble: these all combine to create the final artwork—\"a perfected, highly dramatic and deeply satisfying seamless ensemble\".",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Upon his accession to the Chair of St Peter, Pope Alexander VII Chigi (reigned 1655–1667) began to implement his extremely ambitious plan to transform Rome into a magnificent world capital by means of systematic, bold (and costly) urban planning. In so doing, he brought to fruition the long, slow recreation of the urban glory of Rome—the deliberate campaign for the \"renovatio Romae\"—that had begun in the fifteenth century under the Renaissance popes. Over the course of his pontificate, Alexander commissioned many large-scale architectural changes in the city—indeed, some of the most significant ones in the city's recent history and for years to come—choosing Bernini as his principal collaborator (though other architects, especially Pietro da Cortona, were also involved). Thus did commence another extraordinarily prolific and successful chapter in Bernini's career.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Bernini's major commissions during this period include St. Peter's Square. In a previously broad, irregular, and completely unstructured space, he created two massive semi-circular colonnades, each row of which was formed of four simple white Doric columns. This resulted in an oval shape that formed an inclusive arena within which any gathering of citizens, pilgrims and visitors could witness the appearance of the pope—either as he appeared on the loggia on the façade of St Peter's or at the traditional window of the neighbouring Palazzo Vaticano, to the right of the square. In addition to being logistically efficient for carriages and crowds, Bernini's design was completely in harmony with the pre-existing buildings and added to the majesty of the basilica. Often likened to two arms reaching out from the church to embrace the waiting crowd, Bernini's creation extended the symbolic greatness of the Vatican area, creating an emotionally thrilling and \"exhilarating expanse\" that was, architecturally, an \"unequivocal success\".",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Elsewhere within the Vatican, Bernini created systematic rearrangements and majestic embellishment of either empty or aesthetically undistinguished spaces that exist as he designed them to the present day and have become indelible icons of the splendour of the papal precincts. Within the hitherto unadorned apse of the basilica, the Cathedra Petri, the symbolic throne of St Peter, was rearranged as a monumental gilded bronze extravagance that matched the Baldacchino created earlier in the century. Bernini's complete reconstruction of the Scala Regia, the stately papal stairway between St. Peters's and the Vatican Palace, was slightly less ostentatious in appearance but still taxed Bernini's creative powers (employing, for example, clever tricks of optical illusion) to create a seemingly uniform, totally functional, but nonetheless regally impressive stairway to connect two irregular buildings within an even more irregular space.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Not all works during this era were on such a large scale. Indeed, the commission Bernini received to build the church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale for the Jesuits was relatively modest in physical size (though great in its interior chromatic splendour), which Bernini executed completely free of charge. Sant'Andrea shared with Piazza San Pietro—unlike the complex geometries of his rival Francesco Borromini—a focus on basic geometric shapes, circles, and ovals to create spiritually intense spaces. He also designed the church of Santa Maria Assunta (1662–65) in the town of Ariccia with its circular outline, rounded dome and three-arched portico, reminiscent of the Pantheon. In Santa Maria Assunta, as in his church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castelgandolfo (1658-61), Bernini completely eschewed the rich polychrome marble decoration dramatically seen in Sant'Andrea and the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, in favour of an essentially white, somewhat stark interior, albeit still much adorned with stucco work and painted altarpieces.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "At the end of April 1665, and still considered the most important artist in Rome, if indeed not in all of Europe, Bernini was forced by political pressure (from both the French court and Pope Alexander VII) to travel to Paris to work for King Louis XIV, who required an architect to complete work on the royal palace of the Louvre. Bernini would remain in Paris until mid-October. Louis XIV assigned a member of his court to serve as Bernini's translator, tourist guide, and overall companion, Paul Fréart de Chantelou, who kept a Journal of Bernini's visit that records much of Bernini's behaviour and utterances in Paris. The writer Charles Perrault, who was serving at this time as an assistant to the French Controller-General of Finances Jean-Baptiste Colbert, also provided a first-hand account of Bernini's visit.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Bernini was popular among the crowds who gathered wherever he stopped, which led him to compare his itinerary to the travelling exhibition of an elephant. On his walks in Paris the streets were lined with admiring crowds too. But things soon turned sour. Bernini presented finished designs for the east front (i.e., the all-important principal facade of the entire palace) of the Louvre, which were ultimately rejected, albeit not formally until 1667, well after his departure from Paris (indeed, the already constructed foundations for Bernini's Louvre addition were inaugurated in October 1665 in an elaborate ceremony, with both Bernini and King Louis in attendance). It is often stated in the scholarship on Bernini that his Louvre designs were turned down because Louis and his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert considered them too Italianate or too Baroque in style. In fact, as Franco Mormando points out, \"aesthetics are never mentioned in any of [the] ... surviving memos\" by Colbert or any of the artistic advisors at the French court. The explicit reasons for the rejections were utilitarian, namely, on the level of physical security and comfort (e.g., location of the latrines). It is also indisputable that there was an interpersonal conflict between Bernini and the young French king, each one feeling insufficiently respected by the other. Though his design for the Louvre went unbuilt, it circulated widely throughout Europe by means of engravings and its direct influence can be seen in subsequent stately residences such as Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, England, seat of the Dukes of Devonshire.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Other projects in Paris suffered a similar fate, such as Bernini's plans for the Bourbon funerary chapel in the cathedral of Saint Denis and the main altar of the Church of Val de Grâce (done at the request of its patron the Queen Mother), as well as his idea for a fountain for Saint-Cloud, the estate of King Louis's brother, Philippe. With the exception of Chantelou, Bernini failed to forge significant friendships at the French court. His frequent negative comments on various aspects of French culture, especially its art and architecture, did not go down well, particularly in juxtaposition to his praise for the art and architecture of Italy (especially Rome); he said that a painting by Guido Reni, the Annunciation altarpiece (then in the Carmelite convent, now the Louvre Museum), was \"alone worth half of Paris.\" The sole work remaining from his time in Paris is the Bust of Louis XIV although he also contributed a great deal to the execution of the Christ Child Playing with a Nail marble relief (now in the Louvre) by his son Paolo as a gift to Queen Maria Theresa. Back in Rome, Bernini created a monumental equestrian statue of Louis XIV; when it finally reached Paris (in 1685, five years after the artist's death), the French king found it extremely repugnant and wanted it destroyed; it was instead re-carved into a representation of the ancient Roman hero Marcus Curtius.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Bernini remained physically and mentally vigorous and active in his profession until just two weeks before his death which came as a result of a stroke. The pontificate of his old friend, Clement IX, was too short (barely two years) to accomplish more than the dramatic refurbishment by Bernini of the Ponte Sant'Angelo, while the artist's elaborate plan, under Clement, for a new apse for the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore came to an unpleasant end in the midst of public uproar over its cost and the destruction of ancient mosaics that it entailed. The last two popes of Bernini's life, Clement X and Innocent XI, were both not especially close or sympathetic to Bernini and not particularly interested in financing works of art and architecture, especially given the disastrous conditions of the papal treasury. The most important commission by Bernini, executed entirely by him in just six months in 1674, under Clement X was the statue of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, another nun-mystic. The work, reminiscent of Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, is located in the chapel dedicated to Ludovica remodelled under Bernini's supervision in the Trastevere church of San Francesco a Ripa, whose façade was designed by Bernini's disciple, Mattia de' Rossi.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In his last two years, Bernini also carved (supposedly for Queen Christina) the bust of the Savior (Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le Mura, Rome) and supervised the restoration of the historic Palazzo della Cancelleria, a direct commission from Pope Innocent XI. The latter commission is an outstanding confirmation of both Bernini's continuing professional reputation and good health of mind and body even in advanced old age, inasmuch as the pope had chosen him over any number of talented younger architects plentiful in Rome, for this prestigious and most difficult assignment since, as his son Domenico points out, \"deterioration of the palace had advanced to such an extent that the threat of its imminent collapse was quite apparent.\"",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Shortly after the completion of the latter project, Bernini died in his home on 28 November 1680 and was buried, with little public fanfare, in the simple, unadorned Bernini family vault, along with his parents, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Though an elaborate funerary monument had once been planned (documented by a single extant sketch of circa 1670 by disciple Ludovico Gimignani), it was never built and Bernini remained with no permanent public acknowledgement of his life and career in Rome until 1898 when, on the anniversary of his birth, a simple plaque and small bust was affixed to the face of his home on the Via della Mercede, proclaiming \"Here lived and died Gianlorenzo Bernini, a sovereign of art, before whom reverently bowed popes, princes, and a multitude of peoples.\"",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In the late 1630s, Bernini had an affair with a married woman named Costanza (wife of his workshop assistant, Matteo Bonucelli, also called Bonarelli) and sculpted a bust of her (now in the Bargello, Florence) during the height of their romance. However, at some point, Costanza began at the same time an affair also with Bernini's younger brother, Luigi, who was Bernini's right-hand man in his studio. When Bernini found out about Costanza and his brother, in a fit of mad fury, he chased Luigi through the streets of Rome and into the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, almost ending his life. To punish his unfaithful mistress, Bernini had a servant go to the house of Costanza, where the servant slashed her face several times with a razor. The servant was later jailed, while Costanza herself was jailed for adultery. Bernini himself was exonerated by the pope, even though he had committed a crime in ordering the face-slashing. Soon after, in May 1639, at age forty-one, Bernini wed a twenty-two-year-old Roman woman, Caterina Tezio, in an arranged marriage, under orders from Pope Urban. She had eleven children, including youngest son Domenico Bernini, who would later be his father's first biographer. After his never-repeated episode of stalking and disfigurement by proxy, in his subsequent marriage, Bernini turned more sincerely to the practice of his faith, according to his early official biographers, whereas brother Luigi was to once again, in 1670, bring great grief and scandal to his family by his sodomitic rape of a young Bernini workshop assistant at the construction site of the 'Constantine' memorial in St. Peter's Basilica.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "During his lifetime Bernini lived in various residences throughout the city: principal among them, a palazzo right across from Santa Maria Maggiore and still extant at Via Liberiana 24, while his father was still alive; after his father died in 1629, Bernini moved the clan to the long-ago-demolished Santa Marta neighbourhood behind the apse of St. Peter's Basilica, which afforded him more convenient access to the Vatican Foundry and to his working studio also on the Vatican site. In 1639, Bernini bought property on the corner of the Via della Mercede and the Via del Collegio di Propaganda Fide in Rome. This gave him the distinction of being only one of two artists (the other is Pietro da Cortona) to be the proprietor of his own large palatial (though not sumptuous) residence, furnished as well with its own water supply. Bernini refurbished and expanded the existing palazzo on the Via della Mercede site, at what are now Nos. 11 and 12. (The building is sometimes referred to as \"Palazzo Bernini\", but that title more properly pertains to the Bernini family's later and larger home on Via del Corso, to which they moved in the early nineteenth century, now known as the Palazzo Manfroni-Bernini.) Bernini lived at No. 11 (extensively remodelled in the 19th century), where his working studio was located, as well as a large collection of works of art, his own and those of other artists. It is imagined that it must have been galling for Bernini to witness through the windows of his dwelling, the construction of the tower and dome of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte by his rival, Borromini, and also the demolition of the chapel that he, Bernini, had designed at the Collegio di Propaganda Fide to see it replaced by Borromini's chapel. The construction of Sant'Andrea, however, was completed by Bernini's close disciple, Mattia de Rossi, and it contains (to this day) the marble originals of two of Bernini's own angels executed by the master for the Ponte Sant'Angelo.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Although he proved during his long lifetime to be a uomo universale, truly accomplished in so many areas of artistic production like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci before him, Bernini was first and foremost a sculptor. He was trained from his earliest youth in that profession by his sculptor father, Pietro. The most recent and most comprehensive catalogue raisonné of his works of sculpture compiled by Maria Grazia Bernardini (Bernini: Catalogo delle sculture; Turin: Allemandi, 2022, 2 vols.) comprises 143 entries (not including those of debated attribution): they span Bernini’s entire productive life, the first securely attributed work dating to 1610-1612 (the marble portrait bust of Bishop Giovanni Battista Santoni, for his tomb monument in Rome’s Santa Prassede) and the last to 1679 (the marble Salvator Mundi bust, Basilica of San Sebastian fuori le Mura, Rome).",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "These many works range in size from small garden pieces of his earliest years (e.g., the Boy with a Dragon, 1617, Getty Museum, Los Angeles) to colossal works such as the Saint Longinus (1629-38, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome). The majority are in marble, with other works being in bronze (most notably his various papal portrait busts and the monumental statues adorning his Baldacchino (1624-33) and Cathedra Petri (1656-66) in St. Peter’s Basilica. In virtually all cases, Bernini first produced numerous clay models as preparation for the final product; these models are now treasured as works of art in themselves, though, regrettably, only a minuscule percentage have survived from what must have been a great multitude.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The single largest sub-group of his sculptural production is represented by his portrait busts (either free-standing or incorporated into larger funerary monuments), mostly of his papal patrons or other ecclesiastical personages, as well as those few secular potentates who could afford the extraordinary expense of commissioning a portrait from Bernini (e.g., King Louis XIV of France, 1665, in the palace of Versailles, France). Other large groups are represented by his religious works – statues of Biblical figures, angels, saints of the church, the crucified Christ, etc. – and his mythological figures either free-standing (such as his earliest masterpieces in the Galleria Borghese, Rome) or serving as ornaments in his complex fountain designs (such as the Fountain of the Four Rivers, 1647-51, Piazza Navona, Rome).",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Bernini’s vast sculptural output can also be categorized according to the degree to which Bernini himself contributed to both the design and execution of the final product: to wit, some works are entirely of his own design and execution; others, of his design and partial but still substantial execution; while others of his design but with little or no actual execution by Bernini (such as the Madonna and Child in the Carmelite Church of Saint Joseph in Paris). A further category contains those works commissioned from Bernini and fully credited to his workshop, but represent neither his direct design nor execution, only his signature stylistic inspiration (such as several of the angels on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo, refurbished by Bernini, and all of the saints atop the two arms of the portico of Saint Peter’s Square. In general, the more prestigious the commission, and the earlier the commission in his career, the greater is Bernini’s role in both design and execution, though notable exceptions exist to both of these general rules.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Bernini's architectural works include sacred and secular buildings and sometimes their urban settings and interiors. He made adjustments to existing buildings and designed new constructions. Among his most well-known works are St. Peter's Square (1656–67), the piazza and colonnades in front of St. Peter's Basilica and the interior decoration of the basilica. Among his secular works are a number of Roman palaces: following the death of Carlo Maderno, he took over the supervision of the building works at the Palazzo Barberini from 1630 on which he worked with Francesco Borromini; the Palazzo Ludovisi (now Palazzo Montecitorio, started 1650); and the Palazzo Chigi (now Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi, started 1664).",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "His first architectural projects were the creation of the new façade and refurbishment of the interior of the church of Santa Bibiana (1624–26) and the St. Peter's Baldachin (1624–33), the bronze columned canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica. In 1629, and before St. Peter's Baldachin was complete, Urban VIII put him in charge of all the ongoing architectural works at St Peter's. However, Bernini fell out of favour during the papacy of Innocent X Pamphili because of that pope's already-mentioned animosity towards the Barberini (and hence towards their clients including Bernini) and the above-described failure of the bell towers designed and built by Bernini for St. Peter's Basilica. Never wholly without patronage during the Pamphili years, after Innocent's death in 1655 Bernini regained a major role in the decoration of St. Peter's with the Pope Alexander VII Chigi, leading to his design of the piazza and colonnade in front of St. Peter's. Further significant works by Bernini at the Vatican include the Scala Regia (1663–66), the monumental grand stairway entrance to the Vatican Palace, and the Cathedra Petri, the Chair of Saint Peter, in the apse of St. Peter's, in addition to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the nave.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Bernini did not build many churches ex novo, from the ground up; rather, his efforts were concentrated on pre-existing structures, such as the restored church of Santa Bibiana and in particular St. Peter's. He fulfilled three commissions for new churches in Rome and nearby small towns. Best known is the small but richly ornamented oval church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, done (beginning in 1658) for the Jesuit novitiate, representing one of the rare works of his hand with which Bernini's son, Domenico, reports that his father was truly and very pleased. Bernini also designed churches in Castelgandolfo (San Tommaso da Villanova, 1658–1661) and Ariccia (Santa Maria Assunta, 1662–1664), and was responsible for the re-modelling of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Galloro, Ariccia, endowing it with a majestic new façade.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "When Bernini was invited to Paris in 1665 to prepare works for Louis XIV, he presented designs for the east façade of the Louvre Palace, but his projects were ultimately turned down in favour of the more sober and classic proposals of a committee consisting of three Frenchmen: Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun, and the doctor and amateur architect Claude Perrault, signalling the waning influence of Italian artistic hegemony in France. Bernini's projects were essentially rooted in the Italian Baroque urbanist tradition of relating public buildings to their settings, often leading to innovative architectural expression in urban spaces like piazze or squares. However, by this time, the French absolutist monarchy now preferred the classicizing monumental severity of the Louvre's facade, no doubt with the added political bonus that it had been designed by Frenchmen. The final version did, however, include Bernini's feature of a flat roof behind a Palladian balustrade.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "True to the decorative dynamism of Baroque which loved the aesthetic pleasure and emotional delight afforded by the sight and sound of water in motion, among Bernini's most gifted and applauded creations were his Roman fountains, which were both utilitarian public works and personal monuments to their patrons, papal or otherwise. His first fountain, the 'Barcaccia' (commissioned in 1627, finished 1629) at the foot of the Spanish Steps, cleverly surmounted a challenge that Bernini was to face in several other fountain commissions, the low water pressure in many parts of Rome (Roman fountains were all driven by gravity alone), creating a low-lying flat boat that was able to take greatest advantage of the small amount of water available. Another example is the long-ago dismantled \"Woman Drying Her Hair\" fountain that Bernini created for the no-longer-extant Villa Barberini ai Bastioni on the edge of the Janiculum Hill overlooking St. Peter's Basilica.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "His other fountains include the Fountain of the Triton, or Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini (celebrated in Ottorino Respighi's Fountains of Rome), and the nearby Barberini Fountain of the Bees, the Fontana delle Api. The Fountain of the Four Rivers, or Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, in the Piazza Navona is an exhilarating masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory in which Bernini again brilliantly overcame the problem of the piazza's low water pressure creating the illusion of an abundance of water that in reality did not exist. An oft-repeated, but false, anecdote tells that one of the Bernini's river gods defers his gaze in disapproval of the façade of Sant'Agnese in Agone (designed by the talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco Borromini), impossible because the fountain was built several years before the façade of the church was completed. Bernini was also the artist of the statue of the Moor in La Fontana del Moro in Piazza Navona (1653).",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Another major category of Bernini's activity was that of the tomb monument, a genre on which his distinctive new style exercised a decisive and long-enduring influence; included in this category are his tombs for Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII (both in St. Peter's Basilica), Cardinal Domenico Pimentel (Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, design only), and Matilda of Canossa (St. Peter's Basilica). Related to the tomb monument is the funerary memorial, of which Bernini executed several (including that, most notably, of Maria Raggi (Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome) also of greatly innovative style and long enduring influence.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Among his smaller commissions, although not mentioned by either of his earliest biographers, Baldinucci or Domenico Bernini, the Elephant and Obelisk is a sculpture located near the Pantheon, in the Piazza della Minerva, in front of the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Pope Alexander VII decided that he wanted a small ancient Egyptian obelisk (that was discovered beneath the piazza) to be erected on the same site, and in 1665 he commissioned Bernini to create a sculpture to support the obelisk. The sculpture of an elephant bearing the obelisk on its back was executed by one of Bernini's students, Ercole Ferrata, upon a design by his master, and finished in 1667. An inscription on the base relates the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Roman goddess Minerva to the Virgin Mary, who supposedly supplanted those pagan goddesses and to whom the church is dedicated. Bernini's elephants are highly realistic as Bernini had twice the opportunity to see a live elephant: Don Diego in 1630 and Hansken in 1655. A popular anecdote concerns the elephant's smile. To find out why it is smiling, legend has it, the viewer must examine the rear end of the animal and notice that its muscles are tensed and its tail is shifted to the left as if it were defecating. The animal's rear is pointed directly at one of the headquarters of the Dominican Order, housing the offices of its Inquisitors as well as the office of Father Giuseppe Paglia, a Dominican friar who was one of the main antagonists of Bernini, as a final salute and last word.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Among his minor commissions for non-Roman patrons or venues, in 1677 Bernini worked along with Ercole Ferrata to create a fountain for the Lisbon palace of the Portuguese nobleman, Luís de Meneses, 3rd Count of Ericeira: copying his earlier fountains, Bernini supplied the design of the fountain sculpted by Ferrata, featuring Neptune with four tritons around a basin. The fountain has survived and since 1945 has been outside the precincts of the gardens of the Palace of Queluz, several miles outside of Lisbon.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Bernini would have studied painting as a normal part of his artistic training begun in early adolescence under the guidance of his father, Pietro, in addition to some further training in the studio of the Florentine painter, Cigoli. His earliest activity as a painter was probably no more than a sporadic diversion practised mainly in his youth, until the mid-1620s, that is, the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII (reigned 1623–1644) who ordered Bernini to study painting in greater earnest because the pontiff wanted him to decorate the Benediction Loggia of St. Peter's. The latter commission was never executed most likely because the required large-scale narrative compositions were simply beyond Bernini's ability as a painter. According to his early biographers, Baldinucci and Domenico Bernini, Bernini completed at least 150 canvases, mostly in the decades of the 1620s and 30s, but currently, there are no more than 35–40 surviving paintings that can be confidently attributed to his hand. The extant, securely attributed works are mostly portraits, seen close up and set against an empty background, employing a confident, indeed brilliant, painterly brushstroke (similar to that of his Spanish contemporary Velasquez), free from any trace of pedantry, and a very limited palette of mostly warm, subdued colours with deep chiaroscuro. His work was immediately sought after by major collectors. Most noteworthy among these extant works are several, vividly penetrating self-portraits (all dating to the mid-1620s – early 1630s), especially that in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, purchased during Bernini's lifetime by Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici. Bernini's Apostles Andrew and Thomas in London's National Gallery is the sole canvas by the artist whose attribution, approximate date of execution (circa 1625) and provenance (the Barberini Collection, Rome) are securely known.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "As for Bernini's drawings, about 350 still exist; but this represents a minuscule percentage of the drawings he would have created in his lifetime; these include rapid sketches relating to major sculptural or architectural commissions, presentation drawings given as gifts to his patrons and aristocratic friends, and exquisite, fully finished portraits, such as those of Agostino Mascardi (Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris) and Scipione Borghese and Sisinio Poli (both in New York's Morgan Library).",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Another area of artistic endeavour to which Bernini devoted much of his spare time between major commissions and which earned him further popular acclaim was that of the theatre. For many years (especially during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, 1623-44), Bernini created a long series of theatrical productions in which he simultaneously served as scriptwriter, stage director, actor, scenographer, and special-effects technician. These plays were mostly Carnival comedies (held often in his own home) which drew large audiences and much attention and in which the artist satirized contemporary Roman life (especially court life) with his pungent witticisms. At the same time, they also dazzled spectators with daring displays of special effects such as the flooding of the Tiber river or a controlled but very real fiery blaze, as reported by his son Domenico's biography. However, although there is much disparate, scattered documentation showing that all of this theatrical work was not simply a limited or passing diversion for Bernini, the only extant remains of these endeavours are the partial script of one play and a drawing of a sunset (or sunrise) relating to the creation of a special effect on stage.",
"title": "Works of art, architecture, and mixed genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Among the many sculptors who worked under his supervision (even though most were accomplished masters in their own right) were Luigi Bernini, Stefano Speranza, Giuliano Finelli, Andrea Bolgi, Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, Lazzaro Morelli, Francesco Baratta, Ercole Ferrata, the Frenchman Niccolò Sale, Giovanni Antonio Mari, Antonio Raggi, and François Duquesnoy. But his most trusted right-hand man in sculpture was Giulio Cartari, while in architecture it was Mattia de Rossi, both of whom travelled to Paris with Bernini to assist him in his work there for King Louis XIV. Other architect disciples include Giovanni Battista Contini and Carlo Fontana while Swedish architect, Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, who visited Rome twice after Bernini's death, was also much influenced by him.",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Among his rivals in architecture were, above all, Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona. Early in their careers, they had all worked at the same time at the Palazzo Barberini, initially under Carlo Maderno and, following his death, under Bernini. Later on, however, they were in competition for commissions, and fierce rivalries developed, particularly between Bernini and Borromini. In sculpture, Bernini competed with Alessandro Algardi and François Duquesnoy, but they both died decades earlier than Bernini (respectively in 1654 and 1643), leaving Bernini effectively with no sculptor of his same exalted status in Rome. Francesco Mochi can also be included among Bernini's significant rivals, though he was not as accomplished in his art as Bernini, Algardi or Duquesnoy.",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "There was also a succession of painters (the so-called 'pittori berniniani') who, working under the master's close guidance and at times according to his designs, produced canvases and frescos that were integral components of Bernini's larger multi-media works such as churches and chapels: Carlo Pellegrini, Guido Ubaldo Abbatini, Frenchman Guillaume Courtois (Guglielmo Cortese, known as 'Il Borgognone'), Ludovico Gimignani, and Giovanni Battista Gaulli (who, thanks to Bernini, was granted the prized commission to fresco the vault of the Jesuit mother Church of the Gesù by Bernini's friend, Jesuit Superior General, Giovanni Paolo Oliva).",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "As far as Caravaggio is concerned, in all the voluminous Bernini sources, his name appears only once: this occurs in the Chantelou Diary in which the French diarist claims that Bernini agreed with his disparaging remark about Caravaggio (specifically his Fortune Teller that had just arrived from Italy as a Pamphilj gift to King Louis XIV). Yet, how much Bernini really scorned Caravaggio's art is a matter of debate whereas arguments have been made in favour of a strong influence of Caravaggio on Bernini. Bernini would, of course, have heard much about Caravaggio and seen many of his works not only because in Rome at the time such contact was impossible to avoid, but also because during his own lifetime, Caravaggio had come to the favourable attention of Bernini's own early patrons, both the Borghese and the Barberini. Indeed, much like Caravaggio, Bernini often devised strikingly bold compositions, akin to theatrical tableaux that arrest the scene at its dramatic key moment (such as in his Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria). And again much like Caravaggio, he made full and skillful use of theatrical lighting as an important aesthetic and metaphorical device in his religious settings, often employing hidden light sources that could intensify the focus of religious worship or enhance the dramatic moment of a sculptural narrative.",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "The most important primary source for the life of Bernini is the biography written by his youngest son, Domenico, entitled Vita del Cavalier Gio. Lorenzo Bernino, published in 1713 though first compiled in the last years of his father's life (c. 1675–80). Filippo Baldinucci's Life of Bernini was published in 1682, and a meticulous private journal, the Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini's Visit to France, was kept by the Frenchman Paul Fréart de Chantelou during the artist's four-month stay from June through October 1665 at the court of King Louis XIV. Also, there is a short biographical narrative, The Vita Brevis of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, written by his eldest son, Monsignor Pietro Filippo Bernini, in the mid-1670s.",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Until the late 20th century, it was generally believed that two years after Bernini's death, Queen Christina of Sweden, then living in Rome, commissioned Filippo Baldinucci to write his biography, which was published in Florence in 1682. However, recent research now strongly suggests that it was in fact Bernini's sons (and specifically the eldest son, Mons. Pietro Filippo) who commissioned the biography from Baldinucci sometime in the late 1670s, with the intent of publishing it while their father was still alive. This would mean that first, the commission did not at all originate in Queen Christina who would have merely lent her name as patron (in order to hide the fact that the biography was coming directly from the family) and secondly, that Baldinucci's narrative was largely derived from some pre-publication version of Domenico Bernini's much longer biography of his father, as evidenced by the extremely large amount of text repeated verbatim (there is no other explanation, otherwise, for the massive amount of verbatim repetition, and it is known that Baldinucci routinely copied verbatim material for his artists' biographies supplied by family and friends of his subjects). As the most detailed account and the only one coming directly from a member of the artist's immediate family, Domenico's biography, despite having been published later than Baldinucci's, therefore represents the earliest and more important full-length biographical source of Bernini's life, even though it idealizes its subject and whitewashes a number of less-than-flattering facts about his life and personality.",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "As one Bernini scholar has summarized, \"Perhaps the most important result of all of the [Bernini] studies and research of these past few decades has been to restore to Bernini his status as the great, principal protagonist of Baroque art, the one who was able to create undisputed masterpieces, to interpret in an original and genial fashion the new spiritual sensibilities of the age, to give the city of Rome an entirely new face, and to unify the [artistic] language of the times.\" Few artists have had as decisive an influence on the physical appearance and emotional tenor of a city as Bernini had on Rome. Maintaining a controlling influence over all aspects of his many and large commissions and over those who aided him in executing them, he was able to carry out his unique and harmoniously uniform vision over decades of work with his long and productive life Although by the end of Bernini's life there was in motion a decided reaction against his brand of flamboyant Baroque, the fact is that sculptors and architects continued to study his works and be influenced by them for several more decades (Nicola Salvi's later Trevi Fountain [inaugurated in 1735] is a prime example of the enduring post-mortem influence of Bernini on the city's landscape).",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In the eighteenth century, Bernini and virtually all Baroque artists fell from favor in the neoclassical criticism of the Baroque, that criticism aimed above all at the latter's supposedly extravagant (and thus illegitimate) departures from the pristine, sober models of Greek and Roman antiquity. It is only from the late nineteenth century that art historical scholarship, in seeking a more objective understanding of artistic output within the specific cultural context in which it was produced, without the a priori prejudices of neoclassicism, began to recognize Bernini's achievements and slowly began to restore his artistic reputation. However, the reaction against Bernini and the too-sensual (and therefore \"decadent\"), too-emotionally charged Baroque in the larger culture (especially in non-Catholic countries of northern Europe, and particularly in Victorian England) remained in effect until well into the twentieth century (most notable are the public disparagement of Bernini by Francesco Milizia, Joshua Reynolds, and Jacob Burkhardt).",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Among the influential 18th- and 19th-century figures who despised Bernini's art was also and most prominently Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–68), considered by many the father of the modern discipline of art history. For the neo-classicist Winkelmann, the one true, laudable \"high style\" of art was characterized by noble simplicity joined with a quiet grandeur that eschewed any exuberance of emotion, whether positive or negative, as exemplified by ancient Greek sculpture. The Baroque Bernini, instead, represented the opposite of this ideal and, moreover, according to Winkelmann, had been “utterly corrupted...by a vulgar flattery of the coarse and uncultivated, in attempting to render everything more intelligible to them.” Another major condemning voice is that of Colen Campbell (1676-1729), who on the very first page of his monumental and influential Vitruvius Britannicus (London, 1715, Introduction, vol. 1, p. 1) singles out Bernini and Borromini as examples of the utter degradation of post-Palladian architecture in Italy: \"With (the great Palladio) the great Manner and exquisite Taste of Building is lost; for the Italians can no more now relish the Antique Simplicity, but are entirely employed in capricious Ornaments, which must at last end in the Gothick. For Proof of this Assertion, I appeal to the Productions of the last Century: How affected and licentious are the Works of Bernini and Fontana? How wildly Extravagant are the Designs of Boromini, who has endeavoured to debauch Mankind with his odd and chimerical Beauties…?\" Accordingly, most of the popular eighteenth- and nineteenth-century tourist guides to Rome all but ignore Bernini and his work, or treat it with disdain, as in the case of the best-selling Walks in Rome (22 editions between 1871 and 1925) by Augustus J.C. Hare, who describes the angels on the Ponte Sant'Angelo as 'Bernini's Breezy Maniacs.'",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "But now in the twenty-first century, Bernini and his Baroque have been fully and enthusiastically restored to favour, both critical and popular. Since the anniversary year of his birth in 1998, there have been numerous Bernini exhibitions throughout the world, especially in Europe and North America, on all aspects of his work, expanding our knowledge of his work and its influence. In the late twentieth century, Bernini was commemorated on the front of the Bank of Italy's 50,000 lire banknote in the 1980s and 90s (before Italy switched to the euro) with the back showing his equestrian statue of Constantine. Another outstanding sign of Bernini's enduring reputation came in the decision by architect I.M. Pei to insert a faithful copy in lead of his King Louis XIV Equestrian statue as the sole ornamental element in his massive modernist redesign of the entrance plaza to the Louvre Museum, completed to great acclaim in 1989, and featuring the giant Louvre Pyramid in glass. In 2000 best-selling novelist, Dan Brown, made Bernini and several of his Roman works, the centrepiece of his political thriller, Angels & Demons, while British novelist Iain Pears made a missing Bernini bust the centrepiece of his best-selling murder mystery, The Bernini Bust (2003). There is even a crater near the south pole of Mercury named after Bernini (in 1976).",
"title": "Influence and post-mortem reputation"
}
]
| Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ..." In addition, he was a painter and a man of the theatre: he wrote, directed and acted in plays, for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches. As an architect and city planner, he designed secular buildings, churches, chapels, and public squares, as well as massive works combining both architecture and sculpture, especially elaborate public fountains and funerary monuments and a whole series of temporary structures for funerals and festivals. His broad technical versatility, boundless compositional inventiveness and sheer skill in manipulating marble ensured that he would be considered a worthy successor of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his generation. His talent extended beyond the confines of sculpture to a consideration of the setting in which it would be situated; his ability to synthesize sculpture, painting, and architecture into a coherent conceptual and visual whole has been termed by the late art historian Irving Lavin the "unity of the visual arts". | 2001-09-28T10:47:43Z | 2023-12-08T15:24:54Z | [
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Infobox artist",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:IPA-it",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Gian Lorenzo Bernini",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Spnd",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Webarchive"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Lorenzo_Bernini |
12,636 | German literature | German literature (German: Deutschsprachige Literatur) comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there are some currents of literature influenced to a greater or lesser degree by dialects (e.g. Alemannic).
Medieval German literature is literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point. The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century; the most famous works are the Hildebrandslied and a heroic epic known as the Heliand. Middle High German starts in the 12th century; the key works include The Ring (c. 1410) and the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl. The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Modern literature in German begins with the authors of the Enlightenment (such as Herder). The Sensibility movement of the 1750s–1770s ended with Goethe's best-selling The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The Sturm und Drang and Weimar Classicism movements were led by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Biedermeier refers to the literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions. Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship ("internal emigration", Innere Emigration). The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), or the second most often, tying with French language authors, after English language authors (with 32 laureates) with winners including Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Günter Grass, and Peter Handke.
Periodization is not an exact science but the following list contains movements or time periods typically used in discussing German literature. It seems worth noting that the periods of medieval German literature span two or three centuries, those of early modern German literature span one century, and those of modern German literature each span one or two decades. The closer one nears the present, the more debated the periodizations become.
Medieval German literature refers to literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point.
The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century, though the boundary to Early Middle High German (second half of the 11th century) is not clear-cut.
The most famous work in OHG is the Hildebrandslied, a short piece of Germanic alliterative heroic verse which besides the Muspilli is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Another important work, in the northern dialect of Old Saxon, is a life of Christ in the style of a heroic epic known as the Heliand.
Middle High German proper runs from the beginning of the 12th century, and in the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year "golden age" of medieval German literature referred to as the mittelhochdeutsche Blütezeit (1170–1230). This was the period of the blossoming of MHG lyric poetry, particularly Minnesang (the German variety of the originally French tradition of courtly love). One of the most important of these poets was Walther von der Vogelweide. The same sixty years saw the composition of the most important courtly romances. These are written in rhyming couplets, and again draw on French models such as Chrétien de Troyes, many of them relating Arthurian material, for example, Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The third literary movement of these years was a new revamping of the heroic tradition, in which the ancient Germanic oral tradition can still be discerned, but tamed and Christianized and adapted for the court. These high medieval heroic epics are written in rhymed strophes, not the alliterative verse of Germanic prehistory (for example, the Nibelungenlied).
The Middle High German period is conventionally taken to end in 1350, while the Early New High German is taken to begin with the German Renaissance, after the invention of movable type in the mid-15th century. Therefore, the literature of the late 14th and the early 15th century falls, as it were, in the cracks between Middle and New High German, and can be classified as either. Works of this transitional period include The Ring (c. 1410), the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl, the German versions of Pontus and Sidonia, and arguably the works of Hans Folz and Sebastian Brant (Ship of Fools, 1494), among others. The Volksbuch (chapbook) tradition which would flourish in the 16th century also finds its origin in the second half of the 15th century.
The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Many writers reflected the horrible experiences of the Thirty Years' War, in poetry and prose. Grimmelshausen's adventures of the young and naïve Simplicissimus, in the eponymous book Simplicius Simplicissimus, became the most famous novel of the Baroque period. Martin Opitz established rules for the "purity" of language, style, verse and rhyme. Andreas Gryphius and Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein wrote German language tragedies, or Trauerspiele, often on Classical themes and frequently quite violent. Erotic, religious and occasional poetry appeared in both German and Latin. Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg wrote part of a novel, Die Durchlauchtige Syrerin Aramena (Aramena, the noble Syrian lady), which when complete would be the most famous courtly novel in German Baroque literature; it was finished by her brother Anton Ulrich and edited by Sigmund von Birken.
Empfindsamkeit / Sensibility (1750s–1770s) Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), Sophie de La Roche (1730–1807). The period culminates and ends in Goethe's best-selling Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774).
Sturm und Drang (the conventional translation is "Storm and Stress"; a more literal translation, however, might be storm and urge, storm and longing, or storm and impulse) is the name of a movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in response to the confines of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements. The philosopher Johann Georg Hamann is considered to be the ideologue of Sturm und Drang, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a notable proponent of the movement, though he and Friedrich Schiller ended their period of association with it, initiating what would become Weimar Classicism.
Weimar Classicism (German “Weimarer Klassik” and “Weimarer Klassizismus”) is a cultural and literary movement of Europe, and its central ideas were originally propounded by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller during the period 1786 to 1805.
German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to its English counterpart, coinciding in its early years with the movement known as German Classicism or Weimar Classicism, which it opposed. In contrast to the seriousness of English Romanticism, the German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty. The early German romantics tried to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, looking to the Middle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As time went on, however, they became increasingly aware of the tenuousness of the unity they were seeking. Later German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the everyday world and the seemingly irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius. Heinrich Heine in particular criticized the tendency of the early romantics to look to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and society.
Biedermeier refers to work in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions and contrasts with the Romantic era which preceded it. Typical Biedermeier poets are Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Adelbert von Chamisso, Eduard Mörike, and Wilhelm Müller, the last three named having well-known musical settings by Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Franz Schubert respectively.
Young Germany (Junges Deutschland) was a loose group of Vormärz writers which existed from about 1830 to 1850. It was essentially a youth movement (similar to those that had swept France and Ireland and originated in Italy). Its main proponents were Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich Laube, Theodor Mundt and Ludolf Wienbarg; Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Börne and Georg Büchner were also considered part of the movement. The wider circle included Willibald Alexis, Adolf Glassbrenner and Gustav Kühne.
Poetic Realism (1848–1890): Theodor Fontane, Gustav Freitag, Gottfried Keller, Wilhelm Raabe, Adalbert Stifter, Theodor Storm
Naturalism (1880–1900): Gerhart Hauptmann
A well-known writer of German literature was Franz Kafka. A Kafka novel, The Trial, was ranked #3 on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century. Kafka's iconic writing style that captures themes of bureaucracy and existentialism resulted in the coining of the term “Kafkaesque.” Kafka's writing allowed a peek into his melancholic life, one where he felt isolated from all human beings, one of his inspirations for writing.
Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship ("inner emigration", Innere Emigration)
Much of contemporary poetry in the German language is published in literary magazines. DAS GEDICHT, for instance, has featured German poetry from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg for the last twenty years.
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German-language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), tying with French-language authors, or the second most often after English-language authors (with 32).
The following writers are from Germany unless stated otherwise: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "German literature (German: Deutschsprachige Literatur) comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there are some currents of literature influenced to a greater or lesser degree by dialects (e.g. Alemannic).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Medieval German literature is literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point. The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century; the most famous works are the Hildebrandslied and a heroic epic known as the Heliand. Middle High German starts in the 12th century; the key works include The Ring (c. 1410) and the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl. The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Modern literature in German begins with the authors of the Enlightenment (such as Herder). The Sensibility movement of the 1750s–1770s ended with Goethe's best-selling The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The Sturm und Drang and Weimar Classicism movements were led by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Biedermeier refers to the literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions. Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship (\"internal emigration\", Innere Emigration). The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), or the second most often, tying with French language authors, after English language authors (with 32 laureates) with winners including Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Günter Grass, and Peter Handke.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Periodization is not an exact science but the following list contains movements or time periods typically used in discussing German literature. It seems worth noting that the periods of medieval German literature span two or three centuries, those of early modern German literature span one century, and those of modern German literature each span one or two decades. The closer one nears the present, the more debated the periodizations become.",
"title": "Periodization"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Medieval German literature refers to literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point.",
"title": "Middle Ages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century, though the boundary to Early Middle High German (second half of the 11th century) is not clear-cut.",
"title": "Middle Ages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The most famous work in OHG is the Hildebrandslied, a short piece of Germanic alliterative heroic verse which besides the Muspilli is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Another important work, in the northern dialect of Old Saxon, is a life of Christ in the style of a heroic epic known as the Heliand.",
"title": "Middle Ages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Middle High German proper runs from the beginning of the 12th century, and in the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year \"golden age\" of medieval German literature referred to as the mittelhochdeutsche Blütezeit (1170–1230). This was the period of the blossoming of MHG lyric poetry, particularly Minnesang (the German variety of the originally French tradition of courtly love). One of the most important of these poets was Walther von der Vogelweide. The same sixty years saw the composition of the most important courtly romances. These are written in rhyming couplets, and again draw on French models such as Chrétien de Troyes, many of them relating Arthurian material, for example, Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The third literary movement of these years was a new revamping of the heroic tradition, in which the ancient Germanic oral tradition can still be discerned, but tamed and Christianized and adapted for the court. These high medieval heroic epics are written in rhymed strophes, not the alliterative verse of Germanic prehistory (for example, the Nibelungenlied).",
"title": "Middle Ages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Middle High German period is conventionally taken to end in 1350, while the Early New High German is taken to begin with the German Renaissance, after the invention of movable type in the mid-15th century. Therefore, the literature of the late 14th and the early 15th century falls, as it were, in the cracks between Middle and New High German, and can be classified as either. Works of this transitional period include The Ring (c. 1410), the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl, the German versions of Pontus and Sidonia, and arguably the works of Hans Folz and Sebastian Brant (Ship of Fools, 1494), among others. The Volksbuch (chapbook) tradition which would flourish in the 16th century also finds its origin in the second half of the 15th century.",
"title": "Middle Ages"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Many writers reflected the horrible experiences of the Thirty Years' War, in poetry and prose. Grimmelshausen's adventures of the young and naïve Simplicissimus, in the eponymous book Simplicius Simplicissimus, became the most famous novel of the Baroque period. Martin Opitz established rules for the \"purity\" of language, style, verse and rhyme. Andreas Gryphius and Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein wrote German language tragedies, or Trauerspiele, often on Classical themes and frequently quite violent. Erotic, religious and occasional poetry appeared in both German and Latin. Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg wrote part of a novel, Die Durchlauchtige Syrerin Aramena (Aramena, the noble Syrian lady), which when complete would be the most famous courtly novel in German Baroque literature; it was finished by her brother Anton Ulrich and edited by Sigmund von Birken.",
"title": "Early Modern period"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Empfindsamkeit / Sensibility (1750s–1770s) Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), Sophie de La Roche (1730–1807). The period culminates and ends in Goethe's best-selling Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774).",
"title": "18th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Sturm und Drang (the conventional translation is \"Storm and Stress\"; a more literal translation, however, might be storm and urge, storm and longing, or storm and impulse) is the name of a movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in response to the confines of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements. The philosopher Johann Georg Hamann is considered to be the ideologue of Sturm und Drang, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a notable proponent of the movement, though he and Friedrich Schiller ended their period of association with it, initiating what would become Weimar Classicism.",
"title": "18th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Weimar Classicism (German “Weimarer Klassik” and “Weimarer Klassizismus”) is a cultural and literary movement of Europe, and its central ideas were originally propounded by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller during the period 1786 to 1805.",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to its English counterpart, coinciding in its early years with the movement known as German Classicism or Weimar Classicism, which it opposed. In contrast to the seriousness of English Romanticism, the German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty. The early German romantics tried to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, looking to the Middle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As time went on, however, they became increasingly aware of the tenuousness of the unity they were seeking. Later German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the everyday world and the seemingly irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius. Heinrich Heine in particular criticized the tendency of the early romantics to look to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and society.",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Biedermeier refers to work in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions and contrasts with the Romantic era which preceded it. Typical Biedermeier poets are Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Adelbert von Chamisso, Eduard Mörike, and Wilhelm Müller, the last three named having well-known musical settings by Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Franz Schubert respectively.",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Young Germany (Junges Deutschland) was a loose group of Vormärz writers which existed from about 1830 to 1850. It was essentially a youth movement (similar to those that had swept France and Ireland and originated in Italy). Its main proponents were Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich Laube, Theodor Mundt and Ludolf Wienbarg; Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Börne and Georg Büchner were also considered part of the movement. The wider circle included Willibald Alexis, Adolf Glassbrenner and Gustav Kühne.",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Poetic Realism (1848–1890): Theodor Fontane, Gustav Freitag, Gottfried Keller, Wilhelm Raabe, Adalbert Stifter, Theodor Storm",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Naturalism (1880–1900): Gerhart Hauptmann",
"title": "19th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "A well-known writer of German literature was Franz Kafka. A Kafka novel, The Trial, was ranked #3 on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century. Kafka's iconic writing style that captures themes of bureaucracy and existentialism resulted in the coining of the term “Kafkaesque.” Kafka's writing allowed a peek into his melancholic life, one where he felt isolated from all human beings, one of his inspirations for writing.",
"title": "20th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship (\"inner emigration\", Innere Emigration)",
"title": "20th century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Much of contemporary poetry in the German language is published in literary magazines. DAS GEDICHT, for instance, has featured German poetry from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg for the last twenty years.",
"title": "21st century"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German-language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), tying with French-language authors, or the second most often after English-language authors (with 32).",
"title": "Nobel Prize laureates"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The following writers are from Germany unless stated otherwise:",
"title": "Nobel Prize laureates"
}
]
| German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there are some currents of literature influenced to a greater or lesser degree by dialects. Medieval German literature is literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point. The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century; the most famous works are the Hildebrandslied and a heroic epic known as the Heliand. Middle High German starts in the 12th century; the key works include The Ring and the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl. The Baroque period was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Modern literature in German begins with the authors of the Enlightenment. The Sensibility movement of the 1750s–1770s ended with Goethe's best-selling The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The Sturm und Drang and Weimar Classicism movements were led by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Biedermeier refers to the literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815, the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions. Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship. The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors fourteen times, or the second most often, tying with French language authors, after English language authors with winners including Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Günter Grass, and Peter Handke. | 2002-01-27T03:12:20Z | 2023-11-06T06:50:40Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Lang-de",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite EB1911",
"Template:Literature of Europe",
"Template:More footnotes needed",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Cite AmCyc",
"Template:German literature",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Reformationliterature",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Webarchive"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_literature |
12,639 | Galilee | Galilee (/ˈɡælɪliː/; Hebrew: הַגָּלִיל, romanized: hagGālīl; Arabic: الجليل, romanized: al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (הגליל העליון, ha-galil ha-elyon; الجليل الأعلى, al-jalīl al-aʾlā) and Lower Galilee (גליל תחתון, galil tahton; الجليل الأسفل, al-jalīl al-asfal).
Galilee refers to all of the area that is north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east–west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Rift Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights all the way to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south. This definition includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beth Shean Valley, the valley containing the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley, although it usually does not include Haifa's immediate northern suburbs. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of Israel and with Southern Lebanon.
The region's Hebrew name is גָּלִיל, meaning 'district' or 'circle'. The Hebrew form used in Book of Isaiah 9:1 (or 8:23 in different Biblical versions) is in the construct state, leading to גְּלִיל הַגּוֹיִם "Galilee of the nations", which refers to gentiles who settled there at the time that the book was written, either by their own volition or as a result of the resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
The borders of Galilee, split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee, were described by Josephus in his The Jewish War:
Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are hounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it, extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan.
Most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 m. Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, which have relatively low temperatures and high rainfall. As a result of this climate, flora and fauna thrive in the region, while many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colourful wildflowers, as well as numerous towns of biblical importance, make the region a popular tourist destination.
Due to its high rainfall 900–1,200 millimetres (35–47 in), mild temperatures and high mountains (Mount Meron's elevation is 1,000–1,208 m), the upper Galilee region contains some distinctive flora and fauna: prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani), which grows in a small grove on Mount Meron, cyclamens, paeonias, and Rhododendron ponticum which sometimes appears on Meron.
Western Galilee (Hebrew: גליל מערבי, romanized: Galil Ma'aravi) is a modern term referring to the western part of the Upper Galilee and its shore, and usually also the northwestern part of the Lower Galilee, mostly overlapping with Acre sub-district. Galilee Panhandle is a common term referring to the "panhandle" in the east that extends to the north, where Lebanon is to the west, and includes Hula Valley and Ramot Naftali mountains of the Upper Galilee.
According to the Bible, Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the tribal region of Naphthali and Dan, at times overlapping the Tribe of Asher's land. However, Dan was dispersed among the whole people rather than isolated to the lands of Dan, as the Tribe of Dan was the hereditary local law enforcement and judiciary for the whole nation. Normally, Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali.
Chapter 9 of 1 Kings states that Solomon rewarded his Phoenician ally, King Hiram I of Sidon, with twenty cities in the land of Galilee, which would then have been either settled by foreigners during and after the reign of Hiram, or by those who had been forcibly deported there by later conquerors such as the Assyrians. Hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to David, accepted the upland plain among the Naftali Mountains and renamed it "the land of Cabul" for a time.
Up until the end of the Hellenistic period and before the Hasmonean conquest, the Galilee was sparsely populated, with the majority of its inhabitants concentrated in large fortified centers on the edges of the western and central valleys. Based on archeological evidence from Tel Anafa, Kedesh, and ash-Shuhara, the Upper Galilee was then home to a pagan population with close ties to the Phoenician coast.
During the expansion of the Hasmonean kingdom of Judea, much of the Galilee region was conquered and annexed by the first Hasmonean king Aristobulus I (104–103 BCE). Following the Hasmonean conquest, there was a significant Jewish influx into the area. Sites including Yodfat, Meiron, Sepphoris, Shikhin, Qana, Bersabe, Zalmon, Mimlah, Migdal, Arbel, Kefar Hittaya, and Beth Ma'on have archeological-chronological evidence for this settlement wave.
Josephus, who based his account on Timagenes of Alexandria, claimed that Aristobulus I had forcibly converted the Itureans to Judaism while annexing a portion of their territory. Schürer believed this information to be accurate and came to the conclusion that the "Jewish" Galilee of Jesus' day was actually inhabited by the offspring of those same Iturean converts. Other scholars have suggested that the Itureans underwent a voluntary conversion to Judaism in the Upper Galilee, or at the very least in the Eastern Upper Galilee. However, archeological information does not support either proposal, as Iturean material culture has been identified clearly in the northern Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and not in the Galilee, and it is clear that this area remained outside Hasmonean borders.
Following the Roman conquest of Judaea, a second, more significant wave of Jewish settlement arrived in the Galilee. Large and significant towns were established at the end of the first century BCE or the start of the first century CE, including Kefar Hananya, Parod, Ravid, Mashkaneh, Sabban, and Tiberias.
In the first century CE, the Galilee was dotted with small towns and villages. The Jewish historian Josephus claims that there were 204 small towns in Galilee, but modern scholars believe this estimate to be an exaggeration. Many of these towns were located around the Sea of Galilee, which contained many edible fish and which was surrounded by fertile land. Salted, dried, and pickled fish were an important export good. In 4 BCE, a rebel named Judah plundered Galilee's largest city, Sepphoris. According to Josephus, the Syrian governor Publius Quinctilius Varus responded by sacking Sepphoris and selling the population into slavery, but the region's archaeology lacks evidence of such destruction.
After the death of Herod the Great that same year, his son Herod Antipas was appointed as tetrarch of Galilee by the Roman emperor Augustus. Galilee remained a Roman client state and Antipas paid tribute to the Roman Empire in exchange for Roman protection. The Romans did not station troops in Galilee, but threatened to retaliate against anyone who attacked it. As long as he continued to pay tribute, Antipas was permitted to govern however he wished and was permitted to mint his own coinage. Antipas was relatively observant of Jewish laws and customs. Although his palace was decorated with animal carvings, which many Jews regarded as a transgression against the law prohibiting idols, his coins bore only agricultural designs, which his subjects deemed acceptable. In general, Antipas was a capable ruler; Josephus does not record any instance of his use of force to put down an uprising and he had a long, prosperous reign. However, many Jews probably resented him as not sufficiently devout. Antipas rebuilt the city of Sepphoris and, in either 18 CE or 19 CE, he founded the new city of Tiberias. These two cities became Galilee's largest cultural centers. They were the main centers of Greco-Roman influence, but were still predominantly Jewish. A massive gap existed between the rich and poor, but lack of uprisings suggest that taxes were not exorbitantly high and that most Galileans did not feel their livelihoods were being threatened. Late in his reign, Antipas married his half-niece Herodias, who was already married to one of her other uncles. His wife, whom he divorced, fled to her father Aretas, an Arab king, who invaded Galilee and defeated Antipas's troops before withdrawing. Both Josephus and the Gospel of Mark record that the itinerate preacher John the Baptist criticized Antipas over his marriage and Antipas consequently had him imprisoned and then beheaded. In around 39 CE, at the urging of Herodias, Antipas went to Rome to request that he be elevated from the status of tetrarch to the status of king. The Romans found him guilty of storing arms, so he was removed from power and exiled, ending his forty-three-year reign. During the Great Revolt (66–73 CE), a Jewish mob destroyed Herod Antipas's palace.
The archaeological discoveries of synagogues from the Hellenistic and Roman period in the Galilee show strong Phoenician influences, and a high level of tolerance for other cultures relative to other Jewish religious centers.
Judaism reached its political and cultural zenith in the Galilee during the late second and early third century CE. According to rabbinic sources, Judah ha-Nasi's political leadership was at its strongest in relation to the Jewish community in Syria Palaestina, the Diaspora, and the Roman Authorities during this time. Judah's redaction of the Mishnah at this time period represented the peak of intense cultural activity. Archaeological surveys in the Galilee have revealed that the region experienced its height of thriving settlement during this time.
According to medieval Hebrew legend, Shimon bar Yochai, one of the most famed of all the tannaim, wrote the Zohar while living in Galilee.
After the completion of the Mishnah, which marked the conclusion of the tannaitic era, came the period of the amoraim. The Jerusalem Talmud, the principal work of the amoraim in Palestine, is primarily discussions and interpretations of the Mishnah, and according to academic research, most of it was edited in Tiberias. The vast majority of the amoraim named there, as well as the majority of the settlements or place names referenced, were Galileans. By the middle of the fourth century, the Jerusalem Talmud's compilation and editing processes abruptly came to a halt, as Talmudic scholar Yaacov Sussmann put it: "The development of the Jerusalem Talmud seems to have abruptly ceased, as if severed by a sharp and sudden blade".
Demographically, during the fourth century the entire region witnessed a significant population decrease, resulting in the abandonment of several notable settlements. In approximately 320 CE, Christian bishop Epiphanius reported that all the major cities and villages in Galilee were entirely Jewish. During the Byzantine period, however, Galilee's Jewish population experienced a decline, while Christian settlement grew. Archaeological data indicates that in the third and fourth centuries, several Jewish sites were abandoned, and some Christian villages were established on or near these deserted locations. Certain settlements, such as Rama, Magdala, Kafr Kanna, Daburiyya, and Iksal, which were materially Jewish during the Roman period, were now predominantly inhabited by Christians or had a significant Christian population. Safrai and Liebner argue that the decline of the Jewish population and the expansion of the Christian population in the region were separate events that happened at different times. Throughout this period, religious segregation between Christian and Jewish villages endured, with few exceptions like Capernaum and perhaps Nazareth, due to their sanctity in Christian tradition.
Leibner has proposed tying the end of the Palestinian Amoraic period, the impact of historical occurrences like the Christianization of the Roman Empire and of Palestine, the apparent cessation of activities of at least some of the batei midrash and the transformation of the Galilee from a densely populated Jewish area to a collection of communities surrounded by non-Jewish areas to this demographic crisis. He assumed that Christian population in Galilee was not composed of Jews who converted to Christianity. This is supported by the fact that trustworthy historical records, which mention Jewish conversion to Christianity in Byzantine Palestine, refer to individual cases rather than entire villages, unlike the records from the western part of the empire. Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until at least the seventh century.
After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the Galilee formed part of Jund al-Urdunn (the military district of Jordan), itself part of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria). Its major towns were Tiberias the capital of the district, Qadas, Beisan, Acre, Saffuriya, and Kabul. During the early Islamic period, Galilee underwent a process of Arabization and Islamization, similar to other areas in the region. Under Umayyad rule, Islamic rule was gradually consolidated in newly conquered territories, and some Muslims settled in the villages, establishing residency there. Later, under Abassid rule, geographer al-Ya'qubi (d. 891), who referred to the region as 'Jabal al-Jalil', noted that its inhabitants were Arabs from the Amila tribe. Michael Ehrlich suggests that during the Early Islamic period, the majority of people in the Western Galilee and Lower Galilee likely converted to Islam, while in the Eastern Galilee, the Islamization process continued for a more extended period, lasting until the Mamluk period.
According to Moshe Gil, Jews in rural Galilean areas frequently succeeded in upholding community life during and for decades after the Umayyad period. He comes to the conclusion that several Galilean Jewish communities "retained their ancient character".
The Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 10th century; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in Mount Lebanon and partially in the Galilee. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries. According to Moshe Gil, during the periods of Fatimid and Crusader rule, the rural Jewish population of Galilee experienced a gradual decline and flight. He supports his argument by referring to 11th-century Cairo Geniza documents related to transactions in Ramla and other areas in central Palestine, where Jews claimed to have ancestral ties to places like Gush Halav, Dalton, or 'Amuqa, suggesting that Jewish flight from Galilee occurred during that time.
Sunni Muslims began to immigrate to Safed and its surroundings starting in the Ayyubid period, and in particular during the Mamluk period. These immigrants included Sufi preachers who were crucial in converting the locals to Islam in Safed's rural area. Jewish immigrants did, however, come to the area in waves, during the period of the destruction of Tyre and Acre in 1291 and particularly after the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492. These immigrants, who included scholars and other urban elites, turned the Jewish community from a rural community into an urban hub which exerted its influence well beyond the regional boundaries of Upper Galilee.
During Early Ottoman era, the Galilee was governed as the Safad Sanjak, initially part of the larger administrative unit of Damascus Eyalet (1549–1660) and later as part of Sidon Eyalet (1660–1864). During the 18th century, the administrative division of Galilee was renamed to Acre Sanjak, and the Eyalet itself became centered in Acre, factually becoming the Acre Eyalet between 1775 and 1841.
The Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made Safed an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism's four holy cities and a center for kabbalah.
In the mid-17th century Galilee and Mount Lebanon became the scene of the Druze power struggle, which came in parallel with much destruction in the region and decline of major cities.
In the mid-18th century, Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the Arab leader Zahir al-Umar and the Ottoman authorities who were centred in Damascus. Zahir ruled Galilee for 25 years until Ottoman loyalist Jezzar Pasha conquered the region in 1775.
In 1831, the Galilee, a part of Ottoman Syria, switched hands from Ottomans to Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt until 1840. During this period, aggressive social and politic policies were introduced, which led to a violent 1834 Arab revolt. In the process of this revolt the Jewish community of Safed was greatly reduced, in the event of Safed Plunder by the rebels. The Arab rebels were subsequently defeated by the Egyptian troops, though in 1838, the Druze of Galilee led another uprising. In 1834 and 1837, major earthquakes leveled most of the towns, resulting in great loss of life.
Following the 1864 Tanszimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire, the Galilee remained within Acre Sanjak, but was transferred from Sidon Eyalet to the newly formed Syria Vilayet and shortly, from 1888, became administered from Beirut Vilayet.
In 1866, Galilee's first hospital, the Nazareth Hospital, was founded under the leadership of American-Armenian missionary Dr. Kaloost Vartan, assisted by German missionary John Zeller.
In the early 20th century, Galilee remained part of Acre Sanjak of Ottoman Syria. It was administered as the southernmost territory of the Beirut Vilayet.
Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the Armistice of Mudros, it came under British rule, as part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Shortly after, in 1920, the region was included in the British Mandate territory, officially a part of Mandatory Palestine from 1923.
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, nearly the whole of Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled or was forced to leave, leaving dozens of entire villages empty; however, a large Israeli Arab community remained based in and near the cities of Nazareth, Acre, Tamra, Sakhnin, and Shefa-'Amr, due to some extent to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the Syrian army's artillery until Israel seized Western Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War.
During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) launched multiple attacks on towns and villages of the Upper and Western Galilee from Lebanon. This came in parallel to the general destabilization of Southern Lebanon, which became a scene of fierce sectarian fighting which deteriorated into the Lebanese Civil War. On the course of the war, Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon, protecting the citizens of the Galilee and supporting allied Christian Lebanese militias. Israel took over much of southern Lebanon in support of Christian Lebanese militias until 1985, when it withdrew to a narrow security buffer zone.
From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah, and earlier Amal, engaged the South Lebanon Army supported by the Israel Defense Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities with Katyusha rockets. In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the United Nations. The move brought a collapse to the South Lebanon Army and takeover of Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah. However, despite Israeli withdrawal, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.
The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the whole of Galilee, with long-range, ground-launched missiles hitting as far south as the Sharon Plain, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley below the Sea of Galilee.
As of 2006, there were 1.2 million residents in Galilee, of which 47% were Jewish. The Jewish Agency has attempted to increase the Jewish population in this area, but the non-Jewish population also has a high growth rate.
The largest cities in the region are Acre, Nahariya, Nazareth, Safed, Karmiel, Shaghur, Shefa-'Amr, Afula, and Tiberias. The port city of Haifa serves as a commercial center for the whole region.
Because of its hilly terrain, most of the people in the Galilee live in small villages connected by relatively few roads. A railroad runs south from Nahariya along the Mediterranean coast, and a fork to the east was opened in 2016. The main sources of livelihood throughout the area are agriculture and tourism. Industrial parks are being developed, bringing further employment opportunities to the local population which includes many recent immigrants. The Israeli government is contributing funding to the private initiative, the Galilee Finance Facility, organised by the Milken Institute and Koret Economic Development Fund.
The Galilee is home to a large Arab population, comprising a Muslim majority and two smaller populations, of Druze and Arab Christians, of comparable sizes. Both Israeli Druze and Christians have their majorities in the Galilee. Other notable minorities are the Bedouin, the Maronites and the Circassians.
The north-central portion of the Galilee is also known as Central Galilee, stretching from the border with Lebanon to the northern edge of the Jezreel Valley, including the cities of Nazareth and Sakhnin, has an Arab majority of 75% with most of the Jewish population living in hilltop cities like Upper Nazareth. The northern half of the central Lower Galilee, surrounding Karmiel and Sakhnin is known as the "Heart of the Galilee". The eastern Galilee is nearly 100% Jewish. This part includes the Finger of the Galilee, the Jordan River Valley, and the shores the Sea of Galilee, and contains two of Judaism's Four Holy Cities. The southern part of the Galilee, including Jezreel Valley, and the Gilboa region are also nearly 100% Jewish, with a few small Arab villages near the West Bank border. About 80% of the population of the Western Galilee is Jewish, all the way up to the Lebanese border. Jews also form a small majority in the mountainous Upper Galilee with a significant minority Arab population (mainly Druze and Christians).
As of 2011, the Galilee is attracting significant internal migration of Haredi Jews, who are increasingly moving to the Galilee and Negev as an answer to rising housing prices in central Israel.
Galilee is a popular destination for domestic and foreign tourists who enjoy its scenic, recreational, and gastronomic offerings. The Galilee attracts many Christian pilgrims, as many of the miracles of Jesus occurred, according to the New Testament, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee—including his walking on water, calming the storm, and feeding five thousand people in Tabgha. In addition, numerous sites of biblical importance are located in the Galilee, such as Megiddo, Jezreel Valley, Mount Tabor, Hazor, Horns of Hattin, and more.
A popular hiking trail known as the yam leyam, or sea-to-sea, starts hikers at the Mediterranean. They then hike through the Galilee mountains, Tabor, Neria, and Meron, until their final destination, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
In April 2011, Israel unveiled the "Jesus Trail", a 40-mile (60-km) hiking trail in the Galilee for Christian pilgrims. The trail includes a network of footpaths, roads, and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples, including Tabgha, the traditional site of Jesus's miracle of the loaves and fishes, and the Mount of Beatitudes, where he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus espoused his teachings.
Many kibbutzim and moshav families operate Zimmerim (from the Yiddish word for 'room', צימער, from 'Zimmer' in German, with the Hebrew ending for plural, -im; the local term for a Bed and breakfast). Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include the Acre (Acco) Festival of Alternative Theater, the olive harvest festival, music festivals featuring Anglo-American folk, klezmer, Renaissance, and chamber music, and Karmiel Dance Festival.
The cuisine of the Galilee is very diverse. The meals are lighter than in the central and southern regions. Dairy products are heavily consumed (especially the Safed cheese that originated in the mountains of the Upper Galilee). Herbs like thyme, mint, parsley, basil, and rosemary are very common with everything including dips, meat, fish, stews and cheese. In the eastern part of the Galilee, there is freshwater fish as much as meat (especially the Tilapia that lives in the Sea of Galilee, Jordan river, and other streams in the region), including fish filled with thyme and grilled with rosemary to flavor, or stuffed with oregano leaves, then topped with parsley and served with lemon to squash. This technique exists in other parts of the country including the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. A specialty of the region is a baked Tilapia flavored with celery, mint and a lot of lemon juice. Baked fish with tahini is also common in Tiberias while the coastal Galileans prefer to replace the tahini with yogurt and add sumac on top.
The Galilee is famous for its olives, pomegranates, wine and especially its Labneh w'Za'atar which is served with pita bread, meat stews with wine, pomegranates and herbs such as akub, parsley, khalmit, mint, fennel, etc. are common. Galilean kubba is usually flavored with cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, concentrated pomegranate juice, onion, parsley and pine nuts and served as meze with tahini dip. Kebabs are also made almost in the same way with sumac replacing cardamom and with carob sometimes replacing the pomegranate juice. Because of its climate, beef has become more popular than lamb, although both are still eaten there. Dates are popular in the tropical climate of the Eastern Galilee.
The definition of Galilee varies depending on the period, author, and point of view (geological, geographical, administrative). Ancient Galilee consisted in broad terms of the Upper and Lower Galilee. Today the northwestern part of the Upper Galilee is in Southern Lebanon, with the rest being in Israel. The Israeli Galilee is often divided into these subregions, which often overlap:
The following subregions are sometimes regarded, from different points of view, as distinct from the Galilee, for instance the entire Jordan Valley including the Sea of Galilee and its continuation to the south as one geological and geographical unit, and the Jezreel, Harod, and Beit She'an valleys as "the northern valleys".
32°46′N 35°32′E / 32.76°N 35.53°E / 32.76; 35.53 | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Galilee (/ˈɡælɪliː/; Hebrew: הַגָּלִיל, romanized: hagGālīl; Arabic: الجليل, romanized: al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (הגליל העליון, ha-galil ha-elyon; الجليل الأعلى, al-jalīl al-aʾlā) and Lower Galilee (גליל תחתון, galil tahton; الجليل الأسفل, al-jalīl al-asfal).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Galilee refers to all of the area that is north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east–west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Rift Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights all the way to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south. This definition includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beth Shean Valley, the valley containing the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley, although it usually does not include Haifa's immediate northern suburbs. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of Israel and with Southern Lebanon.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The region's Hebrew name is גָּלִיל, meaning 'district' or 'circle'. The Hebrew form used in Book of Isaiah 9:1 (or 8:23 in different Biblical versions) is in the construct state, leading to גְּלִיל הַגּוֹיִם \"Galilee of the nations\", which refers to gentiles who settled there at the time that the book was written, either by their own volition or as a result of the resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The borders of Galilee, split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee, were described by Josephus in his The Jewish War:",
"title": "Borders and geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are hounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it, extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan.",
"title": "Borders and geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 m. Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, which have relatively low temperatures and high rainfall. As a result of this climate, flora and fauna thrive in the region, while many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colourful wildflowers, as well as numerous towns of biblical importance, make the region a popular tourist destination.",
"title": "Borders and geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Due to its high rainfall 900–1,200 millimetres (35–47 in), mild temperatures and high mountains (Mount Meron's elevation is 1,000–1,208 m), the upper Galilee region contains some distinctive flora and fauna: prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani), which grows in a small grove on Mount Meron, cyclamens, paeonias, and Rhododendron ponticum which sometimes appears on Meron.",
"title": "Borders and geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Western Galilee (Hebrew: גליל מערבי, romanized: Galil Ma'aravi) is a modern term referring to the western part of the Upper Galilee and its shore, and usually also the northwestern part of the Lower Galilee, mostly overlapping with Acre sub-district. Galilee Panhandle is a common term referring to the \"panhandle\" in the east that extends to the north, where Lebanon is to the west, and includes Hula Valley and Ramot Naftali mountains of the Upper Galilee.",
"title": "Borders and geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "According to the Bible, Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the tribal region of Naphthali and Dan, at times overlapping the Tribe of Asher's land. However, Dan was dispersed among the whole people rather than isolated to the lands of Dan, as the Tribe of Dan was the hereditary local law enforcement and judiciary for the whole nation. Normally, Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Chapter 9 of 1 Kings states that Solomon rewarded his Phoenician ally, King Hiram I of Sidon, with twenty cities in the land of Galilee, which would then have been either settled by foreigners during and after the reign of Hiram, or by those who had been forcibly deported there by later conquerors such as the Assyrians. Hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to David, accepted the upland plain among the Naftali Mountains and renamed it \"the land of Cabul\" for a time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Up until the end of the Hellenistic period and before the Hasmonean conquest, the Galilee was sparsely populated, with the majority of its inhabitants concentrated in large fortified centers on the edges of the western and central valleys. Based on archeological evidence from Tel Anafa, Kedesh, and ash-Shuhara, the Upper Galilee was then home to a pagan population with close ties to the Phoenician coast.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "During the expansion of the Hasmonean kingdom of Judea, much of the Galilee region was conquered and annexed by the first Hasmonean king Aristobulus I (104–103 BCE). Following the Hasmonean conquest, there was a significant Jewish influx into the area. Sites including Yodfat, Meiron, Sepphoris, Shikhin, Qana, Bersabe, Zalmon, Mimlah, Migdal, Arbel, Kefar Hittaya, and Beth Ma'on have archeological-chronological evidence for this settlement wave.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Josephus, who based his account on Timagenes of Alexandria, claimed that Aristobulus I had forcibly converted the Itureans to Judaism while annexing a portion of their territory. Schürer believed this information to be accurate and came to the conclusion that the \"Jewish\" Galilee of Jesus' day was actually inhabited by the offspring of those same Iturean converts. Other scholars have suggested that the Itureans underwent a voluntary conversion to Judaism in the Upper Galilee, or at the very least in the Eastern Upper Galilee. However, archeological information does not support either proposal, as Iturean material culture has been identified clearly in the northern Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and not in the Galilee, and it is clear that this area remained outside Hasmonean borders.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Following the Roman conquest of Judaea, a second, more significant wave of Jewish settlement arrived in the Galilee. Large and significant towns were established at the end of the first century BCE or the start of the first century CE, including Kefar Hananya, Parod, Ravid, Mashkaneh, Sabban, and Tiberias.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In the first century CE, the Galilee was dotted with small towns and villages. The Jewish historian Josephus claims that there were 204 small towns in Galilee, but modern scholars believe this estimate to be an exaggeration. Many of these towns were located around the Sea of Galilee, which contained many edible fish and which was surrounded by fertile land. Salted, dried, and pickled fish were an important export good. In 4 BCE, a rebel named Judah plundered Galilee's largest city, Sepphoris. According to Josephus, the Syrian governor Publius Quinctilius Varus responded by sacking Sepphoris and selling the population into slavery, but the region's archaeology lacks evidence of such destruction.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "After the death of Herod the Great that same year, his son Herod Antipas was appointed as tetrarch of Galilee by the Roman emperor Augustus. Galilee remained a Roman client state and Antipas paid tribute to the Roman Empire in exchange for Roman protection. The Romans did not station troops in Galilee, but threatened to retaliate against anyone who attacked it. As long as he continued to pay tribute, Antipas was permitted to govern however he wished and was permitted to mint his own coinage. Antipas was relatively observant of Jewish laws and customs. Although his palace was decorated with animal carvings, which many Jews regarded as a transgression against the law prohibiting idols, his coins bore only agricultural designs, which his subjects deemed acceptable. In general, Antipas was a capable ruler; Josephus does not record any instance of his use of force to put down an uprising and he had a long, prosperous reign. However, many Jews probably resented him as not sufficiently devout. Antipas rebuilt the city of Sepphoris and, in either 18 CE or 19 CE, he founded the new city of Tiberias. These two cities became Galilee's largest cultural centers. They were the main centers of Greco-Roman influence, but were still predominantly Jewish. A massive gap existed between the rich and poor, but lack of uprisings suggest that taxes were not exorbitantly high and that most Galileans did not feel their livelihoods were being threatened. Late in his reign, Antipas married his half-niece Herodias, who was already married to one of her other uncles. His wife, whom he divorced, fled to her father Aretas, an Arab king, who invaded Galilee and defeated Antipas's troops before withdrawing. Both Josephus and the Gospel of Mark record that the itinerate preacher John the Baptist criticized Antipas over his marriage and Antipas consequently had him imprisoned and then beheaded. In around 39 CE, at the urging of Herodias, Antipas went to Rome to request that he be elevated from the status of tetrarch to the status of king. The Romans found him guilty of storing arms, so he was removed from power and exiled, ending his forty-three-year reign. During the Great Revolt (66–73 CE), a Jewish mob destroyed Herod Antipas's palace.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The archaeological discoveries of synagogues from the Hellenistic and Roman period in the Galilee show strong Phoenician influences, and a high level of tolerance for other cultures relative to other Jewish religious centers.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Judaism reached its political and cultural zenith in the Galilee during the late second and early third century CE. According to rabbinic sources, Judah ha-Nasi's political leadership was at its strongest in relation to the Jewish community in Syria Palaestina, the Diaspora, and the Roman Authorities during this time. Judah's redaction of the Mishnah at this time period represented the peak of intense cultural activity. Archaeological surveys in the Galilee have revealed that the region experienced its height of thriving settlement during this time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "According to medieval Hebrew legend, Shimon bar Yochai, one of the most famed of all the tannaim, wrote the Zohar while living in Galilee.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "After the completion of the Mishnah, which marked the conclusion of the tannaitic era, came the period of the amoraim. The Jerusalem Talmud, the principal work of the amoraim in Palestine, is primarily discussions and interpretations of the Mishnah, and according to academic research, most of it was edited in Tiberias. The vast majority of the amoraim named there, as well as the majority of the settlements or place names referenced, were Galileans. By the middle of the fourth century, the Jerusalem Talmud's compilation and editing processes abruptly came to a halt, as Talmudic scholar Yaacov Sussmann put it: \"The development of the Jerusalem Talmud seems to have abruptly ceased, as if severed by a sharp and sudden blade\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Demographically, during the fourth century the entire region witnessed a significant population decrease, resulting in the abandonment of several notable settlements. In approximately 320 CE, Christian bishop Epiphanius reported that all the major cities and villages in Galilee were entirely Jewish. During the Byzantine period, however, Galilee's Jewish population experienced a decline, while Christian settlement grew. Archaeological data indicates that in the third and fourth centuries, several Jewish sites were abandoned, and some Christian villages were established on or near these deserted locations. Certain settlements, such as Rama, Magdala, Kafr Kanna, Daburiyya, and Iksal, which were materially Jewish during the Roman period, were now predominantly inhabited by Christians or had a significant Christian population. Safrai and Liebner argue that the decline of the Jewish population and the expansion of the Christian population in the region were separate events that happened at different times. Throughout this period, religious segregation between Christian and Jewish villages endured, with few exceptions like Capernaum and perhaps Nazareth, due to their sanctity in Christian tradition.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Leibner has proposed tying the end of the Palestinian Amoraic period, the impact of historical occurrences like the Christianization of the Roman Empire and of Palestine, the apparent cessation of activities of at least some of the batei midrash and the transformation of the Galilee from a densely populated Jewish area to a collection of communities surrounded by non-Jewish areas to this demographic crisis. He assumed that Christian population in Galilee was not composed of Jews who converted to Christianity. This is supported by the fact that trustworthy historical records, which mention Jewish conversion to Christianity in Byzantine Palestine, refer to individual cases rather than entire villages, unlike the records from the western part of the empire. Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until at least the seventh century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the Galilee formed part of Jund al-Urdunn (the military district of Jordan), itself part of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria). Its major towns were Tiberias the capital of the district, Qadas, Beisan, Acre, Saffuriya, and Kabul. During the early Islamic period, Galilee underwent a process of Arabization and Islamization, similar to other areas in the region. Under Umayyad rule, Islamic rule was gradually consolidated in newly conquered territories, and some Muslims settled in the villages, establishing residency there. Later, under Abassid rule, geographer al-Ya'qubi (d. 891), who referred to the region as 'Jabal al-Jalil', noted that its inhabitants were Arabs from the Amila tribe. Michael Ehrlich suggests that during the Early Islamic period, the majority of people in the Western Galilee and Lower Galilee likely converted to Islam, while in the Eastern Galilee, the Islamization process continued for a more extended period, lasting until the Mamluk period.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "According to Moshe Gil, Jews in rural Galilean areas frequently succeeded in upholding community life during and for decades after the Umayyad period. He comes to the conclusion that several Galilean Jewish communities \"retained their ancient character\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 10th century; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in Mount Lebanon and partially in the Galilee. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries. According to Moshe Gil, during the periods of Fatimid and Crusader rule, the rural Jewish population of Galilee experienced a gradual decline and flight. He supports his argument by referring to 11th-century Cairo Geniza documents related to transactions in Ramla and other areas in central Palestine, where Jews claimed to have ancestral ties to places like Gush Halav, Dalton, or 'Amuqa, suggesting that Jewish flight from Galilee occurred during that time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Sunni Muslims began to immigrate to Safed and its surroundings starting in the Ayyubid period, and in particular during the Mamluk period. These immigrants included Sufi preachers who were crucial in converting the locals to Islam in Safed's rural area. Jewish immigrants did, however, come to the area in waves, during the period of the destruction of Tyre and Acre in 1291 and particularly after the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492. These immigrants, who included scholars and other urban elites, turned the Jewish community from a rural community into an urban hub which exerted its influence well beyond the regional boundaries of Upper Galilee.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "During Early Ottoman era, the Galilee was governed as the Safad Sanjak, initially part of the larger administrative unit of Damascus Eyalet (1549–1660) and later as part of Sidon Eyalet (1660–1864). During the 18th century, the administrative division of Galilee was renamed to Acre Sanjak, and the Eyalet itself became centered in Acre, factually becoming the Acre Eyalet between 1775 and 1841.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made Safed an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism's four holy cities and a center for kabbalah.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In the mid-17th century Galilee and Mount Lebanon became the scene of the Druze power struggle, which came in parallel with much destruction in the region and decline of major cities.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In the mid-18th century, Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the Arab leader Zahir al-Umar and the Ottoman authorities who were centred in Damascus. Zahir ruled Galilee for 25 years until Ottoman loyalist Jezzar Pasha conquered the region in 1775.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In 1831, the Galilee, a part of Ottoman Syria, switched hands from Ottomans to Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt until 1840. During this period, aggressive social and politic policies were introduced, which led to a violent 1834 Arab revolt. In the process of this revolt the Jewish community of Safed was greatly reduced, in the event of Safed Plunder by the rebels. The Arab rebels were subsequently defeated by the Egyptian troops, though in 1838, the Druze of Galilee led another uprising. In 1834 and 1837, major earthquakes leveled most of the towns, resulting in great loss of life.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Following the 1864 Tanszimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire, the Galilee remained within Acre Sanjak, but was transferred from Sidon Eyalet to the newly formed Syria Vilayet and shortly, from 1888, became administered from Beirut Vilayet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 1866, Galilee's first hospital, the Nazareth Hospital, was founded under the leadership of American-Armenian missionary Dr. Kaloost Vartan, assisted by German missionary John Zeller.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In the early 20th century, Galilee remained part of Acre Sanjak of Ottoman Syria. It was administered as the southernmost territory of the Beirut Vilayet.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the Armistice of Mudros, it came under British rule, as part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Shortly after, in 1920, the region was included in the British Mandate territory, officially a part of Mandatory Palestine from 1923.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "After the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, nearly the whole of Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled or was forced to leave, leaving dozens of entire villages empty; however, a large Israeli Arab community remained based in and near the cities of Nazareth, Acre, Tamra, Sakhnin, and Shefa-'Amr, due to some extent to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the Syrian army's artillery until Israel seized Western Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) launched multiple attacks on towns and villages of the Upper and Western Galilee from Lebanon. This came in parallel to the general destabilization of Southern Lebanon, which became a scene of fierce sectarian fighting which deteriorated into the Lebanese Civil War. On the course of the war, Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon, protecting the citizens of the Galilee and supporting allied Christian Lebanese militias. Israel took over much of southern Lebanon in support of Christian Lebanese militias until 1985, when it withdrew to a narrow security buffer zone.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah, and earlier Amal, engaged the South Lebanon Army supported by the Israel Defense Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities with Katyusha rockets. In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the United Nations. The move brought a collapse to the South Lebanon Army and takeover of Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah. However, despite Israeli withdrawal, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the whole of Galilee, with long-range, ground-launched missiles hitting as far south as the Sharon Plain, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley below the Sea of Galilee.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "As of 2006, there were 1.2 million residents in Galilee, of which 47% were Jewish. The Jewish Agency has attempted to increase the Jewish population in this area, but the non-Jewish population also has a high growth rate.",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The largest cities in the region are Acre, Nahariya, Nazareth, Safed, Karmiel, Shaghur, Shefa-'Amr, Afula, and Tiberias. The port city of Haifa serves as a commercial center for the whole region.",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Because of its hilly terrain, most of the people in the Galilee live in small villages connected by relatively few roads. A railroad runs south from Nahariya along the Mediterranean coast, and a fork to the east was opened in 2016. The main sources of livelihood throughout the area are agriculture and tourism. Industrial parks are being developed, bringing further employment opportunities to the local population which includes many recent immigrants. The Israeli government is contributing funding to the private initiative, the Galilee Finance Facility, organised by the Milken Institute and Koret Economic Development Fund.",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "The Galilee is home to a large Arab population, comprising a Muslim majority and two smaller populations, of Druze and Arab Christians, of comparable sizes. Both Israeli Druze and Christians have their majorities in the Galilee. Other notable minorities are the Bedouin, the Maronites and the Circassians.",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The north-central portion of the Galilee is also known as Central Galilee, stretching from the border with Lebanon to the northern edge of the Jezreel Valley, including the cities of Nazareth and Sakhnin, has an Arab majority of 75% with most of the Jewish population living in hilltop cities like Upper Nazareth. The northern half of the central Lower Galilee, surrounding Karmiel and Sakhnin is known as the \"Heart of the Galilee\". The eastern Galilee is nearly 100% Jewish. This part includes the Finger of the Galilee, the Jordan River Valley, and the shores the Sea of Galilee, and contains two of Judaism's Four Holy Cities. The southern part of the Galilee, including Jezreel Valley, and the Gilboa region are also nearly 100% Jewish, with a few small Arab villages near the West Bank border. About 80% of the population of the Western Galilee is Jewish, all the way up to the Lebanese border. Jews also form a small majority in the mountainous Upper Galilee with a significant minority Arab population (mainly Druze and Christians).",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "As of 2011, the Galilee is attracting significant internal migration of Haredi Jews, who are increasingly moving to the Galilee and Negev as an answer to rising housing prices in central Israel.",
"title": "Demography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Galilee is a popular destination for domestic and foreign tourists who enjoy its scenic, recreational, and gastronomic offerings. The Galilee attracts many Christian pilgrims, as many of the miracles of Jesus occurred, according to the New Testament, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee—including his walking on water, calming the storm, and feeding five thousand people in Tabgha. In addition, numerous sites of biblical importance are located in the Galilee, such as Megiddo, Jezreel Valley, Mount Tabor, Hazor, Horns of Hattin, and more.",
"title": "Tourism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "A popular hiking trail known as the yam leyam, or sea-to-sea, starts hikers at the Mediterranean. They then hike through the Galilee mountains, Tabor, Neria, and Meron, until their final destination, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).",
"title": "Tourism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In April 2011, Israel unveiled the \"Jesus Trail\", a 40-mile (60-km) hiking trail in the Galilee for Christian pilgrims. The trail includes a network of footpaths, roads, and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples, including Tabgha, the traditional site of Jesus's miracle of the loaves and fishes, and the Mount of Beatitudes, where he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus espoused his teachings.",
"title": "Tourism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Many kibbutzim and moshav families operate Zimmerim (from the Yiddish word for 'room', צימער, from 'Zimmer' in German, with the Hebrew ending for plural, -im; the local term for a Bed and breakfast). Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include the Acre (Acco) Festival of Alternative Theater, the olive harvest festival, music festivals featuring Anglo-American folk, klezmer, Renaissance, and chamber music, and Karmiel Dance Festival.",
"title": "Tourism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The cuisine of the Galilee is very diverse. The meals are lighter than in the central and southern regions. Dairy products are heavily consumed (especially the Safed cheese that originated in the mountains of the Upper Galilee). Herbs like thyme, mint, parsley, basil, and rosemary are very common with everything including dips, meat, fish, stews and cheese. In the eastern part of the Galilee, there is freshwater fish as much as meat (especially the Tilapia that lives in the Sea of Galilee, Jordan river, and other streams in the region), including fish filled with thyme and grilled with rosemary to flavor, or stuffed with oregano leaves, then topped with parsley and served with lemon to squash. This technique exists in other parts of the country including the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. A specialty of the region is a baked Tilapia flavored with celery, mint and a lot of lemon juice. Baked fish with tahini is also common in Tiberias while the coastal Galileans prefer to replace the tahini with yogurt and add sumac on top.",
"title": "Cuisine"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The Galilee is famous for its olives, pomegranates, wine and especially its Labneh w'Za'atar which is served with pita bread, meat stews with wine, pomegranates and herbs such as akub, parsley, khalmit, mint, fennel, etc. are common. Galilean kubba is usually flavored with cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, concentrated pomegranate juice, onion, parsley and pine nuts and served as meze with tahini dip. Kebabs are also made almost in the same way with sumac replacing cardamom and with carob sometimes replacing the pomegranate juice. Because of its climate, beef has become more popular than lamb, although both are still eaten there. Dates are popular in the tropical climate of the Eastern Galilee.",
"title": "Cuisine"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The definition of Galilee varies depending on the period, author, and point of view (geological, geographical, administrative). Ancient Galilee consisted in broad terms of the Upper and Lower Galilee. Today the northwestern part of the Upper Galilee is in Southern Lebanon, with the rest being in Israel. The Israeli Galilee is often divided into these subregions, which often overlap:",
"title": "Subregions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The following subregions are sometimes regarded, from different points of view, as distinct from the Galilee, for instance the entire Jordan Valley including the Sea of Galilee and its continuation to the south as one geological and geographical unit, and the Jezreel, Harod, and Beit She'an valleys as \"the northern valleys\".",
"title": "Subregions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "32°46′N 35°32′E / 32.76°N 35.53°E / 32.76; 35.53",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Galilee is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee. Galilee refers to all of the area that is north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east–west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Rift Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights all the way to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south. This definition includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beth Shean Valley, the valley containing the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley, although it usually does not include Haifa's immediate northern suburbs. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of Israel and with Southern Lebanon. | 2001-09-29T07:21:24Z | 2023-10-21T07:00:22Z | [
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Cite report",
"Template:Eastons",
"Template:Wikivoyage",
"Template:Northern District (Israel)",
"Template:Lang-ar",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Lang-he",
"Template:Further",
"Template:When",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Pp-protect",
"Template:Coord",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:Bibleverse",
"Template:Primary source inline",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Other uses"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilee |
12,641 | Goths | The Goths (Gothic: 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, romanized: Gutþiuda; Latin: Gothi, Greek: Γότθοι, translit. Gótthoi) were Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe.
In his book Getica (c. 551), the historian Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia, but the accuracy of this account is unclear. A people called the Gutones – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture. From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards the Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by the late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture. By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful. During this time, Wulfila began the conversion of Goths to Christianity.
In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths were invaded from the east by the Huns. In the aftermath of this event, several groups of Goths came under Hunnic domination, while others migrated further west or sought refuge inside the Roman Empire. Goths who entered the Empire by crossing the Danube inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. These Goths would form the Visigoths, and under their king Alaric I, they began a long migration, eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.
The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, lingered on for several centuries, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.
In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda ('Gothic people') or *Gutans ('Goths'). The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is *Gutōz, which co-existed with an n-stem variant *Gutaniz, attested in Gutones, gutani, or gutniskr. The form *Gutōz is identical to that of the Gutes and closely related to that of the Geats (*Gautōz). Though these names probably mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geuta-, which means "to pour".
The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship. Along with the Burgundians, Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group. Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani. In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani.
A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes, who may have been of Gothic descent. Jordanes claims to have based the Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus, but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius. Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details.
According to Jordanes, the Goths originated on an island called Scandza (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called Gothiscandza under their king Berig. Historians are not in agreement on the authenticity and accuracy of this account. Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record, but the evidence is not entirely clear. Rather than a single mass migration of an entire people, scholars open to hypothetical Scandinavian origins envision a process of gradual migration in the 1st centuries BC and AD, which was probably preceded by long-term contacts and perhaps limited to a few elite clans from Scandinavia.
Similarities between the name of the Goths, some Swedish place names and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that the Goths originated in Gotland or Götaland. The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic. Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and Scandinavian languages (particularly Gutnish) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin.
Scholars generally locate Gothiscandza in the area of the Wielbark culture. This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the Pomeranian coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding Oksywie culture. It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of stone circles. This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of the Nordic Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture. Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii. Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling Gothiscandza, seized the lands of the Ulmerugi (Rugii).
The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by Greco-Roman sources in the 1st century under the name Gutones. The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians.
Around 15 AD, Strabo mentions the Butones, Lugii, and Semnones as part of a large group of peoples who came under the domination of the Marcomannic king Maroboduus. The "Butones" are generally equated with the Gutones. The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as the Vandals, with whom they were certainly closely affiliated. The Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture, which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture. Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD.
In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder mentions the Gutones as one of the peoples of Germania. He writes that the Gutones, Burgundiones, Varini, and Carini belong to the Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal "German races", along with the coastal Ingvaeones, Istvaeones, Irminones, and Peucini. In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler Pytheas encountered a people called the Guiones. Some scholars have equated these Guiones with the Gutones, but the authenticity of the Pytheas account is uncertain.
In his work Germania from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that the Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighbouring Rugii and Lemovii were Germani who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals. He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes". In another notable work, the Annals, Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda, a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing the rule of Maroboduus. Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni.
Sometime after settling Gothiscandza, Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals. Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.
In his Geography from around 150 AD, Ptolemy mentions the Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the Veneti and the Fenni. In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern Scandia. These Gutae are probably the same as the later Gauti mentioned by Procopius. Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin.
Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the Black Sea. During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture. This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth. As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the Roman Empire, contributing to the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars. By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the Roman army.
According to Jordanes, the Goths entered Oium, part of Scythia, under the king Filimer, where they defeated the Spali. This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence. The name Spali may mean "the giants" in Slavic, and the Spali were thus probably not Slavs. In the early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural Zarubintsy culture and the nomadic Sarmatians. Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the Bastarnae, who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC. Peter Heather considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition. The fact that the expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people.
By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in Scythia. This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east. It is believed to have been dominated by the Goths and other Germanic groups such as the Heruli. It nevertheless also included Iranian, Dacian, Roman and probably Slavic elements as well.
The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. The first references to the Goths in the 3rd century call them Scythians, as this area, known as Scythia, had historically been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. It is in the late 3rd century that the name Goths (Latin: Gothi) is first mentioned. Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones. Philologists and linguists have no doubt that the names are linked.
On the Pontic steppe the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians. They excelled at horsemanship, archery and falconry, and were also accomplished agriculturalists and seafarers. J. B. Bury describes the Gothic period as "the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe." William H. McNeill compares the migration of the Goths to that of the early Mongols, who migrated southward from the forests and came to dominate the eastern Eurasian steppe around the same time as the Goths in the west. From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman–Persian Wars, notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 244. An inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Parthian, Persian and Greek commemorates the Persian victory over the Romans and the troops drawn from gwt W g'rmny xštr, the Gothic and German kingdoms, which is probably a Parthian gloss for the Danubian (Gothic) limes and the Germanic limes.
Meanwhile, Gothic raids on the Roman Empire continued, In 250–51, the Gothic king Cniva captured the city of Philippopolis and inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus, in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed. This was one of the most disastrous defeats in the history of the Roman army.
The first Gothic seaborne raids took place in the 250s. The first two incursions into Asia Minor took place between 253 and 256, and are attributed to Boranoi by Zosimus. This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean "people from the north". It is unknown if Goths were involved in these first raids. Gregory Thaumaturgus attributes a third attack to Goths and Boradoi, and claims that some, "forgetting that they were men of Pontus and Christians," joined the invaders. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the second year by another, which sacked Pityus and Trabzon and ravaged large areas in the Pontus. In the third year, a much larger force devastated large areas of Bithynia and the Propontis, including the cities of Chalcedon, Nicomedia, Nicaea, Apamea Myrlea, Cius and Bursa. By the end of the raids, the Goths had seized control over Crimea and the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxine coast, including Olbia and Tyras, which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities.
After a 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the Heruli, with a raiding fleet of 500 ships, sacked Heraclea Pontica, Cyzicus and Byzantium. They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Scyros, broke through Thermopylae and sacked several cities of southern Greece (province of Achaea) including Athens, Corinth, Argos, Olympia and Sparta. Then an Athenian militia, led by the historian Dexippus, pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus. He won an important victory near the Nessos (Nestos) river, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace, the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men. Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with the Romans.
After Gallienus was assassinated outside Milan in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, Claudius was proclaimed emperor and headed to Rome to establish his rule. Claudius' immediate concerns were with the Alamanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After he defeated them in the Battle of Lake Benacus, he was finally able to take care of the invasions in the Balkan provinces.
In the meantime, a second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition consisting of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli, assembled at the mouth of river Tyras (Dniester). The Augustan History and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men. This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of the scale of the invasion. After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube (Tomi, Marcianopolis), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because they were defeated by the Roman navy. Then they entered the Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus. According to the Augustan History, the Goths achieved no success on this expedition because they were struck by the Cyprianic Plague. The fleet probably also sacked Troy and Ephesus, damaging the Temple of Artemis, though the temple was repaired and then later torn down by Christians a century later, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia, it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing.
Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy. They were engaged near Naissus by a Roman army led by Claudius advancing from the north. The battle most likely took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretending to retreat. Some 50,000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed. Apparently Aurelian, who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led the decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army. The battle ensured the survival of the Roman Empire for another two centuries.
In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launched an invasion of the Roman Empire, but were defeated by Aurelian, who, however, did surrender Dacia beyond the Danube.
Around 275 the Goths launched a last major assault on Asia Minor, where piracy by Black Sea Goths was causing great trouble in Colchis, Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia and even Cilicia. They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus.
By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the Dniester River: the Thervingi and the Greuthungi. The Gepids, who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time. Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths.
In the late 3rd century, as recorded by Jordanes, the Gepids, under their king Fastida, utterly defeated the Burgundians, and then attacked the Goths and their king Ostrogotha. Out of this conflict, Ostrogotha and the Goths emerged victorious. In the last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of Carpi are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths.
In 332, Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Aoric, son of the Thervingian king Ariaric, was captured. Eusebius, a historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000 Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes.
Having been driven from the Danube by the Romans, the Thervingi invaded the territory of the Sarmatians of the Tisza. In this conflict, the Thervingi were led by Vidigoia, "the bravest of the Goths" and were victorious, although Vidigoia was killed. Jordanes states that Aoric was succeeded by Geberic, "a man renowned for his valor and noble birth", who waged war on the Hasdingi Vandals and their king Visimar, forcing them to settle in Pannonia under Roman protection.
Both the Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Romans, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was thereafter mostly composed of Germanic warriors, as Roman soldiers by this time had largely lost military value. The Goths increasingly became soldiers in the Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant Germanization of the Roman Army. Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did. Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include Gainas, Tribigild, Fravitta and Aspar. Mardonius, a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor Julian, on whom he had an immense influence.
The Gothic penchant for wearing skins became fashionable in Constantinople, a fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives. The 4th-century Greek bishop Synesius compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome:
A man in skins leading warriors who wear the chlamys, exchanging his sheepskins for the toga to debate with Roman magistrates and perhaps even sit next to a Roman consul, while law–abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone a little way from the senate house, put on their sheepskins again, and when they have rejoined their fellows they mock the toga, saying that they cannot comfortably draw their swords in it.
In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king Ermanaric, who embarked on a large-scale expansion. Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric), the Aesti and the Vistula Veneti, who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance. Jordanes compares the conquests of Ermanaric to those of Alexander the Great, and states that he "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone." Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains, encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also Baltic Finnic peoples, Slavs (such as the Antes), Rosomoni (Roxolani), Alans, Huns, Sarmatians and probably Aestii (Balts). According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent. Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to the north in the forest steppe, suggesting Gothic domination of this area. Peter Heather on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated. Ermanaric's possible dominance of the Volga-Don trade routes has led historian Gottfried Schramm to consider his realm a forerunner of the Viking-founded state of Kievan Rus'. In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by the Thervingi, there were also populations of Taifali, Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, Dacians, Daco-Romans and other Romanized populations.
According to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek), a 13th-century legendary saga, Árheimar was the capital of Reidgotaland, the land of the Goths. The saga states that it was located on the Dnieper river. Jordanes refers to the region as Oium.
In the 360s, Athanaric, son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper Procopius against the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens. In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and defeated him, but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. Athanaric and Valens thereupon negotiated a peace treaty, favorable to the Thervingi, on a boat in the Danube river, as Athanaric refused to set his feet within the Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, Fritigern, a rival of Athanaric, converted to Arianism, gaining the favor of Valens. Athanaric and Fritigern thereafter fought a civil war in which Athanaric appears to have been victorious. Athanaric thereafter carried out a crackdown on Christianity in his realm.
Around 375 the Huns overran the Alans, an Iranian people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded the territory of the Goths - the Gothic empire A source for this period is the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote that Hunnic domination of the Gothic kingdoms in Scythia began in the 370s. It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards.
Upon the suicide of Ermanaric (died 376), the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Hunnic thrust into Europe and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west. The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as Caucaland in the sagas). Ambrose makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit).
Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in the "Hlöðskviða" (The Battle of the Goths and Huns), a medieval Icelandic saga. The sagas recall that Gizur, king of the Geats, came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict with the Huns, although this saga might derive from a later Gothic-Hunnic conflict.
Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the Eastern Roman emperor Valens in 376 with a portion of his people and asked to be allowed to settle on the south bank of the Danube. Valens permitted this, and even assisted the Goths in their crossing of the river (probably at the fortress of Durostorum). The Gothic evacuation across the Danube was probably not spontaneous, but rather a carefully planned operation initiated after long debate among leading members of the community. Upon arrival, the Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia.
Mistreated by corrupt local Roman officials, the Gothic refugees were soon experiencing a famine; some are recorded as having been forced to sell their children to Roman slave traders in return for rotten dog meat. Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed a widescale rebellion in Thrace, in which he was joined not only by Gothic refugees and slaves, but also by disgruntled Roman workers and peasants, and Gothic deserters from the Roman Army. The ensuing conflict, known as the Gothic War, lasted for several years. Meanwhile, a group of Greuthungi, led by the chieftains Alatheus and Saphrax, who were co-regents with Vithericus, son and heir of the Greuthungi king Vithimiris, crossed the Danube without Roman permission. The Gothic War culminated in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed.
Following the decisive Gothic victory at Adrianople, Julius, the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire, organized a wholesale massacre of Goths in Asia Minor, Syria and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured the Goths into the confines of urban streets from which they could not escape and massacred soldiers and civilians alike. As word spread, the Goths rioted throughout the region, and large numbers were killed. Survivors may have settled in Phrygia.
With the rise of Theodosius I in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers. Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through the scheming of Fritigern. Athanaric received a warm reception by Theodosius, praised the Roman Emperor in return, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the emperor following his death shortly after his arrival. In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382. The Thervingi were subsequently made foederati of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to the Roman army.
In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Visigoths means the "Goths of the west", while Ostrogoths means "Goths of the east". The Visigoths, led by the Balti dynasty, claimed descent from the Thervingi and lived as foederati inside Roman territory, while the Ostrogoths, led by the Amali dynasty, claimed descent from the Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns. Procopius interpreted the name Visigoth as "western Goths" and the name Ostrogoth as "eastern Goth", reflecting the geographic distribution of the Gothic realms at that time. A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination. A smaller group of Goths were the Crimean Goths, who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into the Middle Ages.
The Visigoths were a new Gothic political unit brought together during the career of their first leader, Alaric I. Following a major settlement of Goths in the Balkans made by Theodosius in 382, Goths received prominent positions in the Roman army. Relations with Roman civilians were sometimes uneasy. In 391, Gothic soldiers, with the blessing of Theodosius I, massacred thousands of Roman spectators at the Hippodrome in Thessalonica as vengeance for the lynching of the Gothic general Butheric.
The Goths suffered heavy losses while serving Theodosius in the civil war of 394 against Eugenius and Arbogast. In 395, following the death of Theodosius I, Alaric and his Balkan Goths invaded Greece, where they sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. Athens itself was spared by paying a large bribe, and the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius subsequently appointed Alaric magister militum ("master of the soldiers") in Illyricum in 397.
In 401 and 402, Alaric made two attempts at invading Italy, but was defeated by Stilicho. In 405–406, another Gothic leader, Radagaisus, also attempted to invade Italy, and was also defeated by Stilicho. In 408, the Western Roman emperor Flavius Honorius ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of Goths serving in the Roman military. Subsequently, around 30,000 Gothic soldiers defected to Alaric. Alaric in turn invaded Italy, seeking to pressure Honorious into granting him permission to settle his people in North Africa. In Italy, Alaric liberated tens of thousands of Gothic slaves, and in 410 he sacked the city of Rome. Although the city's riches were plundered, the civilian inhabitants of the city were treated humanely, and only a few buildings were burned. Alaric died soon afterwards, and was buried along with his treasure in an unknown grave under the Busento river.
Alaric was succeeded by his brother-in–law Athaulf, husband of Honorius' sister Galla Placidia, who had been seized during Alaric's sack of Rome. Athaulf settled the Visigoths in southern Gaul. After failing to gain recognition from the Romans, Athaulf retreated into Hispania in early 415, and was assassinated in Barcelona shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by Sigeric and then Wallia, who succeeded in having the Visigoths accepted by Honorius as foederati in southern Gaul, with their capital at Toulouse. Wallia subsequently inflicted severe defeats upon the Silingi Vandals and the Alans in Hispania. Periodically they marched on Arles, the seat of the praetorian prefect but were always pushed back. In 437 the Visigoths signed a treaty with the Romans which they kept.
Under Theodoric I the Visigoths allied with the Romans and fought Attila to a stalemate in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, although Theodoric was killed in the battle. Under Euric, the Visigoths established an independent Visigothic Kingdom and succeeded in driving the Suebi out of Hispania proper and back into Galicia. Although they controlled Spain, they still formed a tiny minority among a much larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.
In 507, the Visigoths were pushed out of most of Gaul by the Frankish king Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé. They were able to retain Narbonensis and Provence after the timely arrival of an Ostrogoth detachment sent by Theodoric the Great. The defeat at Vouillé resulted in their penetrating further into Hispania and establishing a new capital at Toledo.
Under Liuvigild in the latter part of the 6th century, the Visigoths succeeded in subduing the Suebi in Galicia and the Byzantines in the south-west, and thus achieved dominance over most of the Iberian peninsula. Liuvigild also abolished the law that prevented intermarriage between Hispano-Romans and Goths, and he remained an Arian Christian. The conversion of Reccared I to Roman Catholicism in the late 6th century prompted the assimilation of Goths with the Hispano-Romans.
At the end of the 7th century, the Visigothic Kingdom began to suffer from internal troubles. Their kingdom fell and was progressively conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate from 711 after the defeat of their last king Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete. Some Visigothic nobles found refuge in the mountain areas of the Asturias, Pyrenees and Cantabria. According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the gens Gothorum or the Hispani. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native Astures, Galicians, Cantabri, Basques and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society. The Christians began to regain control under the leadership of the nobleman Pelagius of Asturias, who founded the Kingdom of Asturias in 718 and defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Covadonga in c. 722, in what is taken by historians to be the beginning of the Reconquista. It was from the Asturian kingdom that modern Spain and Portugal evolved.
The Visigoths were never completely Romanized; rather, they were 'Hispanicized' as they spread widely over a large territory and population. They progressively adopted a new culture, retaining little of their original culture except for practical military customs, some artistic modalities, family traditions such as heroic songs and folklore, as well as select conventions to include Germanic names still in use in present-day Spain. It is these artifacts of the original Visigothic culture that give ample evidence of its contributing foundation for the present regional culture. Portraying themselves heirs of the Visigoths, the subsequent Christian Spanish monarchs declared their responsibility for the Reconquista of Muslim Spain, which was completed with the Fall of Granada in 1492.
After the Hunnic invasion, many Goths became subjects of the Huns. A section of these Goths under the leadership of the Amali dynasty came to be known as the Ostrogoths. Others sought refuge in the Roman Empire, where many of them were recruited into the Roman army. In the spring of 399, Tribigild, a Gothic leader in charge of troops in Nakoleia, rose up in rebellion and defeated the first imperial army sent against him, possibly seeking to emulate Alaric's successes in the west. Gainas, a Goth who along with Stilicho and Eutropius had deposed Rufinus in 395, was sent to suppress Tribigild's rebellion, but instead plotted to use the situation to seize power in the Eastern Roman Empire. This attempt was however thwarted by the pro-Roman Goth Fravitta, and in the aftermath, thousands of Gothic civilians were massacred in Constantinople, many being burned alive in the local Arian church where they had taken shelter. As late as the 6th century Goths were settled as foederati in parts of Asia Minor. Their descendants, who formed the elite Optimatoi regiment, still lived there in the early 8th century. While they were largely assimilated, their Gothic origin was still well–known: the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor calls them Gothograeci.
The Ostrogoths fought together with the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. Following the death of Attila and the defeat of the Huns at the Battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths broke away from Hunnic rule under their king Valamir. Mentions of this event were probably preserved in Slavic epic songs. Under his successor, Theodemir, they utterly defeated the Huns at the Bassianae in 468, and then defeated a coalition of Roman–supported Germanic tribes at the Battle of Bolia in 469, which gained them supremacy in Pannonia.
Theodemir was succeeded by his son Theodoric in 471, who was forced to compete with Theodoric Strabo, leader of the Thracian Goths, for the leadership of his people. Fearing the threat posed by Theodoric to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno ordered Theodoric to invade Italy in 488. By 493, Theodoric had conquered all of Italy from the Scirian Odoacer, whom he killed with his own hands; he subsequently formed the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Theodoric settled his entire people in Italy, estimated at 100,000–200,000, mostly in the northern part of the country, and ruled the country very efficiently. The Goths in Italy constituted a small minority of the population in the country. Intermarriage between Goths and Romans were forbidden, and Romans were also forbidden from carrying arms. Nevertheless, the Roman majority was treated fairly.
The Goths were briefly reunited under one crown in the early 6th century under Theodoric, who became regent of the Visigothic kingdom following the death of Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Shortly after Theodoric's death, the country was invaded by the Eastern Roman Empire in the Gothic War, which severely devastated and depopulated the Italian peninsula. The Ostrogoths made a brief resurgence under their king Totila, who was, however, killed at the Battle of Taginae in 552. After the last stand of the Ostrogothic king Teia at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in 553, Ostrogothic resistance ended, and the remaining Goths in Italy were assimilated by the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, who invaded Italy and founded the Kingdom of the Lombards in 567.
Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea, were known as the Crimean Goths. During the late 5th and early 6th century, the Crimean Goths had to fend off hordes of Huns who were migrating back eastward after losing control of their European empire. In the 5th century, Theodoric the Great tried to recruit Crimean Goths for his campaigns in Italy, but few showed interest in joining him. They affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church through the Metropolitanate of Gothia, and were then closely associated with the Byzantine Empire.
During the Middle Ages, the Crimean Goths were in perpetual conflict with the Khazars. John of Gothia, the metropolitan bishop of Doros, capital of the Crimean Goths, briefly expelled the Khazars from Crimea in the late 8th century, and was subsequently canonized as an Eastern Orthodox saint.
In the 10th century, the lands of the Crimean Goths were once again raided by the Khazars. As a response, the leaders of the Crimean Goths made an alliance with Sviatoslav I of Kiev, who subsequently waged war upon and utterly destroyed the Khazar Khaganate. In the late Middle Ages the Crimean Goths were part of the Principality of Theodoro, which was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century. As late as the 18th century a small number of people in Crimea may still have spoken Crimean Gothic.
The Goths were Germanic-speaking. The Gothic language is the Germanic language with the earliest attestation (the 4th century), and the only East Germanic language documented in more than proper names, short phrases that survived in historical accounts, and loan-words in other languages, making it a language of great interest in comparative linguistics. Gothic is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, now preserved in Uppsala, Sweden, which contains a partial translation of the Bible credited to Ulfilas.
The language was in decline by the mid-500s, due to the military victory of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. In Spain, the language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in 589; it survived as a domestic language in the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) as late as the 8th century.
Frankish author Walafrid Strabo wrote that Gothic was still spoken in the lower Danube area, in what is now Bulgaria, in the early 9th century, and a related dialect known as Crimean Gothic was spoken in the Crimea until the 16th century, according to references in the writings of travelers. Most modern scholars believe that Crimean Gothic did not derive from the dialect that was the basis for Ulfilas' translation of the Bible.
In ancient sources, the Goths are always described as tall and athletic, with light skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. The 4th-century Greek historian Eunapius described their characteristic powerful musculature in a pejorative way: "Their bodies provoked contempt in all who saw them, for they were far too big and far too heavy for their feet to carry them, and they were pinched in at the waist – just like those insects Aristotle writes of." Procopius notes that the Vandals and Gepids looked similar to the Goths, and on this basis, he suggested that they were all of common origin. Of the Goths, he wrote that "they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon."
Stolarek et al. (2023) and Antonio et al. (2022) both sequenced genomes from the Wielbark culture Goths. Stolarek et al. includes samples from multiple sites all over the territory of the Wielbark culture, in large numbers. The results are in aligment with archaeological and historical evidence, strongly suggesting that the Wielbark culture formed through migration from Southern Scandinavia. A large majority of the Wielbark culture samples are autosomally Scandinavian-like, and carry predominantly Scandinavian Y-DNA haplogroups. The most common Y-DNA haplogroup among the Wielbark individuals was Y-DNA haplogroup I1-M253, characteristic of the Nordic Bronze Age in Southern Scandinavia, in which it was found at a very high frequency and from where it first expanded. Among the Wielbark Goths, substantial subclade diversity is seen among the I1 carriers, suggesting that the male founders of the culture descended from clans from a rather widespread area in Scandinavia.
Assessing the population movement during late Antiquity, a 2023 study on the Roman frontier on the Danube concludes that "Goths were ethnically diverse confederations". A number samples obtained from Roman sites close to the limes (such as Viminacium) dated to the 3th century or later were shown to carry admixture from Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries in addition to 42%–55% local Balkan Iron Age-related ancestry. 7 out of 9 males among these samples belonged to haplogroups associated with these trans-frontier ancestry sources (I1 and R1b-U106: North European; Z93: Iron Age Steppe). Many of these samples suggest that admixture between Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries likely occurred beyond the frontier prior to the movement into the Roman Empire, "perhaps indicative of, e.g., the formation of diverse confederations under Gothic leadership".
Before the invasion of the Huns, the Gothic Chernyakhov culture produced jewelry, vessels, and decorative objects in a style much influenced by Greek and Roman craftsmen. They developed a polychrome style of gold work, using wrought cells or setting to encrust gemstones into their gold objects.
The eagle-shaped fibula, part of the Domagnano Treasure, was used to join clothes c. AD 500; the piece on display in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is well-known.
In Spain an important collection of Visigothic metalwork was found in the treasure of Guarrazar, Guadamur, Province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, an archeological find composed of twenty-six votive crowns and gold crosses from the royal workshop in Toledo, with Byzantine influence. The treasure represents the high point of Visigothic goldsmithery, according to Guerra, Galligaro & Perea (2007). The two most important votive crowns are those of Recceswinth and of Suintila, displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; both are made of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suintila's crown was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses in the treasure.
These findings, along with others from some neighbouring sites and with the archaeological excavation of the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Spanish Academy of History (April 1859), formed a group consisting of:
The aquiliform (eagle-shaped) fibulae that have been discovered in necropolises such as Duraton, Madrona or Castiltierra (cities of Segovia), are an unmistakable indication of the Visigothic presence in Spain. These fibulae were used individually or in pairs, as clasps or pins in gold, bronze and glass to join clothes, showing the work of the goldsmiths of Visigothic Hispania.
The Visigothic belt buckles, a symbol of rank and status characteristic of Visigothic women's clothing, are also notable as works of goldsmithery. Some pieces contain exceptional Byzantine-style lapis lazuli inlays and are generally rectangular in shape, with copper alloy, garnets and glass.
Archaeological evidence in Visigothic cemeteries shows that social stratification was analogous to that of the village of Sabbas the Goth. The majority of villagers were common peasants. Paupers were buried with funeral rites, unlike slaves. In a village of 50 to 100 people, there were four or five elite couples. In Eastern Europe, houses include sunken-floored dwellings, surface dwellings, and stall-houses. The largest known settlement is the Criuleni District. Chernyakhov cemeteries feature both cremation and inhumation burials; among the latter the head aligned to the north. Some graves were left empty. Grave goods often include pottery, bone combs, and iron tools, but hardly ever weapons.
Peter Heather suggests that the freemen constituted the core of Gothic society. These were ranked below the nobility, but above the freedmen and slaves. It is estimated that around a quarter to a fifth of weapon-bearing Gothic males of the Ostrogothic Kingdom were freemen.
Initially practising Gothic paganism, the Goths were gradually converted to Arianism in the course of the 4th century. According to Basil of Caesarea, a prisoner named Eutychus taken captive in a raid on Cappadocia in 260 preached the gospel to the Goths and was martyred. It was only in the 4th century, as a result of missionary activity by the Gothic bishop Ulfilas, whose grandparents were Cappadocians taken captive in the raids of the 250s, that the Goths were gradually converted. Ulfilas devised a Gothic alphabet and translated the Gothic Bible.
During the 370s, Goths converting to Christianity were subject to persecution by the Thervingian king Athanaric, who was a pagan.
The Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania converted to Catholicism in the late 6th century.
The Ostrogoths (and their remnants, the Crimean Goths) were closely connected to the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the 5th century, and became fully incorporated under the Metropolitanate of Gothia from the 9th century.
Gothic arms and armour usually consisted of wooden shield, spear and often swords. 'Rank and file' troops did not wear much protection, while warriors of higher social class were better equipped, as was common for most tribal peoples of the time.
Armour was either a chainmail shirt or lamellar cuirass. Lamellar was popular among horsemen. Shields were either round or oval with a central boss grip. They were decorated with tribe or clan symbols, such as animal drawings. Helmets were often of spangenhelm type, often with cheek and neck plates. Spears were used both for thrusting and throwing, although specialized javelins were also in use. Swords were one handed, double edged and straight, with a very small crossguard and large pommel. It was called the Spatha by the Romans, and it is believed to have first been used by the Celts. Short wooden bows were also used, as well as occasional throwing axes. Missile weapons were mainly short throwing axes such as Fransica and short wooden bows. Specialized javelins such as angon were more rare but still used
Archaeology shows that the Visigoths, unlike the Ostrogoths, were predominantly farmers. They sowed wheat, barley, rye, and flax. They also raised pigs, poultry, and goats. Horses and donkeys were raised as working animals and fed with hay. Sheep were raised for their wool, which they fashioned into clothing. Archaeology indicates they were skilled potters and blacksmiths. When peace treaties were negotiated with the Romans, the Goths demanded free trade. Imports from Rome included wine and cooking-oil.
Roman writers note that the Goths neither assessed taxes on their own people nor on their subjects. The early 5th-century Christian writer Salvian compared the Goths' and related people's favourable treatment of the poor to the miserable state of peasants in Roman Gaul:
For in the Gothic country the barbarians are so far from tolerating this sort of oppression that not even Romans who live among them have to bear it. Hence all the Romans in that region have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in that district that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarians.
The Mausoleum of Theodoric (Italian: Mausoleo di Teodorico) is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in 520 AD by Theodoric the Great, an Ostrogoth, as his future tomb.
The current structure of the mausoleum is divided into two decagonal orders, one above the other; both are made of Istria stone. Its roof is a single 230-tonne Istrian stone, 10 meters in diameter. Possibly as a reference to the Goths' tradition of an origin in Scandinavia, the architect decorated the frieze with a pattern found in 5th- and 6th-century Scandinavian metal adornments. A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral liturgies; a stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the floor is a circular porphyry stone grave, in which Theodoric was buried. His remains were removed during Byzantine rule, when the mausoleum was turned into a Christian oratory. In the late 19th century, silting from a nearby rivulet that had partly submerged the mausoleum was drained and excavated.
The Palace of Theodoric, also in Ravenna, has a symmetrical composition with arches and monolithic marble columns, reused from previous Roman buildings. With capitals of different shapes and sizes. The Ostrogoths restored Roman buildings, some of which have come down to us thanks to them.
During their governance of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches of basilical or cruciform floor plan that survive, including the churches of San Pedro de la Nave in El Campillo, Santa María de Melque in San Martín de Montalbán, Santa Lucía del Trampal in Alcuéscar, Santa Comba in Bande, and Santa María de Lara in Quintanilla de las Viñas; the Visigothic crypt (the Crypt of San Antolín) in the Palencia Cathedral is a Visigothic chapel from the mid 7th century, built during the reign of Wamba to preserve the remains of the martyr Saint Antoninus of Pamiers, a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia.
Reccopolis (Spanish: Recópolis), located near the tiny modern village of Zorita de los Canes in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, is an archaeological site of one of at least four cities founded in Hispania by the Visigoths. It is the only city in Western Europe to have been founded between the fifth and eighth centuries. According to Lauro Olmo Enciso who is a professor of archaeology at the University of Alcalá, the city was ordered to build by the Visigothic king Leovigild to honor his son Reccared I and to serve as Reccared's seat as co-king in the Visigothic province of Celtiberia, to the west of Carpetania, where the main capital, Toledo, lay.
The Goths' relationship with Sweden became an important part of Swedish nationalism, and until the 19th century, before the Gothic origin had been thoroughly researched by archaeologists, Swedish scholars considered Swedes to be the direct descendants of the Goths. Today, scholars identify this as a cultural movement called Gothicismus, which included an enthusiasm for things Old Norse.
In medieval and modern Spain, the Visigoths were believed to be the progenitors of the Spanish nobility (compare Gobineau for a similar French idea). By the early 7th century, the ethnic distinction between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans had all but disappeared, but recognition of a Gothic origin, e.g. on gravestones, still survived among the nobility. The 7th century Visigothic aristocracy saw itself as bearers of a particular Gothic consciousness and as guardians of old traditions such as Germanic namegiving; probably these traditions were on the whole restricted to the family sphere (Hispano-Roman nobles were doing service for the Visigothic Royal Court in Toulouse already in the 5th century and the two branches of Spanish aristocracy had fully adopted similar customs two centuries later).
Beginning in 1278, when Magnus III of Sweden ascended to the throne, a reference to Gothic origins was included in the title of the King of Sweden:
We N.N. by the Grace of God King of the Swedes, the Goths and the Vends.
In 1973, with the accession of King Carl XVI Gustaf, the title was changed to simply "King of Sweden."
In all history there is nothing more romantically marvellous than the swift rise of this people to the height of greatness, or than the suddenness and the tragic completeness of their ruin.
— Henry Bradley, The Story of the Goths (1888)
The Spanish and Swedish claims of Gothic origins led to a clash at the Council of Basel in 1434. Before the assembled cardinals and delegations could engage in theological discussion, they had to decide how to sit during the proceedings. The delegations from the more prominent nations argued that they should sit closest to the Pope, and there were also disputes over who were to have the finest chairs and who were to have their chairs on mats. In some cases, they compromised so that some would have half a chair leg on the rim of a mat. In this conflict, Nicolaus Ragvaldi, bishop of the Diocese of Växjö, claimed that the Swedes were the descendants of the great Goths, and that the people of Västergötland (Westrogothia in Latin) were the Visigoths and the people of Östergötland (Ostrogothia in Latin) were the Ostrogoths. The Spanish delegation retorted that it was only the "lazy" and "unenterprising" Goths who had remained in Sweden, whereas the "heroic" Goths had left Sweden, invaded the Roman empire and settled in Spain.
In Spain, a man acting with arrogance would be said to be "haciéndose los godos" ("making himself to act like the Goths"). In Chile, Argentina, and the Canary Islands, godo was an ethnic slur used against European Spaniards, who in the early colonial period often felt superior to the people born locally (criollos). In Colombia, it remains as slang for a person with conservative views.
A large amount of literature has been produced on the Goths, with Henry Bradley's The Goths (1888) being the standard English-language text for many decades. More recently, Peter Heather has established himself as the leading authority on the Goths in the English-speaking world. The leading authority on the Goths in the German-speaking world is Herwig Wolfram. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Goths (Gothic: 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, romanized: Gutþiuda; Latin: Gothi, Greek: Γότθοι, translit. Gótthoi) were Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In his book Getica (c. 551), the historian Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia, but the accuracy of this account is unclear. A people called the Gutones – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture. From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards the Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by the late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture. By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful. During this time, Wulfila began the conversion of Goths to Christianity.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths were invaded from the east by the Huns. In the aftermath of this event, several groups of Goths came under Hunnic domination, while others migrated further west or sought refuge inside the Roman Empire. Goths who entered the Empire by crossing the Danube inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. These Goths would form the Visigoths, and under their king Alaric I, they began a long migration, eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, lingered on for several centuries, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda ('Gothic people') or *Gutans ('Goths'). The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is *Gutōz, which co-existed with an n-stem variant *Gutaniz, attested in Gutones, gutani, or gutniskr. The form *Gutōz is identical to that of the Gutes and closely related to that of the Geats (*Gautōz). Though these names probably mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geuta-, which means \"to pour\".",
"title": "Name"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship. Along with the Burgundians, Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group. Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani. In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes, who may have been of Gothic descent. Jordanes claims to have based the Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus, but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius. Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "According to Jordanes, the Goths originated on an island called Scandza (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called Gothiscandza under their king Berig. Historians are not in agreement on the authenticity and accuracy of this account. Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record, but the evidence is not entirely clear. Rather than a single mass migration of an entire people, scholars open to hypothetical Scandinavian origins envision a process of gradual migration in the 1st centuries BC and AD, which was probably preceded by long-term contacts and perhaps limited to a few elite clans from Scandinavia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Similarities between the name of the Goths, some Swedish place names and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that the Goths originated in Gotland or Götaland. The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic. Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and Scandinavian languages (particularly Gutnish) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Scholars generally locate Gothiscandza in the area of the Wielbark culture. This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the Pomeranian coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding Oksywie culture. It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of stone circles. This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of the Nordic Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture. Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii. Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling Gothiscandza, seized the lands of the Ulmerugi (Rugii).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by Greco-Roman sources in the 1st century under the name Gutones. The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Around 15 AD, Strabo mentions the Butones, Lugii, and Semnones as part of a large group of peoples who came under the domination of the Marcomannic king Maroboduus. The \"Butones\" are generally equated with the Gutones. The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as the Vandals, with whom they were certainly closely affiliated. The Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture, which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture. Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder mentions the Gutones as one of the peoples of Germania. He writes that the Gutones, Burgundiones, Varini, and Carini belong to the Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal \"German races\", along with the coastal Ingvaeones, Istvaeones, Irminones, and Peucini. In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler Pytheas encountered a people called the Guiones. Some scholars have equated these Guiones with the Gutones, but the authenticity of the Pytheas account is uncertain.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In his work Germania from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that the Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighbouring Rugii and Lemovii were Germani who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals. He described them as \"ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes\". In another notable work, the Annals, Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda, a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing the rule of Maroboduus. Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Sometime after settling Gothiscandza, Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals. Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In his Geography from around 150 AD, Ptolemy mentions the Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the Veneti and the Fenni. In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern Scandia. These Gutae are probably the same as the later Gauti mentioned by Procopius. Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the Black Sea. During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture. This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth. As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the Roman Empire, contributing to the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars. By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the Roman army.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "According to Jordanes, the Goths entered Oium, part of Scythia, under the king Filimer, where they defeated the Spali. This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence. The name Spali may mean \"the giants\" in Slavic, and the Spali were thus probably not Slavs. In the early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural Zarubintsy culture and the nomadic Sarmatians. Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the Bastarnae, who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC. Peter Heather considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition. The fact that the expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in Scythia. This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east. It is believed to have been dominated by the Goths and other Germanic groups such as the Heruli. It nevertheless also included Iranian, Dacian, Roman and probably Slavic elements as well.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. The first references to the Goths in the 3rd century call them Scythians, as this area, known as Scythia, had historically been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. It is in the late 3rd century that the name Goths (Latin: Gothi) is first mentioned. Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones. Philologists and linguists have no doubt that the names are linked.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "On the Pontic steppe the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians. They excelled at horsemanship, archery and falconry, and were also accomplished agriculturalists and seafarers. J. B. Bury describes the Gothic period as \"the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe.\" William H. McNeill compares the migration of the Goths to that of the early Mongols, who migrated southward from the forests and came to dominate the eastern Eurasian steppe around the same time as the Goths in the west. From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman–Persian Wars, notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 244. An inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Parthian, Persian and Greek commemorates the Persian victory over the Romans and the troops drawn from gwt W g'rmny xštr, the Gothic and German kingdoms, which is probably a Parthian gloss for the Danubian (Gothic) limes and the Germanic limes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Meanwhile, Gothic raids on the Roman Empire continued, In 250–51, the Gothic king Cniva captured the city of Philippopolis and inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus, in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed. This was one of the most disastrous defeats in the history of the Roman army.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The first Gothic seaborne raids took place in the 250s. The first two incursions into Asia Minor took place between 253 and 256, and are attributed to Boranoi by Zosimus. This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean \"people from the north\". It is unknown if Goths were involved in these first raids. Gregory Thaumaturgus attributes a third attack to Goths and Boradoi, and claims that some, \"forgetting that they were men of Pontus and Christians,\" joined the invaders. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the second year by another, which sacked Pityus and Trabzon and ravaged large areas in the Pontus. In the third year, a much larger force devastated large areas of Bithynia and the Propontis, including the cities of Chalcedon, Nicomedia, Nicaea, Apamea Myrlea, Cius and Bursa. By the end of the raids, the Goths had seized control over Crimea and the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxine coast, including Olbia and Tyras, which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "After a 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the Heruli, with a raiding fleet of 500 ships, sacked Heraclea Pontica, Cyzicus and Byzantium. They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Scyros, broke through Thermopylae and sacked several cities of southern Greece (province of Achaea) including Athens, Corinth, Argos, Olympia and Sparta. Then an Athenian militia, led by the historian Dexippus, pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus. He won an important victory near the Nessos (Nestos) river, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace, the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men. Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with the Romans.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "After Gallienus was assassinated outside Milan in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, Claudius was proclaimed emperor and headed to Rome to establish his rule. Claudius' immediate concerns were with the Alamanni, who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After he defeated them in the Battle of Lake Benacus, he was finally able to take care of the invasions in the Balkan provinces.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In the meantime, a second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition consisting of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli, assembled at the mouth of river Tyras (Dniester). The Augustan History and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men. This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of the scale of the invasion. After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube (Tomi, Marcianopolis), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because they were defeated by the Roman navy. Then they entered the Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus. According to the Augustan History, the Goths achieved no success on this expedition because they were struck by the Cyprianic Plague. The fleet probably also sacked Troy and Ephesus, damaging the Temple of Artemis, though the temple was repaired and then later torn down by Christians a century later, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia, it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy. They were engaged near Naissus by a Roman army led by Claudius advancing from the north. The battle most likely took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretending to retreat. Some 50,000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed. Apparently Aurelian, who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led the decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army. The battle ensured the survival of the Roman Empire for another two centuries.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launched an invasion of the Roman Empire, but were defeated by Aurelian, who, however, did surrender Dacia beyond the Danube.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Around 275 the Goths launched a last major assault on Asia Minor, where piracy by Black Sea Goths was causing great trouble in Colchis, Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia and even Cilicia. They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the Dniester River: the Thervingi and the Greuthungi. The Gepids, who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time. Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In the late 3rd century, as recorded by Jordanes, the Gepids, under their king Fastida, utterly defeated the Burgundians, and then attacked the Goths and their king Ostrogotha. Out of this conflict, Ostrogotha and the Goths emerged victorious. In the last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of Carpi are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In 332, Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Aoric, son of the Thervingian king Ariaric, was captured. Eusebius, a historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000 Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Having been driven from the Danube by the Romans, the Thervingi invaded the territory of the Sarmatians of the Tisza. In this conflict, the Thervingi were led by Vidigoia, \"the bravest of the Goths\" and were victorious, although Vidigoia was killed. Jordanes states that Aoric was succeeded by Geberic, \"a man renowned for his valor and noble birth\", who waged war on the Hasdingi Vandals and their king Visimar, forcing them to settle in Pannonia under Roman protection.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Both the Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Romans, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was thereafter mostly composed of Germanic warriors, as Roman soldiers by this time had largely lost military value. The Goths increasingly became soldiers in the Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant Germanization of the Roman Army. Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did. Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include Gainas, Tribigild, Fravitta and Aspar. Mardonius, a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor Julian, on whom he had an immense influence.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The Gothic penchant for wearing skins became fashionable in Constantinople, a fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives. The 4th-century Greek bishop Synesius compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "A man in skins leading warriors who wear the chlamys, exchanging his sheepskins for the toga to debate with Roman magistrates and perhaps even sit next to a Roman consul, while law–abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone a little way from the senate house, put on their sheepskins again, and when they have rejoined their fellows they mock the toga, saying that they cannot comfortably draw their swords in it.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king Ermanaric, who embarked on a large-scale expansion. Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric), the Aesti and the Vistula Veneti, who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance. Jordanes compares the conquests of Ermanaric to those of Alexander the Great, and states that he \"ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone.\" Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains, encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also Baltic Finnic peoples, Slavs (such as the Antes), Rosomoni (Roxolani), Alans, Huns, Sarmatians and probably Aestii (Balts). According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent. Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to the north in the forest steppe, suggesting Gothic domination of this area. Peter Heather on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated. Ermanaric's possible dominance of the Volga-Don trade routes has led historian Gottfried Schramm to consider his realm a forerunner of the Viking-founded state of Kievan Rus'. In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by the Thervingi, there were also populations of Taifali, Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, Dacians, Daco-Romans and other Romanized populations.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "According to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek), a 13th-century legendary saga, Árheimar was the capital of Reidgotaland, the land of the Goths. The saga states that it was located on the Dnieper river. Jordanes refers to the region as Oium.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In the 360s, Athanaric, son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper Procopius against the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens. In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and defeated him, but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. Athanaric and Valens thereupon negotiated a peace treaty, favorable to the Thervingi, on a boat in the Danube river, as Athanaric refused to set his feet within the Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, Fritigern, a rival of Athanaric, converted to Arianism, gaining the favor of Valens. Athanaric and Fritigern thereafter fought a civil war in which Athanaric appears to have been victorious. Athanaric thereafter carried out a crackdown on Christianity in his realm.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Around 375 the Huns overran the Alans, an Iranian people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded the territory of the Goths - the Gothic empire A source for this period is the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote that Hunnic domination of the Gothic kingdoms in Scythia began in the 370s. It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Upon the suicide of Ermanaric (died 376), the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that the Hunnic thrust into Europe and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west. The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as Caucaland in the sagas). Ambrose makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in the \"Hlöðskviða\" (The Battle of the Goths and Huns), a medieval Icelandic saga. The sagas recall that Gizur, king of the Geats, came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict with the Huns, although this saga might derive from a later Gothic-Hunnic conflict.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the Eastern Roman emperor Valens in 376 with a portion of his people and asked to be allowed to settle on the south bank of the Danube. Valens permitted this, and even assisted the Goths in their crossing of the river (probably at the fortress of Durostorum). The Gothic evacuation across the Danube was probably not spontaneous, but rather a carefully planned operation initiated after long debate among leading members of the community. Upon arrival, the Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Mistreated by corrupt local Roman officials, the Gothic refugees were soon experiencing a famine; some are recorded as having been forced to sell their children to Roman slave traders in return for rotten dog meat. Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed a widescale rebellion in Thrace, in which he was joined not only by Gothic refugees and slaves, but also by disgruntled Roman workers and peasants, and Gothic deserters from the Roman Army. The ensuing conflict, known as the Gothic War, lasted for several years. Meanwhile, a group of Greuthungi, led by the chieftains Alatheus and Saphrax, who were co-regents with Vithericus, son and heir of the Greuthungi king Vithimiris, crossed the Danube without Roman permission. The Gothic War culminated in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Following the decisive Gothic victory at Adrianople, Julius, the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire, organized a wholesale massacre of Goths in Asia Minor, Syria and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured the Goths into the confines of urban streets from which they could not escape and massacred soldiers and civilians alike. As word spread, the Goths rioted throughout the region, and large numbers were killed. Survivors may have settled in Phrygia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "With the rise of Theodosius I in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers. Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through the scheming of Fritigern. Athanaric received a warm reception by Theodosius, praised the Roman Emperor in return, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the emperor following his death shortly after his arrival. In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382. The Thervingi were subsequently made foederati of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to the Roman army.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Visigoths means the \"Goths of the west\", while Ostrogoths means \"Goths of the east\". The Visigoths, led by the Balti dynasty, claimed descent from the Thervingi and lived as foederati inside Roman territory, while the Ostrogoths, led by the Amali dynasty, claimed descent from the Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns. Procopius interpreted the name Visigoth as \"western Goths\" and the name Ostrogoth as \"eastern Goth\", reflecting the geographic distribution of the Gothic realms at that time. A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination. A smaller group of Goths were the Crimean Goths, who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into the Middle Ages.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The Visigoths were a new Gothic political unit brought together during the career of their first leader, Alaric I. Following a major settlement of Goths in the Balkans made by Theodosius in 382, Goths received prominent positions in the Roman army. Relations with Roman civilians were sometimes uneasy. In 391, Gothic soldiers, with the blessing of Theodosius I, massacred thousands of Roman spectators at the Hippodrome in Thessalonica as vengeance for the lynching of the Gothic general Butheric.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The Goths suffered heavy losses while serving Theodosius in the civil war of 394 against Eugenius and Arbogast. In 395, following the death of Theodosius I, Alaric and his Balkan Goths invaded Greece, where they sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. Athens itself was spared by paying a large bribe, and the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius subsequently appointed Alaric magister militum (\"master of the soldiers\") in Illyricum in 397.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In 401 and 402, Alaric made two attempts at invading Italy, but was defeated by Stilicho. In 405–406, another Gothic leader, Radagaisus, also attempted to invade Italy, and was also defeated by Stilicho. In 408, the Western Roman emperor Flavius Honorius ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of Goths serving in the Roman military. Subsequently, around 30,000 Gothic soldiers defected to Alaric. Alaric in turn invaded Italy, seeking to pressure Honorious into granting him permission to settle his people in North Africa. In Italy, Alaric liberated tens of thousands of Gothic slaves, and in 410 he sacked the city of Rome. Although the city's riches were plundered, the civilian inhabitants of the city were treated humanely, and only a few buildings were burned. Alaric died soon afterwards, and was buried along with his treasure in an unknown grave under the Busento river.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Alaric was succeeded by his brother-in–law Athaulf, husband of Honorius' sister Galla Placidia, who had been seized during Alaric's sack of Rome. Athaulf settled the Visigoths in southern Gaul. After failing to gain recognition from the Romans, Athaulf retreated into Hispania in early 415, and was assassinated in Barcelona shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by Sigeric and then Wallia, who succeeded in having the Visigoths accepted by Honorius as foederati in southern Gaul, with their capital at Toulouse. Wallia subsequently inflicted severe defeats upon the Silingi Vandals and the Alans in Hispania. Periodically they marched on Arles, the seat of the praetorian prefect but were always pushed back. In 437 the Visigoths signed a treaty with the Romans which they kept.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Under Theodoric I the Visigoths allied with the Romans and fought Attila to a stalemate in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, although Theodoric was killed in the battle. Under Euric, the Visigoths established an independent Visigothic Kingdom and succeeded in driving the Suebi out of Hispania proper and back into Galicia. Although they controlled Spain, they still formed a tiny minority among a much larger Hispano-Roman population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In 507, the Visigoths were pushed out of most of Gaul by the Frankish king Clovis I at the Battle of Vouillé. They were able to retain Narbonensis and Provence after the timely arrival of an Ostrogoth detachment sent by Theodoric the Great. The defeat at Vouillé resulted in their penetrating further into Hispania and establishing a new capital at Toledo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Under Liuvigild in the latter part of the 6th century, the Visigoths succeeded in subduing the Suebi in Galicia and the Byzantines in the south-west, and thus achieved dominance over most of the Iberian peninsula. Liuvigild also abolished the law that prevented intermarriage between Hispano-Romans and Goths, and he remained an Arian Christian. The conversion of Reccared I to Roman Catholicism in the late 6th century prompted the assimilation of Goths with the Hispano-Romans.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "At the end of the 7th century, the Visigothic Kingdom began to suffer from internal troubles. Their kingdom fell and was progressively conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate from 711 after the defeat of their last king Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete. Some Visigothic nobles found refuge in the mountain areas of the Asturias, Pyrenees and Cantabria. According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the gens Gothorum or the Hispani. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native Astures, Galicians, Cantabri, Basques and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society. The Christians began to regain control under the leadership of the nobleman Pelagius of Asturias, who founded the Kingdom of Asturias in 718 and defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Covadonga in c. 722, in what is taken by historians to be the beginning of the Reconquista. It was from the Asturian kingdom that modern Spain and Portugal evolved.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "The Visigoths were never completely Romanized; rather, they were 'Hispanicized' as they spread widely over a large territory and population. They progressively adopted a new culture, retaining little of their original culture except for practical military customs, some artistic modalities, family traditions such as heroic songs and folklore, as well as select conventions to include Germanic names still in use in present-day Spain. It is these artifacts of the original Visigothic culture that give ample evidence of its contributing foundation for the present regional culture. Portraying themselves heirs of the Visigoths, the subsequent Christian Spanish monarchs declared their responsibility for the Reconquista of Muslim Spain, which was completed with the Fall of Granada in 1492.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "After the Hunnic invasion, many Goths became subjects of the Huns. A section of these Goths under the leadership of the Amali dynasty came to be known as the Ostrogoths. Others sought refuge in the Roman Empire, where many of them were recruited into the Roman army. In the spring of 399, Tribigild, a Gothic leader in charge of troops in Nakoleia, rose up in rebellion and defeated the first imperial army sent against him, possibly seeking to emulate Alaric's successes in the west. Gainas, a Goth who along with Stilicho and Eutropius had deposed Rufinus in 395, was sent to suppress Tribigild's rebellion, but instead plotted to use the situation to seize power in the Eastern Roman Empire. This attempt was however thwarted by the pro-Roman Goth Fravitta, and in the aftermath, thousands of Gothic civilians were massacred in Constantinople, many being burned alive in the local Arian church where they had taken shelter. As late as the 6th century Goths were settled as foederati in parts of Asia Minor. Their descendants, who formed the elite Optimatoi regiment, still lived there in the early 8th century. While they were largely assimilated, their Gothic origin was still well–known: the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor calls them Gothograeci.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The Ostrogoths fought together with the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451. Following the death of Attila and the defeat of the Huns at the Battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths broke away from Hunnic rule under their king Valamir. Mentions of this event were probably preserved in Slavic epic songs. Under his successor, Theodemir, they utterly defeated the Huns at the Bassianae in 468, and then defeated a coalition of Roman–supported Germanic tribes at the Battle of Bolia in 469, which gained them supremacy in Pannonia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Theodemir was succeeded by his son Theodoric in 471, who was forced to compete with Theodoric Strabo, leader of the Thracian Goths, for the leadership of his people. Fearing the threat posed by Theodoric to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno ordered Theodoric to invade Italy in 488. By 493, Theodoric had conquered all of Italy from the Scirian Odoacer, whom he killed with his own hands; he subsequently formed the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Theodoric settled his entire people in Italy, estimated at 100,000–200,000, mostly in the northern part of the country, and ruled the country very efficiently. The Goths in Italy constituted a small minority of the population in the country. Intermarriage between Goths and Romans were forbidden, and Romans were also forbidden from carrying arms. Nevertheless, the Roman majority was treated fairly.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "The Goths were briefly reunited under one crown in the early 6th century under Theodoric, who became regent of the Visigothic kingdom following the death of Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Shortly after Theodoric's death, the country was invaded by the Eastern Roman Empire in the Gothic War, which severely devastated and depopulated the Italian peninsula. The Ostrogoths made a brief resurgence under their king Totila, who was, however, killed at the Battle of Taginae in 552. After the last stand of the Ostrogothic king Teia at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in 553, Ostrogothic resistance ended, and the remaining Goths in Italy were assimilated by the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, who invaded Italy and founded the Kingdom of the Lombards in 567.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea, were known as the Crimean Goths. During the late 5th and early 6th century, the Crimean Goths had to fend off hordes of Huns who were migrating back eastward after losing control of their European empire. In the 5th century, Theodoric the Great tried to recruit Crimean Goths for his campaigns in Italy, but few showed interest in joining him. They affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church through the Metropolitanate of Gothia, and were then closely associated with the Byzantine Empire.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "During the Middle Ages, the Crimean Goths were in perpetual conflict with the Khazars. John of Gothia, the metropolitan bishop of Doros, capital of the Crimean Goths, briefly expelled the Khazars from Crimea in the late 8th century, and was subsequently canonized as an Eastern Orthodox saint.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In the 10th century, the lands of the Crimean Goths were once again raided by the Khazars. As a response, the leaders of the Crimean Goths made an alliance with Sviatoslav I of Kiev, who subsequently waged war upon and utterly destroyed the Khazar Khaganate. In the late Middle Ages the Crimean Goths were part of the Principality of Theodoro, which was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century. As late as the 18th century a small number of people in Crimea may still have spoken Crimean Gothic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "The Goths were Germanic-speaking. The Gothic language is the Germanic language with the earliest attestation (the 4th century), and the only East Germanic language documented in more than proper names, short phrases that survived in historical accounts, and loan-words in other languages, making it a language of great interest in comparative linguistics. Gothic is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, now preserved in Uppsala, Sweden, which contains a partial translation of the Bible credited to Ulfilas.",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "The language was in decline by the mid-500s, due to the military victory of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. In Spain, the language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in 589; it survived as a domestic language in the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) as late as the 8th century.",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Frankish author Walafrid Strabo wrote that Gothic was still spoken in the lower Danube area, in what is now Bulgaria, in the early 9th century, and a related dialect known as Crimean Gothic was spoken in the Crimea until the 16th century, according to references in the writings of travelers. Most modern scholars believe that Crimean Gothic did not derive from the dialect that was the basis for Ulfilas' translation of the Bible.",
"title": "Language"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In ancient sources, the Goths are always described as tall and athletic, with light skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. The 4th-century Greek historian Eunapius described their characteristic powerful musculature in a pejorative way: \"Their bodies provoked contempt in all who saw them, for they were far too big and far too heavy for their feet to carry them, and they were pinched in at the waist – just like those insects Aristotle writes of.\" Procopius notes that the Vandals and Gepids looked similar to the Goths, and on this basis, he suggested that they were all of common origin. Of the Goths, he wrote that \"they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon.\"",
"title": "Physical appearance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Stolarek et al. (2023) and Antonio et al. (2022) both sequenced genomes from the Wielbark culture Goths. Stolarek et al. includes samples from multiple sites all over the territory of the Wielbark culture, in large numbers. The results are in aligment with archaeological and historical evidence, strongly suggesting that the Wielbark culture formed through migration from Southern Scandinavia. A large majority of the Wielbark culture samples are autosomally Scandinavian-like, and carry predominantly Scandinavian Y-DNA haplogroups. The most common Y-DNA haplogroup among the Wielbark individuals was Y-DNA haplogroup I1-M253, characteristic of the Nordic Bronze Age in Southern Scandinavia, in which it was found at a very high frequency and from where it first expanded. Among the Wielbark Goths, substantial subclade diversity is seen among the I1 carriers, suggesting that the male founders of the culture descended from clans from a rather widespread area in Scandinavia.",
"title": "DNA"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Assessing the population movement during late Antiquity, a 2023 study on the Roman frontier on the Danube concludes that \"Goths were ethnically diverse confederations\". A number samples obtained from Roman sites close to the limes (such as Viminacium) dated to the 3th century or later were shown to carry admixture from Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries in addition to 42%–55% local Balkan Iron Age-related ancestry. 7 out of 9 males among these samples belonged to haplogroups associated with these trans-frontier ancestry sources (I1 and R1b-U106: North European; Z93: Iron Age Steppe). Many of these samples suggest that admixture between Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries likely occurred beyond the frontier prior to the movement into the Roman Empire, \"perhaps indicative of, e.g., the formation of diverse confederations under Gothic leadership\".",
"title": "DNA"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Before the invasion of the Huns, the Gothic Chernyakhov culture produced jewelry, vessels, and decorative objects in a style much influenced by Greek and Roman craftsmen. They developed a polychrome style of gold work, using wrought cells or setting to encrust gemstones into their gold objects.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The eagle-shaped fibula, part of the Domagnano Treasure, was used to join clothes c. AD 500; the piece on display in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is well-known.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "In Spain an important collection of Visigothic metalwork was found in the treasure of Guarrazar, Guadamur, Province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, an archeological find composed of twenty-six votive crowns and gold crosses from the royal workshop in Toledo, with Byzantine influence. The treasure represents the high point of Visigothic goldsmithery, according to Guerra, Galligaro & Perea (2007). The two most important votive crowns are those of Recceswinth and of Suintila, displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; both are made of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suintila's crown was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses in the treasure.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "These findings, along with others from some neighbouring sites and with the archaeological excavation of the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Spanish Academy of History (April 1859), formed a group consisting of:",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The aquiliform (eagle-shaped) fibulae that have been discovered in necropolises such as Duraton, Madrona or Castiltierra (cities of Segovia), are an unmistakable indication of the Visigothic presence in Spain. These fibulae were used individually or in pairs, as clasps or pins in gold, bronze and glass to join clothes, showing the work of the goldsmiths of Visigothic Hispania.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The Visigothic belt buckles, a symbol of rank and status characteristic of Visigothic women's clothing, are also notable as works of goldsmithery. Some pieces contain exceptional Byzantine-style lapis lazuli inlays and are generally rectangular in shape, with copper alloy, garnets and glass.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Archaeological evidence in Visigothic cemeteries shows that social stratification was analogous to that of the village of Sabbas the Goth. The majority of villagers were common peasants. Paupers were buried with funeral rites, unlike slaves. In a village of 50 to 100 people, there were four or five elite couples. In Eastern Europe, houses include sunken-floored dwellings, surface dwellings, and stall-houses. The largest known settlement is the Criuleni District. Chernyakhov cemeteries feature both cremation and inhumation burials; among the latter the head aligned to the north. Some graves were left empty. Grave goods often include pottery, bone combs, and iron tools, but hardly ever weapons.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Peter Heather suggests that the freemen constituted the core of Gothic society. These were ranked below the nobility, but above the freedmen and slaves. It is estimated that around a quarter to a fifth of weapon-bearing Gothic males of the Ostrogothic Kingdom were freemen.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Initially practising Gothic paganism, the Goths were gradually converted to Arianism in the course of the 4th century. According to Basil of Caesarea, a prisoner named Eutychus taken captive in a raid on Cappadocia in 260 preached the gospel to the Goths and was martyred. It was only in the 4th century, as a result of missionary activity by the Gothic bishop Ulfilas, whose grandparents were Cappadocians taken captive in the raids of the 250s, that the Goths were gradually converted. Ulfilas devised a Gothic alphabet and translated the Gothic Bible.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "During the 370s, Goths converting to Christianity were subject to persecution by the Thervingian king Athanaric, who was a pagan.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "The Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania converted to Catholicism in the late 6th century.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The Ostrogoths (and their remnants, the Crimean Goths) were closely connected to the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the 5th century, and became fully incorporated under the Metropolitanate of Gothia from the 9th century.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Gothic arms and armour usually consisted of wooden shield, spear and often swords. 'Rank and file' troops did not wear much protection, while warriors of higher social class were better equipped, as was common for most tribal peoples of the time.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Armour was either a chainmail shirt or lamellar cuirass. Lamellar was popular among horsemen. Shields were either round or oval with a central boss grip. They were decorated with tribe or clan symbols, such as animal drawings. Helmets were often of spangenhelm type, often with cheek and neck plates. Spears were used both for thrusting and throwing, although specialized javelins were also in use. Swords were one handed, double edged and straight, with a very small crossguard and large pommel. It was called the Spatha by the Romans, and it is believed to have first been used by the Celts. Short wooden bows were also used, as well as occasional throwing axes. Missile weapons were mainly short throwing axes such as Fransica and short wooden bows. Specialized javelins such as angon were more rare but still used",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Archaeology shows that the Visigoths, unlike the Ostrogoths, were predominantly farmers. They sowed wheat, barley, rye, and flax. They also raised pigs, poultry, and goats. Horses and donkeys were raised as working animals and fed with hay. Sheep were raised for their wool, which they fashioned into clothing. Archaeology indicates they were skilled potters and blacksmiths. When peace treaties were negotiated with the Romans, the Goths demanded free trade. Imports from Rome included wine and cooking-oil.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Roman writers note that the Goths neither assessed taxes on their own people nor on their subjects. The early 5th-century Christian writer Salvian compared the Goths' and related people's favourable treatment of the poor to the miserable state of peasants in Roman Gaul:",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "For in the Gothic country the barbarians are so far from tolerating this sort of oppression that not even Romans who live among them have to bear it. Hence all the Romans in that region have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in that district that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarians.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The Mausoleum of Theodoric (Italian: Mausoleo di Teodorico) is an ancient monument just outside Ravenna, Italy. It was built in 520 AD by Theodoric the Great, an Ostrogoth, as his future tomb.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The current structure of the mausoleum is divided into two decagonal orders, one above the other; both are made of Istria stone. Its roof is a single 230-tonne Istrian stone, 10 meters in diameter. Possibly as a reference to the Goths' tradition of an origin in Scandinavia, the architect decorated the frieze with a pattern found in 5th- and 6th-century Scandinavian metal adornments. A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral liturgies; a stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the floor is a circular porphyry stone grave, in which Theodoric was buried. His remains were removed during Byzantine rule, when the mausoleum was turned into a Christian oratory. In the late 19th century, silting from a nearby rivulet that had partly submerged the mausoleum was drained and excavated.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "The Palace of Theodoric, also in Ravenna, has a symmetrical composition with arches and monolithic marble columns, reused from previous Roman buildings. With capitals of different shapes and sizes. The Ostrogoths restored Roman buildings, some of which have come down to us thanks to them.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "During their governance of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches of basilical or cruciform floor plan that survive, including the churches of San Pedro de la Nave in El Campillo, Santa María de Melque in San Martín de Montalbán, Santa Lucía del Trampal in Alcuéscar, Santa Comba in Bande, and Santa María de Lara in Quintanilla de las Viñas; the Visigothic crypt (the Crypt of San Antolín) in the Palencia Cathedral is a Visigothic chapel from the mid 7th century, built during the reign of Wamba to preserve the remains of the martyr Saint Antoninus of Pamiers, a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Reccopolis (Spanish: Recópolis), located near the tiny modern village of Zorita de los Canes in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, is an archaeological site of one of at least four cities founded in Hispania by the Visigoths. It is the only city in Western Europe to have been founded between the fifth and eighth centuries. According to Lauro Olmo Enciso who is a professor of archaeology at the University of Alcalá, the city was ordered to build by the Visigothic king Leovigild to honor his son Reccared I and to serve as Reccared's seat as co-king in the Visigothic province of Celtiberia, to the west of Carpetania, where the main capital, Toledo, lay.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The Goths' relationship with Sweden became an important part of Swedish nationalism, and until the 19th century, before the Gothic origin had been thoroughly researched by archaeologists, Swedish scholars considered Swedes to be the direct descendants of the Goths. Today, scholars identify this as a cultural movement called Gothicismus, which included an enthusiasm for things Old Norse.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "In medieval and modern Spain, the Visigoths were believed to be the progenitors of the Spanish nobility (compare Gobineau for a similar French idea). By the early 7th century, the ethnic distinction between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans had all but disappeared, but recognition of a Gothic origin, e.g. on gravestones, still survived among the nobility. The 7th century Visigothic aristocracy saw itself as bearers of a particular Gothic consciousness and as guardians of old traditions such as Germanic namegiving; probably these traditions were on the whole restricted to the family sphere (Hispano-Roman nobles were doing service for the Visigothic Royal Court in Toulouse already in the 5th century and the two branches of Spanish aristocracy had fully adopted similar customs two centuries later).",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Beginning in 1278, when Magnus III of Sweden ascended to the throne, a reference to Gothic origins was included in the title of the King of Sweden:",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "We N.N. by the Grace of God King of the Swedes, the Goths and the Vends.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "In 1973, with the accession of King Carl XVI Gustaf, the title was changed to simply \"King of Sweden.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "In all history there is nothing more romantically marvellous than the swift rise of this people to the height of greatness, or than the suddenness and the tragic completeness of their ruin.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "— Henry Bradley, The Story of the Goths (1888)",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "The Spanish and Swedish claims of Gothic origins led to a clash at the Council of Basel in 1434. Before the assembled cardinals and delegations could engage in theological discussion, they had to decide how to sit during the proceedings. The delegations from the more prominent nations argued that they should sit closest to the Pope, and there were also disputes over who were to have the finest chairs and who were to have their chairs on mats. In some cases, they compromised so that some would have half a chair leg on the rim of a mat. In this conflict, Nicolaus Ragvaldi, bishop of the Diocese of Växjö, claimed that the Swedes were the descendants of the great Goths, and that the people of Västergötland (Westrogothia in Latin) were the Visigoths and the people of Östergötland (Ostrogothia in Latin) were the Ostrogoths. The Spanish delegation retorted that it was only the \"lazy\" and \"unenterprising\" Goths who had remained in Sweden, whereas the \"heroic\" Goths had left Sweden, invaded the Roman empire and settled in Spain.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "In Spain, a man acting with arrogance would be said to be \"haciéndose los godos\" (\"making himself to act like the Goths\"). In Chile, Argentina, and the Canary Islands, godo was an ethnic slur used against European Spaniards, who in the early colonial period often felt superior to the people born locally (criollos). In Colombia, it remains as slang for a person with conservative views.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "A large amount of literature has been produced on the Goths, with Henry Bradley's The Goths (1888) being the standard English-language text for many decades. More recently, Peter Heather has established himself as the leading authority on the Goths in the English-speaking world. The leading authority on the Goths in the German-speaking world is Herwig Wolfram.",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| The Goths were Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. In his book Getica, the historian Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia, but the accuracy of this account is unclear. A people called the Gutones – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture. From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards the Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by the late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture. By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful. During this time, Wulfila began the conversion of Goths to Christianity. In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths were invaded from the east by the Huns. In the aftermath of this event, several groups of Goths came under Hunnic domination, while others migrated further west or sought refuge inside the Roman Empire. Goths who entered the Empire by crossing the Danube inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. These Goths would form the Visigoths, and under their king Alaric I, they began a long migration, eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna. The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, lingered on for several centuries, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people. | 2001-09-29T14:22:46Z | 2023-12-30T19:15:44Z | [
"Template:See",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:EB1911 Poster",
"Template:Cite report",
"Template:About",
"Template:Lang-la",
"Template:Quote box",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Lang-got",
"Template:Harvp",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Cite Collier's",
"Template:Snd",
"Template:Legend",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Lang-grc-gre",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Germanic peoples",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goths |
12,644 | Glycolysis | Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose (C6H12O6) into pyruvate, and in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells, the cytosol. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Glycolysis is a sequence of ten reactions catalyzed by enzymes.
The wide occurrence of glycolysis in other species indicates that it is an ancient metabolic pathway. Indeed, the reactions that make up glycolysis and its parallel pathway, the pentose phosphate pathway, can occur in the oxygen-free conditions of the Archean oceans, also in the absence of enzymes, catalyzed by metal ions, meaning this is a plausible prebiotic pathway for abiogenesis.
The most common type of glycolysis is the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) pathway, which was discovered by Gustav Embden, Otto Meyerhof, and Jakub Karol Parnas. Glycolysis also refers to other pathways, such as the Entner–Doudoroff pathway and various heterofermentative and homofermentative pathways. However, the discussion here will be limited to the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway.
The glycolysis pathway can be separated into two phases:
The overall reaction of glycolysis is:
d-Glucose
2 × Pyruvate
The use of symbols in this equation makes it appear unbalanced with respect to oxygen atoms, hydrogen atoms, and charges. Atom balance is maintained by the two phosphate (Pi) groups:
Charges are balanced by the difference between ADP and ATP. In the cellular environment, all three hydroxyl groups of ADP dissociate into −O and H, giving ADP, and this ion tends to exist in an ionic bond with Mg, giving ADPMg. ATP behaves identically except that it has four hydroxyl groups, giving ATPMg. When these differences along with the true charges on the two phosphate groups are considered together, the net charges of −4 on each side are balanced.
For simple fermentations, the metabolism of one molecule of glucose to two molecules of pyruvate has a net yield of two molecules of ATP. Most cells will then carry out further reactions to "repay" the used NAD and produce a final product of ethanol or lactic acid. Many bacteria use inorganic compounds as hydrogen acceptors to regenerate the NAD.
Cells performing aerobic respiration synthesize much more ATP, but not as part of glycolysis. These further aerobic reactions use pyruvate, and NADH + H from glycolysis. Eukaryotic aerobic respiration produces approximately 34 additional molecules of ATP for each glucose molecule, however most of these are produced by a mechanism vastly different from the substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis.
The lower-energy production, per glucose, of anaerobic respiration relative to aerobic respiration, results in greater flux through the pathway under hypoxic (low-oxygen) conditions, unless alternative sources of anaerobically oxidizable substrates, such as fatty acids, are found.
The pathway of glycolysis as it is known today took almost 100 years to fully elucidate. The combined results of many smaller experiments were required in order to understand the pathway as a whole.
The first steps in understanding glycolysis began in the nineteenth century with the wine industry. For economic reasons, the French wine industry sought to investigate why wine sometimes turned distasteful, instead of fermenting into alcohol. French scientist Louis Pasteur researched this issue during the 1850s, and the results of his experiments began the long road to elucidating the pathway of glycolysis. His experiments showed that fermentation occurs by the action of living microorganisms, yeasts, and that yeast's glucose consumption decreased under aerobic conditions of fermentation, in comparison to anaerobic conditions (the Pasteur effect).
Insight into the component steps of glycolysis were provided by the non-cellular fermentation experiments of Eduard Buchner during the 1890s. Buchner demonstrated that the conversion of glucose to ethanol was possible using a non-living extract of yeast, due to the action of enzymes in the extract. This experiment not only revolutionized biochemistry, but also allowed later scientists to analyze this pathway in a more controlled laboratory setting. In a series of experiments (1905-1911), scientists Arthur Harden and William Young discovered more pieces of glycolysis. They discovered the regulatory effects of ATP on glucose consumption during alcohol fermentation. They also shed light on the role of one compound as a glycolysis intermediate: fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.
The elucidation of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was accomplished by measuring CO2 levels when yeast juice was incubated with glucose. CO2 production increased rapidly then slowed down. Harden and Young noted that this process would restart if an inorganic phosphate (Pi) was added to the mixture. Harden and Young deduced that this process produced organic phosphate esters, and further experiments allowed them to extract fructose diphosphate (F-1,6-DP).
Arthur Harden and William Young along with Nick Sheppard determined, in a second experiment, that a heat-sensitive high-molecular-weight subcellular fraction (the enzymes) and a heat-insensitive low-molecular-weight cytoplasm fraction (ADP, ATP and NAD and other cofactors) are required together for fermentation to proceed. This experiment begun by observing that dialyzed (purified) yeast juice could not ferment or even create a sugar phosphate. This mixture was rescued with the addition of undialyzed yeast extract that had been boiled. Boiling the yeast extract renders all proteins inactive (as it denatures them). The ability of boiled extract plus dialyzed juice to complete fermentation suggests that the cofactors were non-protein in character.
In the 1920s Otto Meyerhof was able to link together some of the many individual pieces of glycolysis discovered by Buchner, Harden, and Young. Meyerhof and his team were able to extract different glycolytic enzymes from muscle tissue, and combine them to artificially create the pathway from glycogen to lactic acid.
In one paper, Meyerhof and scientist Renate Junowicz-Kockolaty investigated the reaction that splits fructose 1,6-diphosphate into the two triose phosphates. Previous work proposed that the split occurred via 1,3-diphosphoglyceraldehyde plus an oxidizing enzyme and cozymase. Meyerhoff and Junowicz found that the equilibrium constant for the isomerase and aldoses reaction were not affected by inorganic phosphates or any other cozymase or oxidizing enzymes. They further removed diphosphoglyceraldehyde as a possible intermediate in glycolysis.
With all of these pieces available by the 1930s, Gustav Embden proposed a detailed, step-by-step outline of that pathway we now know as glycolysis. The biggest difficulties in determining the intricacies of the pathway were due to the very short lifetime and low steady-state concentrations of the intermediates of the fast glycolytic reactions. By the 1940s, Meyerhof, Embden and many other biochemists had finally completed the puzzle of glycolysis. The understanding of the isolated pathway has been expanded in the subsequent decades, to include further details of its regulation and integration with other metabolic pathways.
Glucose
Hexokinase
Glucose 6-phosphate
Glucose-6-phosphateisomerase
Fructose 6-phosphate
Phosphofructokinase-1
Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate
Fructose-bisphosphatealdolase
Dihydroxyacetone phosphate
+
Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate
Triosephosphateisomerase
2 × Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate
Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphatedehydrogenase
2 × 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate
Phosphoglycerate kinase
2 × 3-Phosphoglycerate
Phosphoglycerate mutase
2 × 2-Phosphoglycerate
Phosphopyruvatehydratase (enolase)
2 × Phosphoenolpyruvate
Pyruvate kinase
2 × Pyruvate
The first five steps of Glycolysis are regarded as the preparatory (or investment) phase, since they consume energy to convert the glucose into two three-carbon sugar phosphates (G3P).
Once glucose enters the cell, the first step is phosphorylation of glucose by a family of enzymes called hexokinases to form glucose 6-phosphate (G6P). This reaction consumes ATP, but it acts to keep the glucose concentration inside the cell low, promoting continuous transport of blood glucose into the cell through the plasma membrane transporters. In addition, phosphorylation blocks the glucose from leaking out – the cell lacks transporters for G6P, and free diffusion out of the cell is prevented due to the charged nature of G6P. Glucose may alternatively be formed from the phosphorolysis or hydrolysis of intracellular starch or glycogen.
In animals, an isozyme of hexokinase called glucokinase is also used in the liver, which has a much lower affinity for glucose (Km in the vicinity of normal glycemia), and differs in regulatory properties. The different substrate affinity and alternate regulation of this enzyme are a reflection of the role of the liver in maintaining blood sugar levels.
Cofactors: Mg
G6P is then rearranged into fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) by glucose phosphate isomerase. Fructose can also enter the glycolytic pathway by phosphorylation at this point.
The change in structure is an isomerization, in which the G6P has been converted to F6P. The reaction requires an enzyme, phosphoglucose isomerase, to proceed. This reaction is freely reversible under normal cell conditions. However, it is often driven forward because of a low concentration of F6P, which is constantly consumed during the next step of glycolysis. Under conditions of high F6P concentration, this reaction readily runs in reverse. This phenomenon can be explained through Le Chatelier's Principle. Isomerization to a keto sugar is necessary for carbanion stabilization in the fourth reaction step (below).
The energy expenditure of another ATP in this step is justified in 2 ways: The glycolytic process (up to this step) becomes irreversible, and the energy supplied destabilizes the molecule. Because the reaction catalyzed by phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK-1) is coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP (an energetically favorable step) it is, in essence, irreversible, and a different pathway must be used to do the reverse conversion during gluconeogenesis. This makes the reaction a key regulatory point (see below).
Furthermore, the second phosphorylation event is necessary to allow the formation of two charged groups (rather than only one) in the subsequent step of glycolysis, ensuring the prevention of free diffusion of substrates out of the cell.
The same reaction can also be catalyzed by pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PFP or PPi-PFK), which is found in most plants, some bacteria, archea, and protists, but not in animals. This enzyme uses pyrophosphate (PPi) as a phosphate donor instead of ATP. It is a reversible reaction, increasing the flexibility of glycolytic metabolism. A rarer ADP-dependent PFK enzyme variant has been identified in archaean species.
Cofactors: Mg
Destabilizing the molecule in the previous reaction allows the hexose ring to be split by aldolase into two triose sugars: dihydroxyacetone phosphate (a ketose), and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (an aldose). There are two classes of aldolases: class I aldolases, present in animals and plants, and class II aldolases, present in fungi and bacteria; the two classes use different mechanisms in cleaving the ketose ring.
Electrons delocalized in the carbon-carbon bond cleavage associate with the alcohol group. The resulting carbanion is stabilized by the structure of the carbanion itself via resonance charge distribution and by the presence of a charged ion prosthetic group.
Triosephosphate isomerase rapidly interconverts dihydroxyacetone phosphate with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GADP) that proceeds further into glycolysis. This is advantageous, as it directs dihydroxyacetone phosphate down the same pathway as glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, simplifying regulation.
The second half of glycolysis is known as the pay-off phase, characterised by a net gain of the energy-rich molecules ATP and NADH. Since glucose leads to two triose sugars in the preparatory phase, each reaction in the pay-off phase occurs twice per glucose molecule. This yields 2 NADH molecules and 4 ATP molecules, leading to a net gain of 2 NADH molecules and 2 ATP molecules from the glycolytic pathway per glucose.
The aldehyde groups of the triose sugars are oxidised, and inorganic phosphate is added to them, forming 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate.
The hydrogen is used to reduce two molecules of NAD, a hydrogen carrier, to give NADH + H for each triose.
Hydrogen atom balance and charge balance are both maintained because the phosphate (Pi) group actually exists in the form of a hydrogen phosphate anion (HPO2−4), which dissociates to contribute the extra H ion and gives a net charge of -3 on both sides.
Here, arsenate ([AsO4]), an anion akin to inorganic phosphate may replace phosphate as a substrate to form 1-arseno-3-phosphoglycerate. This, however, is unstable and readily hydrolyzes to form 3-phosphoglycerate, the intermediate in the next step of the pathway. As a consequence of bypassing this step, the molecule of ATP generated from 1-3 bisphosphoglycerate in the next reaction will not be made, even though the reaction proceeds. As a result, arsenate is an uncoupler of glycolysis.
This step is the enzymatic transfer of a phosphate group from 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate to ADP by phosphoglycerate kinase, forming ATP and 3-phosphoglycerate. At this step, glycolysis has reached the break-even point: 2 molecules of ATP were consumed, and 2 new molecules have now been synthesized. This step, one of the two substrate-level phosphorylation steps, requires ADP; thus, when the cell has plenty of ATP (and little ADP), this reaction does not occur. Because ATP decays relatively quickly when it is not metabolized, this is an important regulatory point in the glycolytic pathway.
ADP actually exists as ADPMg, and ATP as ATPMg, balancing the charges at −5 both sides.
Cofactors: Mg
Phosphoglycerate mutase isomerises 3-phosphoglycerate into 2-phosphoglycerate.
Enolase next converts 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate. This reaction is an elimination reaction involving an E1cB mechanism.
Cofactors: 2 Mg, one "conformational" ion to coordinate with the carboxylate group of the substrate, and one "catalytic" ion that participates in the dehydration.
A final substrate-level phosphorylation now forms a molecule of pyruvate and a molecule of ATP by means of the enzyme pyruvate kinase. This serves as an additional regulatory step, similar to the phosphoglycerate kinase step.
Cofactors: Mg
The existence of more than one point of regulation indicates that intermediates between those points enter and leave the glycolysis pathway by other processes. For example, in the first regulated step, hexokinase converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate. Instead of continuing through the glycolysis pathway, this intermediate can be converted into glucose storage molecules, such as glycogen or starch. The reverse reaction, breaking down, e.g., glycogen, produces mainly glucose-6-phosphate; very little free glucose is formed in the reaction. The glucose-6-phosphate so produced can enter glycolysis after the first control point.
In the second regulated step (the third step of glycolysis), phosphofructokinase converts fructose-6-phosphate into fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, which then is converted into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. The dihydroxyacetone phosphate can be removed from glycolysis by conversion into glycerol-3-phosphate, which can be used to form triglycerides. Conversely, triglycerides can be broken down into fatty acids and glycerol; the latter, in turn, can be converted into dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which can enter glycolysis after the second control point.
The change in free energy, ΔG, for each step in the glycolysis pathway can be calculated using ΔG = ΔG°′ + RTln Q, where Q is the reaction quotient. This requires knowing the concentrations of the metabolites. All of these values are available for erythrocytes, with the exception of the concentrations of NAD and NADH. The ratio of NAD to NADH in the cytoplasm is approximately 1000, which makes the oxidation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (step 6) more favourable.
Using the measured concentrations of each step, and the standard free energy changes, the actual free energy change can be calculated. (Neglecting this is very common - the delta G of ATP hydrolysis in cells is not the standard free energy change of ATP hydrolysis quoted in textbooks).
From measuring the physiological concentrations of metabolites in an erythrocyte it seems that about seven of the steps in glycolysis are in equilibrium for that cell type. Three of the steps — the ones with large negative free energy changes — are not in equilibrium and are referred to as irreversible; such steps are often subject to regulation.
Step 5 in the figure is shown behind the other steps, because that step is a side-reaction that can decrease or increase the concentration of the intermediate glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. That compound is converted to dihydroxyacetone phosphate by the enzyme triose phosphate isomerase, which is a catalytically perfect enzyme; its rate is so fast that the reaction can be assumed to be in equilibrium. The fact that ΔG is not zero indicates that the actual concentrations in the erythrocyte are not accurately known.
The enzymes that catalyse glycolysis are regulated via a range of biological mechanisms in order to control overall flux though the pathway. This is vital for both homeostatsis in a static environment, and metabolic adaptation to a changing environment or need. The details of regulation for some enzymes are highly conserved between species, whereas others vary widely.
In animals, regulation of blood glucose levels by the pancreas in conjunction with the liver is a vital part of homeostasis. The beta cells in the pancreatic islets are sensitive to the blood glucose concentration. A rise in the blood glucose concentration causes them to release insulin into the blood, which has an effect particularly on the liver, but also on fat and muscle cells, causing these tissues to remove glucose from the blood. When the blood sugar falls the pancreatic beta cells cease insulin production, but, instead, stimulate the neighboring pancreatic alpha cells to release glucagon into the blood. This, in turn, causes the liver to release glucose into the blood by breaking down stored glycogen, and by means of gluconeogenesis. If the fall in the blood glucose level is particularly rapid or severe, other glucose sensors cause the release of epinephrine from the adrenal glands into the blood. This has the same action as glucagon on glucose metabolism, but its effect is more pronounced. In the liver glucagon and epinephrine cause the phosphorylation of the key, regulated enzymes of glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, cholesterol synthesis, gluconeogenesis, and glycogenolysis. Insulin has the opposite effect on these enzymes. The phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of these enzymes (ultimately in response to the glucose level in the blood) is the dominant manner by which these pathways are controlled in the liver, fat, and muscle cells. Thus the phosphorylation of phosphofructokinase inhibits glycolysis, whereas its dephosphorylation through the action of insulin stimulates glycolysis.
The three regulatory enzymes are hexokinase (or glucokinase in the liver), phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase. The flux through the glycolytic pathway is adjusted in response to conditions both inside and outside the cell. The internal factors that regulate glycolysis do so primarily to provide ATP in adequate quantities for the cell's needs. The external factors act primarily on the liver, fat tissue, and muscles, which can remove large quantities of glucose from the blood after meals (thus preventing hyperglycemia by storing the excess glucose as fat or glycogen, depending on the tissue type). The liver is also capable of releasing glucose into the blood between meals, during fasting, and exercise thus preventing hypoglycemia by means of glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. These latter reactions coincide with the halting of glycolysis in the liver.
In addition hexokinase and glucokinase act independently of the hormonal effects as controls at the entry points of glucose into the cells of different tissues. Hexokinase responds to the glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) level in the cell, or, in the case of glucokinase, to the blood sugar level in the blood to impart entirely intracellular controls of the glycolytic pathway in different tissues (see below).
When glucose has been converted into G6P by hexokinase or glucokinase, it can either be converted to glucose-1-phosphate (G1P) for conversion to glycogen, or it is alternatively converted by glycolysis to pyruvate, which enters the mitochondrion where it is converted into acetyl-CoA and then into citrate. Excess citrate is exported from the mitochondrion back into the cytosol, where ATP citrate lyase regenerates acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate (OAA). The acetyl-CoA is then used for fatty acid synthesis and cholesterol synthesis, two important ways of utilizing excess glucose when its concentration is high in blood. The regulated enzymes catalyzing these reactions perform these functions when they have been dephosphorylated through the action of insulin on the liver cells. Between meals, during fasting, exercise or hypoglycemia, glucagon and epinephrine are released into the blood. This causes liver glycogen to be converted back to G6P, and then converted to glucose by the liver-specific enzyme glucose 6-phosphatase and released into the blood. Glucagon and epinephrine also stimulate gluconeogenesis, which coverts non-carbohydrate substrates into G6P, which joins the G6P derived from glycogen, or substitutes for it when the liver glycogen store have been depleted. This is critical for brain function, since the brain utilizes glucose as an energy source under most conditions. The simultaneously phosphorylation of, particularly, phosphofructokinase, but also, to a certain extent pyruvate kinase, prevents glycolysis occurring at the same time as gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis.
All cells contain the enzyme hexokinase, which catalyzes the conversion of glucose that has entered the cell into glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Since the cell membrane is impervious to G6P, hexokinase essentially acts to transport glucose into the cells from which it can then no longer escape. Hexokinase is inhibited by high levels of G6P in the cell. Thus the rate of entry of glucose into cells partially depends on how fast G6P can be disposed of by glycolysis, and by glycogen synthesis (in the cells which store glycogen, namely liver and muscles).
Glucokinase, unlike hexokinase, is not inhibited by G6P. It occurs in liver cells, and will only phosphorylate the glucose entering the cell to form glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), when the glucose in the blood is abundant. This being the first step in the glycolytic pathway in the liver, it therefore imparts an additional layer of control of the glycolytic pathway in this organ.
Phosphofructokinase is an important control point in the glycolytic pathway, since it is one of the irreversible steps and has key allosteric effectors, AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP).
Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP) is a very potent activator of phosphofructokinase (PFK-1) that is synthesized when F6P is phosphorylated by a second phosphofructokinase (PFK2). In the liver, when blood sugar is low and glucagon elevates cAMP, PFK2 is phosphorylated by protein kinase A. The phosphorylation inactivates PFK2, and another domain on this protein becomes active as fructose bisphosphatase-2, which converts F2,6BP back to F6P. Both glucagon and epinephrine cause high levels of cAMP in the liver. The result of lower levels of liver fructose-2,6-bisphosphate is a decrease in activity of phosphofructokinase and an increase in activity of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase, so that gluconeogenesis (in essence, "glycolysis in reverse") is favored. This is consistent with the role of the liver in such situations, since the response of the liver to these hormones is to release glucose to the blood.
ATP competes with AMP for the allosteric effector site on the PFK enzyme. ATP concentrations in cells are much higher than those of AMP, typically 100-fold higher, but the concentration of ATP does not change more than about 10% under physiological conditions, whereas a 10% drop in ATP results in a 6-fold increase in AMP. Thus, the relevance of ATP as an allosteric effector is questionable. An increase in AMP is a consequence of a decrease in energy charge in the cell.
Citrate inhibits phosphofructokinase when tested in vitro by enhancing the inhibitory effect of ATP. However, it is doubtful that this is a meaningful effect in vivo, because citrate in the cytosol is utilized mainly for conversion to acetyl-CoA for fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis.
TIGAR, a p53 induced enzyme, is responsible for the regulation of phosphofructokinase and acts to protect against oxidative stress. TIGAR is a single enzyme with dual function that regulates F2,6BP. It can behave as a phosphatase (fructuose-2,6-bisphosphatase) which cleaves the phosphate at carbon-2 producing F6P. It can also behave as a kinase (PFK2) adding a phosphate onto carbon-2 of F6P which produces F2,6BP. In humans, the TIGAR protein is encoded by C12orf5 gene. The TIGAR enzyme will hinder the forward progression of glycolysis, by creating a build up of fructose-6-phosphate (F6P) which is isomerized into glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). The accumulation of G6P will shunt carbons into the pentose phosphate pathway.
The final step of glycolysis is catalysed by pyruvate kinase to form pyruvate and another ATP. It is regulated by a range of different transcriptional, covalent and non-covalent regulation mechanisms, which can vary widely in different tissues. For example, in the liver, pyruvate kinase is regulated based on glucose availability. During fasting (no glucose available), glucagon activates protein kinase A which phosphorylates pyruvate kinase to inhibit it. An increase in blood sugar leads to secretion of insulin, which activates protein phosphatase 1, leading to dephosphorylation and re-activation of pyruvate kinase. These controls prevent pyruvate kinase from being active at the same time as the enzymes that catalyze the reverse reaction (pyruvate carboxylase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase), preventing a futile cycle. Conversely, the isoform of pyruvate kinasein found in muscle is not affected by protein kinase A (which is activated by adrenaline in that tissue), so that glycolysis remains active in muscles even during fasting.
The overall process of glycolysis is:
If glycolysis were to continue indefinitely, all of the NAD would be used up, and glycolysis would stop. To allow glycolysis to continue, organisms must be able to oxidize NADH back to NAD. How this is performed depends on which external electron acceptor is available.
One method of doing this is to simply have the pyruvate do the oxidation; in this process, pyruvate is converted to lactate (the conjugate base of lactic acid) in a process called lactic acid fermentation:
This process occurs in the bacteria involved in making yogurt (the lactic acid causes the milk to curdle). This process also occurs in animals under hypoxic (or partially anaerobic) conditions, found, for example, in overworked muscles that are starved of oxygen. In many tissues, this is a cellular last resort for energy; most animal tissue cannot tolerate anaerobic conditions for an extended period of time.
Some organisms, such as yeast, convert NADH back to NAD in a process called ethanol fermentation. In this process, the pyruvate is converted first to acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide, and then to ethanol.
Lactic acid fermentation and ethanol fermentation can occur in the absence of oxygen. This anaerobic fermentation allows many single-cell organisms to use glycolysis as their only energy source.
Anoxic regeneration of NAD is only an effective means of energy production during short, intense exercise in vertebrates, for a period ranging from 10 seconds to 2 minutes during a maximal effort in humans. (At lower exercise intensities it can sustain muscle activity in diving animals, such as seals, whales and other aquatic vertebrates, for very much longer periods of time.) Under these conditions NAD is replenished by NADH donating its electrons to pyruvate to form lactate. This produces 2 ATP molecules per glucose molecule, or about 5% of glucose's energy potential (38 ATP molecules in bacteria). But the speed at which ATP is produced in this manner is about 100 times that of oxidative phosphorylation. The pH in the cytoplasm quickly drops when hydrogen ions accumulate in the muscle, eventually inhibiting the enzymes involved in glycolysis.
The burning sensation in muscles during hard exercise can be attributed to the release of hydrogen ions during the shift to glucose fermentation from glucose oxidation to carbon dioxide and water, when aerobic metabolism can no longer keep pace with the energy demands of the muscles. These hydrogen ions form a part of lactic acid. The body falls back on this less efficient but faster method of producing ATP under low oxygen conditions. This is thought to have been the primary means of energy production in earlier organisms before oxygen reached high concentrations in the atmosphere between 2000 and 2500 million years ago, and thus would represent a more ancient form of energy production than the aerobic replenishment of NAD in cells.
The liver in mammals gets rid of this excess lactate by transforming it back into pyruvate under aerobic conditions; see Cori cycle.
Fermentation of pyruvate to lactate is sometimes also called "anaerobic glycolysis", however, glycolysis ends with the production of pyruvate regardless of the presence or absence of oxygen.
In the above two examples of fermentation, NADH is oxidized by transferring two electrons to pyruvate. However, anaerobic bacteria use a wide variety of compounds as the terminal electron acceptors in cellular respiration: nitrogenous compounds, such as nitrates and nitrites; sulfur compounds, such as sulfates, sulfites, sulfur dioxide, and elemental sulfur; carbon dioxide; iron compounds; manganese compounds; cobalt compounds; and uranium compounds.
In aerobic eukaryotes, a complex mechanism has developed to use the oxygen in air as the final electron acceptor, in a process called oxidative phosphorylation. Aerobic prokaryotes, which lack mitochondria, use a variety of simpler mechanisms.
The pyruvate produced by glycolysis is an important intermediary in the conversion of carbohydrates into fatty acids and cholesterol. This occurs via the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-CoA in the mitochondrion. However, this acetyl CoA needs to be transported into cytosol where the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol occurs. This cannot occur directly. To obtain cytosolic acetyl-CoA, citrate (produced by the condensation of acetyl CoA with oxaloacetate) is removed from the citric acid cycle and carried across the inner mitochondrial membrane into the cytosol. There it is cleaved by ATP citrate lyase into acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate. The oxaloacetate is returned to mitochondrion as malate (and then back into oxaloacetate to transfer more acetyl-CoA out of the mitochondrion). The cytosolic acetyl-CoA can be carboxylated by acetyl-CoA carboxylase into malonyl CoA, the first committed step in the synthesis of fatty acids, or it can be combined with acetoacetyl-CoA to form 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) which is the rate limiting step controlling the synthesis of cholesterol. Cholesterol can be used as is, as a structural component of cellular membranes, or it can be used to synthesize the steroid hormones, bile salts, and vitamin D.
Pyruvate molecules produced by glycolysis are actively transported across the inner mitochondrial membrane, and into the matrix where they can either be oxidized and combined with coenzyme A to form CO2, acetyl-CoA, and NADH, or they can be carboxylated (by pyruvate carboxylase) to form oxaloacetate. This latter reaction "fills up" the amount of oxaloacetate in the citric acid cycle, and is therefore an anaplerotic reaction (from the Greek meaning to "fill up"), increasing the cycle's capacity to metabolize acetyl-CoA when the tissue's energy needs (e.g. in heart and skeletal muscle) are suddenly increased by activity. In the citric acid cycle all the intermediates (e.g. citrate, iso-citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate and oxaloacetate) are regenerated during each turn of the cycle. Adding more of any of these intermediates to the mitochondrion therefore means that that additional amount is retained within the cycle, increasing all the other intermediates as one is converted into the other. Hence the addition of oxaloacetate greatly increases the amounts of all the citric acid intermediates, thereby increasing the cycle's capacity to metabolize acetyl CoA, converting its acetate component into CO2 and water, with the release of enough energy to form 11 ATP and 1 GTP molecule for each additional molecule of acetyl CoA that combines with oxaloacetate in the cycle.
To cataplerotically remove oxaloacetate from the citric cycle, malate can be transported from the mitochondrion into the cytoplasm, decreasing the amount of oxaloacetate that can be regenerated. Furthermore, citric acid intermediates are constantly used to form a variety of substances such as the purines, pyrimidines and porphyrins.
This article concentrates on the catabolic role of glycolysis with regard to converting potential chemical energy to usable chemical energy during the oxidation of glucose to pyruvate. Many of the metabolites in the glycolytic pathway are also used by anabolic pathways, and, as a consequence, flux through the pathway is critical to maintain a supply of carbon skeletons for biosynthesis.
The following metabolic pathways are all strongly reliant on glycolysis as a source of metabolites: and many more.
Although gluconeogenesis and glycolysis share many intermediates the one is not functionally a branch or tributary of the other. There are two regulatory steps in both pathways which, when active in the one pathway, are automatically inactive in the other. The two processes can therefore not be simultaneously active. Indeed, if both sets of reactions were highly active at the same time the net result would be the hydrolysis of four high energy phosphate bonds (two ATP and two GTP) per reaction cycle.
NAD is the oxidizing agent in glycolysis, as it is in most other energy yielding metabolic reactions (e.g. beta-oxidation of fatty acids, and during the citric acid cycle). The NADH thus produced is primarily used to ultimately transfer electrons to O2 to produce water, or, when O2 is not available, to produced compounds such as lactate or ethanol (see Anoxic regeneration of NAD above). NADH is rarely used for synthetic processes, the notable exception being gluconeogenesis. During fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis the reducing agent is NADPH. This difference exemplifies a general principle that NADPH is consumed during biosynthetic reactions, whereas NADH is generated in energy-yielding reactions. The source of the NADPH is two-fold. When malate is oxidatively decarboxylated by “NADP-linked malic enzyme" pyruvate, CO2 and NADPH are formed. NADPH is also formed by the pentose phosphate pathway which converts glucose into ribose, which can be used in synthesis of nucleotides and nucleic acids, or it can be catabolized to pyruvate.
Cellular uptake of glucose occurs in response to insulin signals, and glucose is subsequently broken down through glycolysis, lowering blood sugar levels. However, the low insulin levels seen in diabetes result in hyperglycemia, where glucose levels in the blood rise and glucose is not properly taken up by cells. Hepatocytes further contribute to this hyperglycemia through gluconeogenesis. Glycolysis in hepatocytes controls hepatic glucose production, and when glucose is overproduced by the liver without having a means of being broken down by the body, hyperglycemia results.
Glycolytic mutations are generally rare due to importance of the metabolic pathway; the majority of occurring mutations result in an inability of the cell to respire, and therefore cause the death of the cell at an early stage. However, some mutations (glycogen storage diseases and other inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism) are seen with one notable example being pyruvate kinase deficiency, leading to chronic hemolytic anemia.
Malignant tumor cells perform glycolysis at a rate that is ten times faster than their noncancerous tissue counterparts. During their genesis, limited capillary support often results in hypoxia (decreased O2 supply) within the tumor cells. Thus, these cells rely on anaerobic metabolic processes such as glycolysis for ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Some tumor cells overexpress specific glycolytic enzymes which result in higher rates of glycolysis. Often these enzymes are Isoenzymes, of traditional glycolysis enzymes, that vary in their susceptibility to traditional feedback inhibition. The increase in glycolytic activity ultimately counteracts the effects of hypoxia by generating sufficient ATP from this anaerobic pathway. This phenomenon was first described in 1930 by Otto Warburg and is referred to as the Warburg effect. The Warburg hypothesis claims that cancer is primarily caused by dysfunctionality in mitochondrial metabolism, rather than because of the uncontrolled growth of cells. A number of theories have been advanced to explain the Warburg effect. One such theory suggests that the increased glycolysis is a normal protective process of the body and that malignant change could be primarily caused by energy metabolism.
This high glycolysis rate has important medical applications, as high aerobic glycolysis by malignant tumors is utilized clinically to diagnose and monitor treatment responses of cancers by imaging uptake of 2-F-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) (a radioactive modified hexokinase substrate) with positron emission tomography (PET).
There is ongoing research to affect mitochondrial metabolism and treat cancer by reducing glycolysis and thus starving cancerous cells in various new ways, including a ketogenic diet.
The diagram below shows human protein names. Names in other organisms may be different and the number of isozymes (such as HK1, HK2, ...) is likely to be different too.
Click on genes, proteins and metabolites below to link to respective articles.
Some of the metabolites in glycolysis have alternative names and nomenclature. In part, this is because some of them are common to other pathways, such as the Calvin cycle.
The intermediates of glycolysis depicted in Fischer projections show the chemical changing step by step. Such image can be compared to polygonal model representation. Another comparation of Fischer projections and Poligonal Model in glycolysis is shown in a video. Video animations in the same channel in YouTube can be seen for another metabolic pathway (Krebs Cycle) and the representation and applying of Polygonal Model in Organic Chemistry | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose (C6H12O6) into pyruvate, and in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells, the cytosol. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Glycolysis is a sequence of ten reactions catalyzed by enzymes.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The wide occurrence of glycolysis in other species indicates that it is an ancient metabolic pathway. Indeed, the reactions that make up glycolysis and its parallel pathway, the pentose phosphate pathway, can occur in the oxygen-free conditions of the Archean oceans, also in the absence of enzymes, catalyzed by metal ions, meaning this is a plausible prebiotic pathway for abiogenesis.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The most common type of glycolysis is the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) pathway, which was discovered by Gustav Embden, Otto Meyerhof, and Jakub Karol Parnas. Glycolysis also refers to other pathways, such as the Entner–Doudoroff pathway and various heterofermentative and homofermentative pathways. However, the discussion here will be limited to the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The glycolysis pathway can be separated into two phases:",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The overall reaction of glycolysis is:",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "d-Glucose",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "2 × Pyruvate",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The use of symbols in this equation makes it appear unbalanced with respect to oxygen atoms, hydrogen atoms, and charges. Atom balance is maintained by the two phosphate (Pi) groups:",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Charges are balanced by the difference between ADP and ATP. In the cellular environment, all three hydroxyl groups of ADP dissociate into −O and H, giving ADP, and this ion tends to exist in an ionic bond with Mg, giving ADPMg. ATP behaves identically except that it has four hydroxyl groups, giving ATPMg. When these differences along with the true charges on the two phosphate groups are considered together, the net charges of −4 on each side are balanced.",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "For simple fermentations, the metabolism of one molecule of glucose to two molecules of pyruvate has a net yield of two molecules of ATP. Most cells will then carry out further reactions to \"repay\" the used NAD and produce a final product of ethanol or lactic acid. Many bacteria use inorganic compounds as hydrogen acceptors to regenerate the NAD.",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Cells performing aerobic respiration synthesize much more ATP, but not as part of glycolysis. These further aerobic reactions use pyruvate, and NADH + H from glycolysis. Eukaryotic aerobic respiration produces approximately 34 additional molecules of ATP for each glucose molecule, however most of these are produced by a mechanism vastly different from the substrate-level phosphorylation in glycolysis.",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The lower-energy production, per glucose, of anaerobic respiration relative to aerobic respiration, results in greater flux through the pathway under hypoxic (low-oxygen) conditions, unless alternative sources of anaerobically oxidizable substrates, such as fatty acids, are found.",
"title": "Overview"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The pathway of glycolysis as it is known today took almost 100 years to fully elucidate. The combined results of many smaller experiments were required in order to understand the pathway as a whole.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The first steps in understanding glycolysis began in the nineteenth century with the wine industry. For economic reasons, the French wine industry sought to investigate why wine sometimes turned distasteful, instead of fermenting into alcohol. French scientist Louis Pasteur researched this issue during the 1850s, and the results of his experiments began the long road to elucidating the pathway of glycolysis. His experiments showed that fermentation occurs by the action of living microorganisms, yeasts, and that yeast's glucose consumption decreased under aerobic conditions of fermentation, in comparison to anaerobic conditions (the Pasteur effect).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Insight into the component steps of glycolysis were provided by the non-cellular fermentation experiments of Eduard Buchner during the 1890s. Buchner demonstrated that the conversion of glucose to ethanol was possible using a non-living extract of yeast, due to the action of enzymes in the extract. This experiment not only revolutionized biochemistry, but also allowed later scientists to analyze this pathway in a more controlled laboratory setting. In a series of experiments (1905-1911), scientists Arthur Harden and William Young discovered more pieces of glycolysis. They discovered the regulatory effects of ATP on glucose consumption during alcohol fermentation. They also shed light on the role of one compound as a glycolysis intermediate: fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The elucidation of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was accomplished by measuring CO2 levels when yeast juice was incubated with glucose. CO2 production increased rapidly then slowed down. Harden and Young noted that this process would restart if an inorganic phosphate (Pi) was added to the mixture. Harden and Young deduced that this process produced organic phosphate esters, and further experiments allowed them to extract fructose diphosphate (F-1,6-DP).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Arthur Harden and William Young along with Nick Sheppard determined, in a second experiment, that a heat-sensitive high-molecular-weight subcellular fraction (the enzymes) and a heat-insensitive low-molecular-weight cytoplasm fraction (ADP, ATP and NAD and other cofactors) are required together for fermentation to proceed. This experiment begun by observing that dialyzed (purified) yeast juice could not ferment or even create a sugar phosphate. This mixture was rescued with the addition of undialyzed yeast extract that had been boiled. Boiling the yeast extract renders all proteins inactive (as it denatures them). The ability of boiled extract plus dialyzed juice to complete fermentation suggests that the cofactors were non-protein in character.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In the 1920s Otto Meyerhof was able to link together some of the many individual pieces of glycolysis discovered by Buchner, Harden, and Young. Meyerhof and his team were able to extract different glycolytic enzymes from muscle tissue, and combine them to artificially create the pathway from glycogen to lactic acid.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In one paper, Meyerhof and scientist Renate Junowicz-Kockolaty investigated the reaction that splits fructose 1,6-diphosphate into the two triose phosphates. Previous work proposed that the split occurred via 1,3-diphosphoglyceraldehyde plus an oxidizing enzyme and cozymase. Meyerhoff and Junowicz found that the equilibrium constant for the isomerase and aldoses reaction were not affected by inorganic phosphates or any other cozymase or oxidizing enzymes. They further removed diphosphoglyceraldehyde as a possible intermediate in glycolysis.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "With all of these pieces available by the 1930s, Gustav Embden proposed a detailed, step-by-step outline of that pathway we now know as glycolysis. The biggest difficulties in determining the intricacies of the pathway were due to the very short lifetime and low steady-state concentrations of the intermediates of the fast glycolytic reactions. By the 1940s, Meyerhof, Embden and many other biochemists had finally completed the puzzle of glycolysis. The understanding of the isolated pathway has been expanded in the subsequent decades, to include further details of its regulation and integration with other metabolic pathways.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Glucose",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Hexokinase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Glucose 6-phosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Glucose-6-phosphateisomerase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Fructose 6-phosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Phosphofructokinase-1",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Fructose-bisphosphatealdolase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Dihydroxyacetone phosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "+",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Triosephosphateisomerase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "2 × Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphatedehydrogenase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "2 × 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Phosphoglycerate kinase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "2 × 3-Phosphoglycerate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Phosphoglycerate mutase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "2 × 2-Phosphoglycerate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Phosphopyruvatehydratase (enolase)",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "2 × Phosphoenolpyruvate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Pyruvate kinase",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "2 × Pyruvate",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The first five steps of Glycolysis are regarded as the preparatory (or investment) phase, since they consume energy to convert the glucose into two three-carbon sugar phosphates (G3P).",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Once glucose enters the cell, the first step is phosphorylation of glucose by a family of enzymes called hexokinases to form glucose 6-phosphate (G6P). This reaction consumes ATP, but it acts to keep the glucose concentration inside the cell low, promoting continuous transport of blood glucose into the cell through the plasma membrane transporters. In addition, phosphorylation blocks the glucose from leaking out – the cell lacks transporters for G6P, and free diffusion out of the cell is prevented due to the charged nature of G6P. Glucose may alternatively be formed from the phosphorolysis or hydrolysis of intracellular starch or glycogen.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In animals, an isozyme of hexokinase called glucokinase is also used in the liver, which has a much lower affinity for glucose (Km in the vicinity of normal glycemia), and differs in regulatory properties. The different substrate affinity and alternate regulation of this enzyme are a reflection of the role of the liver in maintaining blood sugar levels.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Cofactors: Mg",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "G6P is then rearranged into fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) by glucose phosphate isomerase. Fructose can also enter the glycolytic pathway by phosphorylation at this point.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The change in structure is an isomerization, in which the G6P has been converted to F6P. The reaction requires an enzyme, phosphoglucose isomerase, to proceed. This reaction is freely reversible under normal cell conditions. However, it is often driven forward because of a low concentration of F6P, which is constantly consumed during the next step of glycolysis. Under conditions of high F6P concentration, this reaction readily runs in reverse. This phenomenon can be explained through Le Chatelier's Principle. Isomerization to a keto sugar is necessary for carbanion stabilization in the fourth reaction step (below).",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The energy expenditure of another ATP in this step is justified in 2 ways: The glycolytic process (up to this step) becomes irreversible, and the energy supplied destabilizes the molecule. Because the reaction catalyzed by phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK-1) is coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP (an energetically favorable step) it is, in essence, irreversible, and a different pathway must be used to do the reverse conversion during gluconeogenesis. This makes the reaction a key regulatory point (see below).",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Furthermore, the second phosphorylation event is necessary to allow the formation of two charged groups (rather than only one) in the subsequent step of glycolysis, ensuring the prevention of free diffusion of substrates out of the cell.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The same reaction can also be catalyzed by pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PFP or PPi-PFK), which is found in most plants, some bacteria, archea, and protists, but not in animals. This enzyme uses pyrophosphate (PPi) as a phosphate donor instead of ATP. It is a reversible reaction, increasing the flexibility of glycolytic metabolism. A rarer ADP-dependent PFK enzyme variant has been identified in archaean species.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Cofactors: Mg",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Destabilizing the molecule in the previous reaction allows the hexose ring to be split by aldolase into two triose sugars: dihydroxyacetone phosphate (a ketose), and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (an aldose). There are two classes of aldolases: class I aldolases, present in animals and plants, and class II aldolases, present in fungi and bacteria; the two classes use different mechanisms in cleaving the ketose ring.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Electrons delocalized in the carbon-carbon bond cleavage associate with the alcohol group. The resulting carbanion is stabilized by the structure of the carbanion itself via resonance charge distribution and by the presence of a charged ion prosthetic group.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Triosephosphate isomerase rapidly interconverts dihydroxyacetone phosphate with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GADP) that proceeds further into glycolysis. This is advantageous, as it directs dihydroxyacetone phosphate down the same pathway as glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, simplifying regulation.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "The second half of glycolysis is known as the pay-off phase, characterised by a net gain of the energy-rich molecules ATP and NADH. Since glucose leads to two triose sugars in the preparatory phase, each reaction in the pay-off phase occurs twice per glucose molecule. This yields 2 NADH molecules and 4 ATP molecules, leading to a net gain of 2 NADH molecules and 2 ATP molecules from the glycolytic pathway per glucose.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The aldehyde groups of the triose sugars are oxidised, and inorganic phosphate is added to them, forming 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The hydrogen is used to reduce two molecules of NAD, a hydrogen carrier, to give NADH + H for each triose.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Hydrogen atom balance and charge balance are both maintained because the phosphate (Pi) group actually exists in the form of a hydrogen phosphate anion (HPO2−4), which dissociates to contribute the extra H ion and gives a net charge of -3 on both sides.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Here, arsenate ([AsO4]), an anion akin to inorganic phosphate may replace phosphate as a substrate to form 1-arseno-3-phosphoglycerate. This, however, is unstable and readily hydrolyzes to form 3-phosphoglycerate, the intermediate in the next step of the pathway. As a consequence of bypassing this step, the molecule of ATP generated from 1-3 bisphosphoglycerate in the next reaction will not be made, even though the reaction proceeds. As a result, arsenate is an uncoupler of glycolysis.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "This step is the enzymatic transfer of a phosphate group from 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate to ADP by phosphoglycerate kinase, forming ATP and 3-phosphoglycerate. At this step, glycolysis has reached the break-even point: 2 molecules of ATP were consumed, and 2 new molecules have now been synthesized. This step, one of the two substrate-level phosphorylation steps, requires ADP; thus, when the cell has plenty of ATP (and little ADP), this reaction does not occur. Because ATP decays relatively quickly when it is not metabolized, this is an important regulatory point in the glycolytic pathway.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "ADP actually exists as ADPMg, and ATP as ATPMg, balancing the charges at −5 both sides.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Cofactors: Mg",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Phosphoglycerate mutase isomerises 3-phosphoglycerate into 2-phosphoglycerate.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Enolase next converts 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate. This reaction is an elimination reaction involving an E1cB mechanism.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Cofactors: 2 Mg, one \"conformational\" ion to coordinate with the carboxylate group of the substrate, and one \"catalytic\" ion that participates in the dehydration.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "A final substrate-level phosphorylation now forms a molecule of pyruvate and a molecule of ATP by means of the enzyme pyruvate kinase. This serves as an additional regulatory step, similar to the phosphoglycerate kinase step.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Cofactors: Mg",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "The existence of more than one point of regulation indicates that intermediates between those points enter and leave the glycolysis pathway by other processes. For example, in the first regulated step, hexokinase converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate. Instead of continuing through the glycolysis pathway, this intermediate can be converted into glucose storage molecules, such as glycogen or starch. The reverse reaction, breaking down, e.g., glycogen, produces mainly glucose-6-phosphate; very little free glucose is formed in the reaction. The glucose-6-phosphate so produced can enter glycolysis after the first control point.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In the second regulated step (the third step of glycolysis), phosphofructokinase converts fructose-6-phosphate into fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, which then is converted into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. The dihydroxyacetone phosphate can be removed from glycolysis by conversion into glycerol-3-phosphate, which can be used to form triglycerides. Conversely, triglycerides can be broken down into fatty acids and glycerol; the latter, in turn, can be converted into dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which can enter glycolysis after the second control point.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "The change in free energy, ΔG, for each step in the glycolysis pathway can be calculated using ΔG = ΔG°′ + RTln Q, where Q is the reaction quotient. This requires knowing the concentrations of the metabolites. All of these values are available for erythrocytes, with the exception of the concentrations of NAD and NADH. The ratio of NAD to NADH in the cytoplasm is approximately 1000, which makes the oxidation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (step 6) more favourable.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Using the measured concentrations of each step, and the standard free energy changes, the actual free energy change can be calculated. (Neglecting this is very common - the delta G of ATP hydrolysis in cells is not the standard free energy change of ATP hydrolysis quoted in textbooks).",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "From measuring the physiological concentrations of metabolites in an erythrocyte it seems that about seven of the steps in glycolysis are in equilibrium for that cell type. Three of the steps — the ones with large negative free energy changes — are not in equilibrium and are referred to as irreversible; such steps are often subject to regulation.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Step 5 in the figure is shown behind the other steps, because that step is a side-reaction that can decrease or increase the concentration of the intermediate glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. That compound is converted to dihydroxyacetone phosphate by the enzyme triose phosphate isomerase, which is a catalytically perfect enzyme; its rate is so fast that the reaction can be assumed to be in equilibrium. The fact that ΔG is not zero indicates that the actual concentrations in the erythrocyte are not accurately known.",
"title": "Sequence of reactions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "The enzymes that catalyse glycolysis are regulated via a range of biological mechanisms in order to control overall flux though the pathway. This is vital for both homeostatsis in a static environment, and metabolic adaptation to a changing environment or need. The details of regulation for some enzymes are highly conserved between species, whereas others vary widely.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "In animals, regulation of blood glucose levels by the pancreas in conjunction with the liver is a vital part of homeostasis. The beta cells in the pancreatic islets are sensitive to the blood glucose concentration. A rise in the blood glucose concentration causes them to release insulin into the blood, which has an effect particularly on the liver, but also on fat and muscle cells, causing these tissues to remove glucose from the blood. When the blood sugar falls the pancreatic beta cells cease insulin production, but, instead, stimulate the neighboring pancreatic alpha cells to release glucagon into the blood. This, in turn, causes the liver to release glucose into the blood by breaking down stored glycogen, and by means of gluconeogenesis. If the fall in the blood glucose level is particularly rapid or severe, other glucose sensors cause the release of epinephrine from the adrenal glands into the blood. This has the same action as glucagon on glucose metabolism, but its effect is more pronounced. In the liver glucagon and epinephrine cause the phosphorylation of the key, regulated enzymes of glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, cholesterol synthesis, gluconeogenesis, and glycogenolysis. Insulin has the opposite effect on these enzymes. The phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of these enzymes (ultimately in response to the glucose level in the blood) is the dominant manner by which these pathways are controlled in the liver, fat, and muscle cells. Thus the phosphorylation of phosphofructokinase inhibits glycolysis, whereas its dephosphorylation through the action of insulin stimulates glycolysis.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The three regulatory enzymes are hexokinase (or glucokinase in the liver), phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase. The flux through the glycolytic pathway is adjusted in response to conditions both inside and outside the cell. The internal factors that regulate glycolysis do so primarily to provide ATP in adequate quantities for the cell's needs. The external factors act primarily on the liver, fat tissue, and muscles, which can remove large quantities of glucose from the blood after meals (thus preventing hyperglycemia by storing the excess glucose as fat or glycogen, depending on the tissue type). The liver is also capable of releasing glucose into the blood between meals, during fasting, and exercise thus preventing hypoglycemia by means of glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. These latter reactions coincide with the halting of glycolysis in the liver.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "In addition hexokinase and glucokinase act independently of the hormonal effects as controls at the entry points of glucose into the cells of different tissues. Hexokinase responds to the glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) level in the cell, or, in the case of glucokinase, to the blood sugar level in the blood to impart entirely intracellular controls of the glycolytic pathway in different tissues (see below).",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "When glucose has been converted into G6P by hexokinase or glucokinase, it can either be converted to glucose-1-phosphate (G1P) for conversion to glycogen, or it is alternatively converted by glycolysis to pyruvate, which enters the mitochondrion where it is converted into acetyl-CoA and then into citrate. Excess citrate is exported from the mitochondrion back into the cytosol, where ATP citrate lyase regenerates acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate (OAA). The acetyl-CoA is then used for fatty acid synthesis and cholesterol synthesis, two important ways of utilizing excess glucose when its concentration is high in blood. The regulated enzymes catalyzing these reactions perform these functions when they have been dephosphorylated through the action of insulin on the liver cells. Between meals, during fasting, exercise or hypoglycemia, glucagon and epinephrine are released into the blood. This causes liver glycogen to be converted back to G6P, and then converted to glucose by the liver-specific enzyme glucose 6-phosphatase and released into the blood. Glucagon and epinephrine also stimulate gluconeogenesis, which coverts non-carbohydrate substrates into G6P, which joins the G6P derived from glycogen, or substitutes for it when the liver glycogen store have been depleted. This is critical for brain function, since the brain utilizes glucose as an energy source under most conditions. The simultaneously phosphorylation of, particularly, phosphofructokinase, but also, to a certain extent pyruvate kinase, prevents glycolysis occurring at the same time as gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "All cells contain the enzyme hexokinase, which catalyzes the conversion of glucose that has entered the cell into glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Since the cell membrane is impervious to G6P, hexokinase essentially acts to transport glucose into the cells from which it can then no longer escape. Hexokinase is inhibited by high levels of G6P in the cell. Thus the rate of entry of glucose into cells partially depends on how fast G6P can be disposed of by glycolysis, and by glycogen synthesis (in the cells which store glycogen, namely liver and muscles).",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Glucokinase, unlike hexokinase, is not inhibited by G6P. It occurs in liver cells, and will only phosphorylate the glucose entering the cell to form glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), when the glucose in the blood is abundant. This being the first step in the glycolytic pathway in the liver, it therefore imparts an additional layer of control of the glycolytic pathway in this organ.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Phosphofructokinase is an important control point in the glycolytic pathway, since it is one of the irreversible steps and has key allosteric effectors, AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP).",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP) is a very potent activator of phosphofructokinase (PFK-1) that is synthesized when F6P is phosphorylated by a second phosphofructokinase (PFK2). In the liver, when blood sugar is low and glucagon elevates cAMP, PFK2 is phosphorylated by protein kinase A. The phosphorylation inactivates PFK2, and another domain on this protein becomes active as fructose bisphosphatase-2, which converts F2,6BP back to F6P. Both glucagon and epinephrine cause high levels of cAMP in the liver. The result of lower levels of liver fructose-2,6-bisphosphate is a decrease in activity of phosphofructokinase and an increase in activity of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase, so that gluconeogenesis (in essence, \"glycolysis in reverse\") is favored. This is consistent with the role of the liver in such situations, since the response of the liver to these hormones is to release glucose to the blood.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "ATP competes with AMP for the allosteric effector site on the PFK enzyme. ATP concentrations in cells are much higher than those of AMP, typically 100-fold higher, but the concentration of ATP does not change more than about 10% under physiological conditions, whereas a 10% drop in ATP results in a 6-fold increase in AMP. Thus, the relevance of ATP as an allosteric effector is questionable. An increase in AMP is a consequence of a decrease in energy charge in the cell.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Citrate inhibits phosphofructokinase when tested in vitro by enhancing the inhibitory effect of ATP. However, it is doubtful that this is a meaningful effect in vivo, because citrate in the cytosol is utilized mainly for conversion to acetyl-CoA for fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "TIGAR, a p53 induced enzyme, is responsible for the regulation of phosphofructokinase and acts to protect against oxidative stress. TIGAR is a single enzyme with dual function that regulates F2,6BP. It can behave as a phosphatase (fructuose-2,6-bisphosphatase) which cleaves the phosphate at carbon-2 producing F6P. It can also behave as a kinase (PFK2) adding a phosphate onto carbon-2 of F6P which produces F2,6BP. In humans, the TIGAR protein is encoded by C12orf5 gene. The TIGAR enzyme will hinder the forward progression of glycolysis, by creating a build up of fructose-6-phosphate (F6P) which is isomerized into glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). The accumulation of G6P will shunt carbons into the pentose phosphate pathway.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The final step of glycolysis is catalysed by pyruvate kinase to form pyruvate and another ATP. It is regulated by a range of different transcriptional, covalent and non-covalent regulation mechanisms, which can vary widely in different tissues. For example, in the liver, pyruvate kinase is regulated based on glucose availability. During fasting (no glucose available), glucagon activates protein kinase A which phosphorylates pyruvate kinase to inhibit it. An increase in blood sugar leads to secretion of insulin, which activates protein phosphatase 1, leading to dephosphorylation and re-activation of pyruvate kinase. These controls prevent pyruvate kinase from being active at the same time as the enzymes that catalyze the reverse reaction (pyruvate carboxylase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase), preventing a futile cycle. Conversely, the isoform of pyruvate kinasein found in muscle is not affected by protein kinase A (which is activated by adrenaline in that tissue), so that glycolysis remains active in muscles even during fasting.",
"title": "Regulation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The overall process of glycolysis is:",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "If glycolysis were to continue indefinitely, all of the NAD would be used up, and glycolysis would stop. To allow glycolysis to continue, organisms must be able to oxidize NADH back to NAD. How this is performed depends on which external electron acceptor is available.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "One method of doing this is to simply have the pyruvate do the oxidation; in this process, pyruvate is converted to lactate (the conjugate base of lactic acid) in a process called lactic acid fermentation:",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "This process occurs in the bacteria involved in making yogurt (the lactic acid causes the milk to curdle). This process also occurs in animals under hypoxic (or partially anaerobic) conditions, found, for example, in overworked muscles that are starved of oxygen. In many tissues, this is a cellular last resort for energy; most animal tissue cannot tolerate anaerobic conditions for an extended period of time.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Some organisms, such as yeast, convert NADH back to NAD in a process called ethanol fermentation. In this process, the pyruvate is converted first to acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide, and then to ethanol.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Lactic acid fermentation and ethanol fermentation can occur in the absence of oxygen. This anaerobic fermentation allows many single-cell organisms to use glycolysis as their only energy source.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Anoxic regeneration of NAD is only an effective means of energy production during short, intense exercise in vertebrates, for a period ranging from 10 seconds to 2 minutes during a maximal effort in humans. (At lower exercise intensities it can sustain muscle activity in diving animals, such as seals, whales and other aquatic vertebrates, for very much longer periods of time.) Under these conditions NAD is replenished by NADH donating its electrons to pyruvate to form lactate. This produces 2 ATP molecules per glucose molecule, or about 5% of glucose's energy potential (38 ATP molecules in bacteria). But the speed at which ATP is produced in this manner is about 100 times that of oxidative phosphorylation. The pH in the cytoplasm quickly drops when hydrogen ions accumulate in the muscle, eventually inhibiting the enzymes involved in glycolysis.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "The burning sensation in muscles during hard exercise can be attributed to the release of hydrogen ions during the shift to glucose fermentation from glucose oxidation to carbon dioxide and water, when aerobic metabolism can no longer keep pace with the energy demands of the muscles. These hydrogen ions form a part of lactic acid. The body falls back on this less efficient but faster method of producing ATP under low oxygen conditions. This is thought to have been the primary means of energy production in earlier organisms before oxygen reached high concentrations in the atmosphere between 2000 and 2500 million years ago, and thus would represent a more ancient form of energy production than the aerobic replenishment of NAD in cells.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "The liver in mammals gets rid of this excess lactate by transforming it back into pyruvate under aerobic conditions; see Cori cycle.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Fermentation of pyruvate to lactate is sometimes also called \"anaerobic glycolysis\", however, glycolysis ends with the production of pyruvate regardless of the presence or absence of oxygen.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "In the above two examples of fermentation, NADH is oxidized by transferring two electrons to pyruvate. However, anaerobic bacteria use a wide variety of compounds as the terminal electron acceptors in cellular respiration: nitrogenous compounds, such as nitrates and nitrites; sulfur compounds, such as sulfates, sulfites, sulfur dioxide, and elemental sulfur; carbon dioxide; iron compounds; manganese compounds; cobalt compounds; and uranium compounds.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "In aerobic eukaryotes, a complex mechanism has developed to use the oxygen in air as the final electron acceptor, in a process called oxidative phosphorylation. Aerobic prokaryotes, which lack mitochondria, use a variety of simpler mechanisms.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "The pyruvate produced by glycolysis is an important intermediary in the conversion of carbohydrates into fatty acids and cholesterol. This occurs via the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-CoA in the mitochondrion. However, this acetyl CoA needs to be transported into cytosol where the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol occurs. This cannot occur directly. To obtain cytosolic acetyl-CoA, citrate (produced by the condensation of acetyl CoA with oxaloacetate) is removed from the citric acid cycle and carried across the inner mitochondrial membrane into the cytosol. There it is cleaved by ATP citrate lyase into acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate. The oxaloacetate is returned to mitochondrion as malate (and then back into oxaloacetate to transfer more acetyl-CoA out of the mitochondrion). The cytosolic acetyl-CoA can be carboxylated by acetyl-CoA carboxylase into malonyl CoA, the first committed step in the synthesis of fatty acids, or it can be combined with acetoacetyl-CoA to form 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) which is the rate limiting step controlling the synthesis of cholesterol. Cholesterol can be used as is, as a structural component of cellular membranes, or it can be used to synthesize the steroid hormones, bile salts, and vitamin D.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Pyruvate molecules produced by glycolysis are actively transported across the inner mitochondrial membrane, and into the matrix where they can either be oxidized and combined with coenzyme A to form CO2, acetyl-CoA, and NADH, or they can be carboxylated (by pyruvate carboxylase) to form oxaloacetate. This latter reaction \"fills up\" the amount of oxaloacetate in the citric acid cycle, and is therefore an anaplerotic reaction (from the Greek meaning to \"fill up\"), increasing the cycle's capacity to metabolize acetyl-CoA when the tissue's energy needs (e.g. in heart and skeletal muscle) are suddenly increased by activity. In the citric acid cycle all the intermediates (e.g. citrate, iso-citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate and oxaloacetate) are regenerated during each turn of the cycle. Adding more of any of these intermediates to the mitochondrion therefore means that that additional amount is retained within the cycle, increasing all the other intermediates as one is converted into the other. Hence the addition of oxaloacetate greatly increases the amounts of all the citric acid intermediates, thereby increasing the cycle's capacity to metabolize acetyl CoA, converting its acetate component into CO2 and water, with the release of enough energy to form 11 ATP and 1 GTP molecule for each additional molecule of acetyl CoA that combines with oxaloacetate in the cycle.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "To cataplerotically remove oxaloacetate from the citric cycle, malate can be transported from the mitochondrion into the cytoplasm, decreasing the amount of oxaloacetate that can be regenerated. Furthermore, citric acid intermediates are constantly used to form a variety of substances such as the purines, pyrimidines and porphyrins.",
"title": "Post-glycolysis processes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "This article concentrates on the catabolic role of glycolysis with regard to converting potential chemical energy to usable chemical energy during the oxidation of glucose to pyruvate. Many of the metabolites in the glycolytic pathway are also used by anabolic pathways, and, as a consequence, flux through the pathway is critical to maintain a supply of carbon skeletons for biosynthesis.",
"title": "Intermediates for other pathways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "The following metabolic pathways are all strongly reliant on glycolysis as a source of metabolites: and many more.",
"title": "Intermediates for other pathways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Although gluconeogenesis and glycolysis share many intermediates the one is not functionally a branch or tributary of the other. There are two regulatory steps in both pathways which, when active in the one pathway, are automatically inactive in the other. The two processes can therefore not be simultaneously active. Indeed, if both sets of reactions were highly active at the same time the net result would be the hydrolysis of four high energy phosphate bonds (two ATP and two GTP) per reaction cycle.",
"title": "Intermediates for other pathways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "NAD is the oxidizing agent in glycolysis, as it is in most other energy yielding metabolic reactions (e.g. beta-oxidation of fatty acids, and during the citric acid cycle). The NADH thus produced is primarily used to ultimately transfer electrons to O2 to produce water, or, when O2 is not available, to produced compounds such as lactate or ethanol (see Anoxic regeneration of NAD above). NADH is rarely used for synthetic processes, the notable exception being gluconeogenesis. During fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis the reducing agent is NADPH. This difference exemplifies a general principle that NADPH is consumed during biosynthetic reactions, whereas NADH is generated in energy-yielding reactions. The source of the NADPH is two-fold. When malate is oxidatively decarboxylated by “NADP-linked malic enzyme\" pyruvate, CO2 and NADPH are formed. NADPH is also formed by the pentose phosphate pathway which converts glucose into ribose, which can be used in synthesis of nucleotides and nucleic acids, or it can be catabolized to pyruvate.",
"title": "Intermediates for other pathways"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "Cellular uptake of glucose occurs in response to insulin signals, and glucose is subsequently broken down through glycolysis, lowering blood sugar levels. However, the low insulin levels seen in diabetes result in hyperglycemia, where glucose levels in the blood rise and glucose is not properly taken up by cells. Hepatocytes further contribute to this hyperglycemia through gluconeogenesis. Glycolysis in hepatocytes controls hepatic glucose production, and when glucose is overproduced by the liver without having a means of being broken down by the body, hyperglycemia results.",
"title": "Glycolysis in disease"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Glycolytic mutations are generally rare due to importance of the metabolic pathway; the majority of occurring mutations result in an inability of the cell to respire, and therefore cause the death of the cell at an early stage. However, some mutations (glycogen storage diseases and other inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism) are seen with one notable example being pyruvate kinase deficiency, leading to chronic hemolytic anemia.",
"title": "Glycolysis in disease"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Malignant tumor cells perform glycolysis at a rate that is ten times faster than their noncancerous tissue counterparts. During their genesis, limited capillary support often results in hypoxia (decreased O2 supply) within the tumor cells. Thus, these cells rely on anaerobic metabolic processes such as glycolysis for ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Some tumor cells overexpress specific glycolytic enzymes which result in higher rates of glycolysis. Often these enzymes are Isoenzymes, of traditional glycolysis enzymes, that vary in their susceptibility to traditional feedback inhibition. The increase in glycolytic activity ultimately counteracts the effects of hypoxia by generating sufficient ATP from this anaerobic pathway. This phenomenon was first described in 1930 by Otto Warburg and is referred to as the Warburg effect. The Warburg hypothesis claims that cancer is primarily caused by dysfunctionality in mitochondrial metabolism, rather than because of the uncontrolled growth of cells. A number of theories have been advanced to explain the Warburg effect. One such theory suggests that the increased glycolysis is a normal protective process of the body and that malignant change could be primarily caused by energy metabolism.",
"title": "Glycolysis in disease"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "This high glycolysis rate has important medical applications, as high aerobic glycolysis by malignant tumors is utilized clinically to diagnose and monitor treatment responses of cancers by imaging uptake of 2-F-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) (a radioactive modified hexokinase substrate) with positron emission tomography (PET).",
"title": "Glycolysis in disease"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "There is ongoing research to affect mitochondrial metabolism and treat cancer by reducing glycolysis and thus starving cancerous cells in various new ways, including a ketogenic diet.",
"title": "Glycolysis in disease"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "The diagram below shows human protein names. Names in other organisms may be different and the number of isozymes (such as HK1, HK2, ...) is likely to be different too.",
"title": "Interactive pathway map"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Click on genes, proteins and metabolites below to link to respective articles.",
"title": "Interactive pathway map"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "Some of the metabolites in glycolysis have alternative names and nomenclature. In part, this is because some of them are common to other pathways, such as the Calvin cycle.",
"title": "Alternative nomenclature"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "The intermediates of glycolysis depicted in Fischer projections show the chemical changing step by step. Such image can be compared to polygonal model representation. Another comparation of Fischer projections and Poligonal Model in glycolysis is shown in a video. Video animations in the same channel in YouTube can be seen for another metabolic pathway (Krebs Cycle) and the representation and applying of Polygonal Model in Organic Chemistry",
"title": "Structure of glycolysis components in Fischer projections and polygonal model"
}
]
| Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose (C6H12O6) into pyruvate, and in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells, the cytosol. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Glycolysis is a sequence of ten reactions catalyzed by enzymes. The wide occurrence of glycolysis in other species indicates that it is an ancient metabolic pathway. Indeed, the reactions that make up glycolysis and its parallel pathway, the pentose phosphate pathway, can occur in the oxygen-free conditions of the Archean oceans, also in the absence of enzymes, catalyzed by metal ions, meaning this is a plausible prebiotic pathway for abiogenesis. The most common type of glycolysis is the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) pathway, which was discovered by Gustav Embden, Otto Meyerhof, and Jakub Karol Parnas. Glycolysis also refers to other pathways, such as the Entner–Doudoroff pathway and various heterofermentative and homofermentative pathways. However, the discussion here will be limited to the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway. The glycolysis pathway can be separated into two phases: Investment phase – wherein ATP is consumed
Yield phase – wherein more ATP is produced than originally consumed | 2001-09-30T00:15:52Z | 2023-11-22T01:59:19Z | [
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:Stack",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Library resources box",
"Template:MetabolismMap",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:PDB",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Glycolysis enzymes",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Glycolysis summary",
"Template:GlycolysisGluconeogenesis WP534",
"Template:Nbsp",
"Template:Glycolysis",
"Template:Hr",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Wide image",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Chem2",
"Template:MedicalMnemonics",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Sm",
"Template:Unreferenced section",
"Template:Biochem reaction subunit",
"Template:Carbohydrate metabolism"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis |
12,645 | Gary North (economist) | Gary Kilgore North (February 11, 1942 – February 24, 2022) was an American writer, Austrian School economic historian, and leading figure in the Christian reconstructionist movement. North authored or coauthored over fifty books on topics including Reformed Protestant theology, economics, and history. He was an Associated Scholar of the Mises Institute.
He is known for his advocacy of biblical or "radically libertarian" free-market economics and also as a theorist of dominionism and theonomy. North often invoked the Protestant work ethic to advance these views. He supported the establishment and enforcement of Bible-based religious law, a view which put him in conflict with other libertarians. He believed that capital punishment is appropriate punishment for male homosexuality, adultery, blasphemy, abortion, and witchcraft.
North was born in San Pedro, California, on February 11, 1942, and grew up in Southern California, the son of FBI special agent Samuel W. North Jr. and his wife Peggy. North converted to Christianity in high school and, after attending a rally where anti-communist activist Fred Schwarz spoke, began frequenting conservative book-stores in the Los Angeles area during his college years. Between 1961 and 1963, while an undergraduate student at University of California, Riverside, North became acquainted with the works of Wilhelm Röpke, Rose Wilder Lane, Cornelius Van Til, Austrian School economists Eugen Böhm von Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek and Murray Rothbard, and also read the works of Calvinist philosopher Rousas John Rushdoony. Later he married Rushdoony's daughter, collaborated with him and eulogized Rushdoony in a blog post on LewRockwell.com.
Starting in 1967, North became a contributor to the libertarian journal The Freeman where he had first read the work of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. In the 1970s, he was the director of seminars for the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). North received a PhD in history from the University of California, Riverside in 1972. His dissertation was The Concept of Property in Puritan New England, 1630–1720.
He served as research assistant for libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul in Paul's first term (1976). North was a regular contributor to the LewRockwell.com website, which lists an extensive archive of his articles there. North's own website, Garynorth.com, posts commentary on religious, social, and political issues and offers paid access to investment advice and other premium content. North also published a blog called Deliverance from Debt which provided advice about relief from debt. Another North website, "Free Christian Curriculum", seeks to provide a free Christian homeschooling curriculum for children from age 3 through grade 12.
In addition, North offered the Ron Paul Curriculum, a home school online curriculum associated with former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, which is free for grades K–5 and available to paid members from grades 6–12. As director of curriculum development, North outlined four goals of the educational project: providing a "detailed study" of the "history of liberty"; teaching a "thorough understanding of Austrian economics"; serving as "an academically rigorous curriculum that is tied to primary source" material rather than textbooks; and teaching "the Biblical principle of self-government and personal responsibility", which North called "the foundation of the market economy".
North wrote that the "starting point for all economic analysis" lies in accepting that "God [has] cursed the earth" in the Book of Genesis 3:17–19; this "made scarcity an inescapable fact of man's existence". In his 1982 Dominion Covenant: Genesis, North wrote that mainstream modern economics, whether libertarian, conservative or liberal, is "in disintegration" because it is "humanist" in its approach and consequently rejects the notion that "biblical revelation" is necessary for sound economic theory. He also wrote that economics "must begin with the [Biblical] story of creation" if it is not to collapse into "total chaos".
A 2011 article in The New York Times identified North as a central figure in Christian reconstructionism, the philosophy which advocates the institution of "a Christian theocracy under Old Testament law [as] the best form of government, and a radically libertarian one." North wrote: "I certainly believe in biblical theocracy."
The article also described North as "the leading proponent of 'Christian economics,' which applies biblical principles to economic issues and the free market." North supported the abolition of the fractional-reserve banking system and a return to the gold standard. According to the Times, North believed that the Bible forbids inflation, welfare programs, and also writes that "God would prefer gold money to paper".
North favored capital punishment for a range of offenders, including murderers, blasphemers, children who curse their parents, male homosexuals, and other people who commit some of the acts deemed capital offenses in the Old Testament. (North believed that the death penalty for sabbath breaking and some other crimes no longer applies.) North stated that the biblical admonition to kill homosexuals in the Book of Leviticus is God's "law and its morally appropriate sanction", arguing that "God is indeed a homophobe" who "hates the practice [of homosexuality] and those who practice it" and "hates the sin and hates the sinner."
North said that capital punishment should be carried out by stoning, because it is the biblically approved method of execution and it is cheap due to the plentiful and convenient supply of stones.
North said: "We must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."
Adam C. English suggests that this quote implies that "religious liberty is a useful tool to Christians in the present, yet is ultimately to be denied to anyone who is not Christian once the Christians are in power". English argues that although this may seem inconsistent (advocating religious liberty but denying the reality of the notion), North and his fellow reconstructionists understand "liberty" in a theological sense. According to the reconstructionists, "anyone outside of the Christian faith is in bondage," and so "government by rigorous theonomy is not oppressive but liberating".
North was also a prominent promoter of exaggerated predictions of computer failure from the Year 2000 problem (Y2K) during the late 1990s, earning him the nickname "Scary Gary." His main website became dominated by links to extremist predictions for Y2K damage, including widespread collapse of governments and financial institutions. North declared on his home page that Y2K "may be the biggest problem that the modern world has ever faced" and labeled 2000 as "The Year the Earth Stands Still".
Critics said the motivation for North's predictions was linked to his Christian reconstructionist aims, which require widespread societal collapse to set the stage for a new theocratic order. North made the connection explicit in communications with fellow reconstructionists: "The Y2K crisis is systemic. It cannot possibly be fixed. I think it will wipe out every national government in the West. Not just modify them—destroy them...That is what I have wanted all my adult life. In my view, Y2K is our deliverance."
North was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, and underwent treatment for about five years. He died in Dallas, Georgia, on February 24, 2022, at the age of 80.
North was the founder of the Institute for Christian Economics (ICE), which publishes online books and magazines focusing on Christian ethics. ICE, along with Dominion Press in Tyler, Texas, are important sources for reconstructionist publications.
North authored or coauthored more than fifty books, many of which are available for free download. For many years, North was the author and editor of the newsletter The Remnant Review. He also provided Gary North's Reality Check, a free e-newsletter. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary Kilgore North (February 11, 1942 – February 24, 2022) was an American writer, Austrian School economic historian, and leading figure in the Christian reconstructionist movement. North authored or coauthored over fifty books on topics including Reformed Protestant theology, economics, and history. He was an Associated Scholar of the Mises Institute.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "He is known for his advocacy of biblical or \"radically libertarian\" free-market economics and also as a theorist of dominionism and theonomy. North often invoked the Protestant work ethic to advance these views. He supported the establishment and enforcement of Bible-based religious law, a view which put him in conflict with other libertarians. He believed that capital punishment is appropriate punishment for male homosexuality, adultery, blasphemy, abortion, and witchcraft.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "North was born in San Pedro, California, on February 11, 1942, and grew up in Southern California, the son of FBI special agent Samuel W. North Jr. and his wife Peggy. North converted to Christianity in high school and, after attending a rally where anti-communist activist Fred Schwarz spoke, began frequenting conservative book-stores in the Los Angeles area during his college years. Between 1961 and 1963, while an undergraduate student at University of California, Riverside, North became acquainted with the works of Wilhelm Röpke, Rose Wilder Lane, Cornelius Van Til, Austrian School economists Eugen Böhm von Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek and Murray Rothbard, and also read the works of Calvinist philosopher Rousas John Rushdoony. Later he married Rushdoony's daughter, collaborated with him and eulogized Rushdoony in a blog post on LewRockwell.com.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Starting in 1967, North became a contributor to the libertarian journal The Freeman where he had first read the work of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. In the 1970s, he was the director of seminars for the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). North received a PhD in history from the University of California, Riverside in 1972. His dissertation was The Concept of Property in Puritan New England, 1630–1720.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "He served as research assistant for libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul in Paul's first term (1976). North was a regular contributor to the LewRockwell.com website, which lists an extensive archive of his articles there. North's own website, Garynorth.com, posts commentary on religious, social, and political issues and offers paid access to investment advice and other premium content. North also published a blog called Deliverance from Debt which provided advice about relief from debt. Another North website, \"Free Christian Curriculum\", seeks to provide a free Christian homeschooling curriculum for children from age 3 through grade 12.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In addition, North offered the Ron Paul Curriculum, a home school online curriculum associated with former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, which is free for grades K–5 and available to paid members from grades 6–12. As director of curriculum development, North outlined four goals of the educational project: providing a \"detailed study\" of the \"history of liberty\"; teaching a \"thorough understanding of Austrian economics\"; serving as \"an academically rigorous curriculum that is tied to primary source\" material rather than textbooks; and teaching \"the Biblical principle of self-government and personal responsibility\", which North called \"the foundation of the market economy\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "North wrote that the \"starting point for all economic analysis\" lies in accepting that \"God [has] cursed the earth\" in the Book of Genesis 3:17–19; this \"made scarcity an inescapable fact of man's existence\". In his 1982 Dominion Covenant: Genesis, North wrote that mainstream modern economics, whether libertarian, conservative or liberal, is \"in disintegration\" because it is \"humanist\" in its approach and consequently rejects the notion that \"biblical revelation\" is necessary for sound economic theory. He also wrote that economics \"must begin with the [Biblical] story of creation\" if it is not to collapse into \"total chaos\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "A 2011 article in The New York Times identified North as a central figure in Christian reconstructionism, the philosophy which advocates the institution of \"a Christian theocracy under Old Testament law [as] the best form of government, and a radically libertarian one.\" North wrote: \"I certainly believe in biblical theocracy.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The article also described North as \"the leading proponent of 'Christian economics,' which applies biblical principles to economic issues and the free market.\" North supported the abolition of the fractional-reserve banking system and a return to the gold standard. According to the Times, North believed that the Bible forbids inflation, welfare programs, and also writes that \"God would prefer gold money to paper\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "North favored capital punishment for a range of offenders, including murderers, blasphemers, children who curse their parents, male homosexuals, and other people who commit some of the acts deemed capital offenses in the Old Testament. (North believed that the death penalty for sabbath breaking and some other crimes no longer applies.) North stated that the biblical admonition to kill homosexuals in the Book of Leviticus is God's \"law and its morally appropriate sanction\", arguing that \"God is indeed a homophobe\" who \"hates the practice [of homosexuality] and those who practice it\" and \"hates the sin and hates the sinner.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "North said that capital punishment should be carried out by stoning, because it is the biblically approved method of execution and it is cheap due to the plentiful and convenient supply of stones.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "North said: \"We must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Adam C. English suggests that this quote implies that \"religious liberty is a useful tool to Christians in the present, yet is ultimately to be denied to anyone who is not Christian once the Christians are in power\". English argues that although this may seem inconsistent (advocating religious liberty but denying the reality of the notion), North and his fellow reconstructionists understand \"liberty\" in a theological sense. According to the reconstructionists, \"anyone outside of the Christian faith is in bondage,\" and so \"government by rigorous theonomy is not oppressive but liberating\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "North was also a prominent promoter of exaggerated predictions of computer failure from the Year 2000 problem (Y2K) during the late 1990s, earning him the nickname \"Scary Gary.\" His main website became dominated by links to extremist predictions for Y2K damage, including widespread collapse of governments and financial institutions. North declared on his home page that Y2K \"may be the biggest problem that the modern world has ever faced\" and labeled 2000 as \"The Year the Earth Stands Still\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Critics said the motivation for North's predictions was linked to his Christian reconstructionist aims, which require widespread societal collapse to set the stage for a new theocratic order. North made the connection explicit in communications with fellow reconstructionists: \"The Y2K crisis is systemic. It cannot possibly be fixed. I think it will wipe out every national government in the West. Not just modify them—destroy them...That is what I have wanted all my adult life. In my view, Y2K is our deliverance.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "North was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, and underwent treatment for about five years. He died in Dallas, Georgia, on February 24, 2022, at the age of 80.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "North was the founder of the Institute for Christian Economics (ICE), which publishes online books and magazines focusing on Christian ethics. ICE, along with Dominion Press in Tyler, Texas, are important sources for reconstructionist publications.",
"title": "Publications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "North authored or coauthored more than fifty books, many of which are available for free download. For many years, North was the author and editor of the newsletter The Remnant Review. He also provided Gary North's Reality Check, a free e-newsletter.",
"title": "Publications"
}
]
| Gary Kilgore North was an American writer, Austrian School economic historian, and leading figure in the Christian reconstructionist movement. North authored or coauthored over fifty books on topics including Reformed Protestant theology, economics, and history. He was an Associated Scholar of the Mises Institute. He is known for his advocacy of biblical or "radically libertarian" free-market economics and also as a theorist of dominionism and theonomy. North often invoked the Protestant work ethic to advance these views. He supported the establishment and enforcement of Bible-based religious law, a view which put him in conflict with other libertarians. He believed that capital punishment is appropriate punishment for male homosexuality, adultery, blasphemy, abortion, and witchcraft. | 2001-09-30T02:03:50Z | 2023-11-08T00:36:53Z | [
"Template:Christian Reconstructionism",
"Template:Primary sources",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:YouTube",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Dead link",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:OCLC",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Portalbar",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Unreliable sources",
"Template:Unreliable source?",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Webarchive"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_North_(economist) |
12,646 | Guernica | Guernica (/ɡɜːrˈniːkə, ˈɡɜːrnɪkə/, Spanish pronunciation: [ɡeɾˈnika]), officially Gernika (pronounced [ɡernika]) in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo (Spanish: Guernica y Luno), whose population is 16,224 as of 2009.
On April 26, 1937, Guernica was bombed by Nazi Germany's Condor Legion, in one of the first aerial bombings. The attack inspired Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica, depicting his outrage at the attack.
The village is situated in the region of Busturialdea, in the valley of the Oka river. The river ends in an estuary that gives its name to the village of Guernika. Its mouth is known as Urdaibai's estuary's heart. Gernika borders on the following townships:
The town of Guernica was founded by Tello Alfonso, Lord of Biscay, on April 28, 1366, at the intersection of the road from Bermeo to Durango with the road from Bilbao to Elantxobe and Lekeitio. The strategic importance of the site was increased by the fact that it lay on a major river estuary, where vessels could dock at the port of Suso.
In time, it took on the typical shape of a Basque town, comprising a series of parallel streets (Goienkale, Azokekale, Artekale and Barrenkale; respectively: ‘upper, market, between, lower roads’) and a transverse street called Santa María, with a church at each end of the built-up area.
Life in the town became rigidly structured, with the aim being to preserve the privileges of the dominant middle classes. This pattern continued practically unaltered until the late 17th century.
On a small hillock in the town, stands the Meeting House and the Tree of Gernika. By ancient tradition, Basques, and indeed other peoples in Medieval Europe, held assemblies under a tree, usually an oak, to discuss matters affecting the community.
In Biscay, each administrative district (known as a merindad) had its appointed tree, but over the centuries, the Tree of Guernica acquired particular importance. It stood in the parish of Lumo, on a site known as Gernikazarra, beside a small shrine.
The laws of Biscay continued to be drawn up under this tree until 1876, with each town and village in the province sending two representatives to the sessions, known as General Assemblies. This early form of democracy was recorded by the philosopher Rousseau, by the poet William Wordsworth, by the dramatist Tirso de Molina and by the composer Iparragirre, who wrote the piece called Gernikako Arbola.
When the Domain of Biscay was incorporated into the kingdom of Castile, the king of Castile visited Guernica and swore an oath under the Tree promising to uphold the fueros or local laws of Biscay. The oath of King Ferdinand, known as the "Catholic Monarch", on June 30, 1476, is depicted in a painting by Francisco de Mendieta popularly known as El besamanos ("The Royal audience"). On July 3, 1875, during the Carlist Wars, the pretender to the throne Don Carlos also visited Guernica and swore the oath. Throughout the 19th century, there were frequent meetings under the Tree, including both General Assemblies and other political events.
By the 18th century, there was a square at the centre of the town, flanked by the town hall, a public gaol housing prisoners from all over the Lordship of Biscay, a hospital and a poor-house for local people. Day-to-day life comprised agriculture (growing of cereals, vegetable and fruit), crafts (menders, tailors, cobblers, flax manufacturers) and trade (transportation and sale of goods and produce).
This was also a time of continual conflicts with the neighbouring parish of Lumo over disputed land. These disputes were not finally settled until 1882, when the two parishes joined to form Gernika-Lumo.
The first industrial concerns were set up in the early years of the 20th century. This encouraged population growth, and the town grew from 4,500 inhabitants in 1920 to 6,000 in 1936.
On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was the scene of the bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria. According to official Basque figures, 1,654 civilians were killed, but German sources report a round figure of 300 civilians killed in the bombing, according to the German Bundeswehr Magazine (published in April 2007, page 94). The raid was requested by Francisco Franco to aid in his overthrowing the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Guernica survived. The Bombing of Guernica, which went on continuously for three hours, is considered the beginning of the Luftwaffe doctrine of terror bombing civilian targets in order to demoralize the enemy. Pablo Picasso painted his Guernica painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing and René Iché made a violent sculpture the day after the bombing. It has inspired musical compositions by Octavio Vazquez (Gernika Piano Trio), René-Louis Baron, Lenny White, and Mike Batt (performed by Katie Melua), and poems by Paul Eluard (Victory of Guernica), and Uys Krige (Nag van die Fascistiese Bomwerpers) (English translation from the Afrikaans: Night of the Fascist Bombers). There is also a short film from 1950, by Alain Resnais, titled Guernica.
Celebrations were staged in 1966 to mark the 600th anniversary of the founding of the town. As part of these celebrations, a statue of Count Tello, made by local sculptor Agustín Herranz, was set up in the Fueros Square.
At present, Gernika-Lumo has 16,244 (2009) inhabitants. It is a town with a prosperous service sector, and is also home to industrial companies, as well as good cultural and educational amenities.
Guernica is historically the seat of the parliament of the province of Biscay, whose executive branch is located in nearby Bilbao.
In prior centuries, Lumo had been the meeting place of the traditional Biscayan assembly, Urduña and chartered towns like Guernica were under the direct authority of the Lord of Biscay, and Enkarterri and the Durango area had separate assemblies. All would hold assemblies under local big trees. As time passed, the role of separate assemblies was superseded by the single assembly in Guernica, and by 1512, its oak, known as the Gernikako Arbola, became symbolic of the traditional rights of the Basque people as a whole.
The trees are always renewed from their own acorns. One of these trees (the "Old Tree") lived until the 19th century, and may be seen, as a dry stump, near the assembly house. A tree planted in 1860 to replace it died in 2004 and was in turn replaced; the sapling that had been chosen to become the official Oak of Guernica is also sick so the tree will not be replaced until the earth around the site has been restored to health.
A hermitage was built beside the Gernikako Arbola to double as an assembly place, followed by the current house of assembly (Biltzar Jauregia in Basque), built in 1826.
On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the town was razed to the ground by German aircraft belonging to the Condor Legion, sent by Hitler to support Franco's troops. For almost four hours bombs rained down on Guernica in an "experiment" for the blitzkrieg tactics and bombing of civilians seen in later wars.
In 1987 the 50th anniversary of the bombing was commemorated as the town hosted the Preliminary Congress of the World Association of Martyr Cities. The full congress was held subsequently in Madrid, bringing together representatives of cities all over the world. Since then, Gernika-Lumo has been a member of this association. 1988 saw the setting up of the monument Gure Aitaren Etxea, by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, and in 1990 Large Figure in a Shelter, by British sculptor Henry Moore, was erected beside it. These monuments are symbolic of Gernika-Lumo as a city of peace.
As part of the "Symbol for Peace" movement, Gernika has twinned with several towns, including Berga (Catalonia – 1986), Pforzheim (Germany – 1988) and Boise, Idaho (United States – 1993). The twinning agreements include co-operation in the fields of culture, education and industry.
There is a popular saying in Guernica which runs as follows: "lunes gerniqués, golperik ez". A combination of both local languages (Castillian and Basque) into a single sentence, this translates roughly as "not a stroke of work gets done on Mondays". The Monday market day has for decades been considered as a holiday in the town.
People would flock to Guernica not just from the immediate vicinity, but from all over the province, so that the town was packed. They came not just to buy or sell at the produce market, but also to eat at the town's renowned restaurants and afterwards perhaps to watch a pelota game at the local court. The Monday market has been fulfilling its age-old function of bringing people together since the times when people could not afford to travel far and it provided them with a chance to socialise. The bombing of Guernica by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria was deliberately chosen to occur on a Monday (April 26, 1937), because it was known that the Basque people who lived outside of Guernica proper would travel into town for the Market Day, thus affording the pilots of the German and Italian aircraft the opportunity to murder as many innocent people as possible.
Jai alai (cesta-punta) is a form of pelota. The Guernica jai alai court is the biggest operational court of its type in the world. It was designed by Secundino Zuano, one of Spain's leading architects of the 20th century and first opened in 1963. It is acknowledged by players of the game to be the world's finest court.
Bare-handed pelota games are held at the Santanape court. This is the most popular form of the sport. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Guernica (/ɡɜːrˈniːkə, ˈɡɜːrnɪkə/, Spanish pronunciation: [ɡeɾˈnika]), officially Gernika (pronounced [ɡernika]) in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo (Spanish: Guernica y Luno), whose population is 16,224 as of 2009.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "On April 26, 1937, Guernica was bombed by Nazi Germany's Condor Legion, in one of the first aerial bombings. The attack inspired Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica, depicting his outrage at the attack.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The village is situated in the region of Busturialdea, in the valley of the Oka river. The river ends in an estuary that gives its name to the village of Guernika. Its mouth is known as Urdaibai's estuary's heart. Gernika borders on the following townships:",
"title": "Location"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The town of Guernica was founded by Tello Alfonso, Lord of Biscay, on April 28, 1366, at the intersection of the road from Bermeo to Durango with the road from Bilbao to Elantxobe and Lekeitio. The strategic importance of the site was increased by the fact that it lay on a major river estuary, where vessels could dock at the port of Suso.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In time, it took on the typical shape of a Basque town, comprising a series of parallel streets (Goienkale, Azokekale, Artekale and Barrenkale; respectively: ‘upper, market, between, lower roads’) and a transverse street called Santa María, with a church at each end of the built-up area.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Life in the town became rigidly structured, with the aim being to preserve the privileges of the dominant middle classes. This pattern continued practically unaltered until the late 17th century.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "On a small hillock in the town, stands the Meeting House and the Tree of Gernika. By ancient tradition, Basques, and indeed other peoples in Medieval Europe, held assemblies under a tree, usually an oak, to discuss matters affecting the community.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In Biscay, each administrative district (known as a merindad) had its appointed tree, but over the centuries, the Tree of Guernica acquired particular importance. It stood in the parish of Lumo, on a site known as Gernikazarra, beside a small shrine.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The laws of Biscay continued to be drawn up under this tree until 1876, with each town and village in the province sending two representatives to the sessions, known as General Assemblies. This early form of democracy was recorded by the philosopher Rousseau, by the poet William Wordsworth, by the dramatist Tirso de Molina and by the composer Iparragirre, who wrote the piece called Gernikako Arbola.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "When the Domain of Biscay was incorporated into the kingdom of Castile, the king of Castile visited Guernica and swore an oath under the Tree promising to uphold the fueros or local laws of Biscay. The oath of King Ferdinand, known as the \"Catholic Monarch\", on June 30, 1476, is depicted in a painting by Francisco de Mendieta popularly known as El besamanos (\"The Royal audience\"). On July 3, 1875, during the Carlist Wars, the pretender to the throne Don Carlos also visited Guernica and swore the oath. Throughout the 19th century, there were frequent meetings under the Tree, including both General Assemblies and other political events.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "By the 18th century, there was a square at the centre of the town, flanked by the town hall, a public gaol housing prisoners from all over the Lordship of Biscay, a hospital and a poor-house for local people. Day-to-day life comprised agriculture (growing of cereals, vegetable and fruit), crafts (menders, tailors, cobblers, flax manufacturers) and trade (transportation and sale of goods and produce).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "This was also a time of continual conflicts with the neighbouring parish of Lumo over disputed land. These disputes were not finally settled until 1882, when the two parishes joined to form Gernika-Lumo.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The first industrial concerns were set up in the early years of the 20th century. This encouraged population growth, and the town grew from 4,500 inhabitants in 1920 to 6,000 in 1936.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was the scene of the bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria. According to official Basque figures, 1,654 civilians were killed, but German sources report a round figure of 300 civilians killed in the bombing, according to the German Bundeswehr Magazine (published in April 2007, page 94). The raid was requested by Francisco Franco to aid in his overthrowing the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Guernica survived. The Bombing of Guernica, which went on continuously for three hours, is considered the beginning of the Luftwaffe doctrine of terror bombing civilian targets in order to demoralize the enemy. Pablo Picasso painted his Guernica painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing and René Iché made a violent sculpture the day after the bombing. It has inspired musical compositions by Octavio Vazquez (Gernika Piano Trio), René-Louis Baron, Lenny White, and Mike Batt (performed by Katie Melua), and poems by Paul Eluard (Victory of Guernica), and Uys Krige (Nag van die Fascistiese Bomwerpers) (English translation from the Afrikaans: Night of the Fascist Bombers). There is also a short film from 1950, by Alain Resnais, titled Guernica.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Celebrations were staged in 1966 to mark the 600th anniversary of the founding of the town. As part of these celebrations, a statue of Count Tello, made by local sculptor Agustín Herranz, was set up in the Fueros Square.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "At present, Gernika-Lumo has 16,244 (2009) inhabitants. It is a town with a prosperous service sector, and is also home to industrial companies, as well as good cultural and educational amenities.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Guernica is historically the seat of the parliament of the province of Biscay, whose executive branch is located in nearby Bilbao.",
"title": "Cultural importance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In prior centuries, Lumo had been the meeting place of the traditional Biscayan assembly, Urduña and chartered towns like Guernica were under the direct authority of the Lord of Biscay, and Enkarterri and the Durango area had separate assemblies. All would hold assemblies under local big trees. As time passed, the role of separate assemblies was superseded by the single assembly in Guernica, and by 1512, its oak, known as the Gernikako Arbola, became symbolic of the traditional rights of the Basque people as a whole.",
"title": "Cultural importance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The trees are always renewed from their own acorns. One of these trees (the \"Old Tree\") lived until the 19th century, and may be seen, as a dry stump, near the assembly house. A tree planted in 1860 to replace it died in 2004 and was in turn replaced; the sapling that had been chosen to become the official Oak of Guernica is also sick so the tree will not be replaced until the earth around the site has been restored to health.",
"title": "Cultural importance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "A hermitage was built beside the Gernikako Arbola to double as an assembly place, followed by the current house of assembly (Biltzar Jauregia in Basque), built in 1826.",
"title": "Cultural importance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the town was razed to the ground by German aircraft belonging to the Condor Legion, sent by Hitler to support Franco's troops. For almost four hours bombs rained down on Guernica in an \"experiment\" for the blitzkrieg tactics and bombing of civilians seen in later wars.",
"title": "Symbol for peace"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1987 the 50th anniversary of the bombing was commemorated as the town hosted the Preliminary Congress of the World Association of Martyr Cities. The full congress was held subsequently in Madrid, bringing together representatives of cities all over the world. Since then, Gernika-Lumo has been a member of this association. 1988 saw the setting up of the monument Gure Aitaren Etxea, by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, and in 1990 Large Figure in a Shelter, by British sculptor Henry Moore, was erected beside it. These monuments are symbolic of Gernika-Lumo as a city of peace.",
"title": "Symbol for peace"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "As part of the \"Symbol for Peace\" movement, Gernika has twinned with several towns, including Berga (Catalonia – 1986), Pforzheim (Germany – 1988) and Boise, Idaho (United States – 1993). The twinning agreements include co-operation in the fields of culture, education and industry.",
"title": "Symbol for peace"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "There is a popular saying in Guernica which runs as follows: \"lunes gerniqués, golperik ez\". A combination of both local languages (Castillian and Basque) into a single sentence, this translates roughly as \"not a stroke of work gets done on Mondays\". The Monday market day has for decades been considered as a holiday in the town.",
"title": "Market day"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "People would flock to Guernica not just from the immediate vicinity, but from all over the province, so that the town was packed. They came not just to buy or sell at the produce market, but also to eat at the town's renowned restaurants and afterwards perhaps to watch a pelota game at the local court. The Monday market has been fulfilling its age-old function of bringing people together since the times when people could not afford to travel far and it provided them with a chance to socialise. The bombing of Guernica by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria was deliberately chosen to occur on a Monday (April 26, 1937), because it was known that the Basque people who lived outside of Guernica proper would travel into town for the Market Day, thus affording the pilots of the German and Italian aircraft the opportunity to murder as many innocent people as possible.",
"title": "Market day"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Jai alai (cesta-punta) is a form of pelota. The Guernica jai alai court is the biggest operational court of its type in the world. It was designed by Secundino Zuano, one of Spain's leading architects of the 20th century and first opened in 1963. It is acknowledged by players of the game to be the world's finest court.",
"title": "Sports"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Bare-handed pelota games are held at the Santanape court. This is the most popular form of the sport.",
"title": "Sports"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Guernica, officially Gernika in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo, whose population is 16,224 as of 2009. On April 26, 1937, Guernica was bombed by Nazi Germany's Condor Legion, in one of the first aerial bombings. The attack inspired Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica, depicting his outrage at the attack. | 2001-09-30T11:55:17Z | 2023-11-21T19:55:27Z | [
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:IPA-es",
"Template:Lang-es",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:About",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Full citation needed",
"Template:Flagicon",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Infobox settlement",
"Template:IPA-eu",
"Template:Cite dictionary",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:Municipalities in Biscay",
"Template:Pp-move-indef",
"Template:IPAc-en"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica |
12,648 | Gerrit Rietveld | Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect.
Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at night school before working as a draughtsman for C. J. Begeer, a jeweller in Utrecht, from 1906 to 1911.
By the time he opened his own furniture workshop in 1917, Rietveld had taught himself drawing, painting and model-making. He afterwards set up in business as a cabinet-maker.
Rietveld designed his Red and Blue Chair in 1917 which has become an iconic piece of modern furniture. Hoping that much of his furniture would eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted, Rietveld aimed for simplicity in construction. In 1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colours after becoming influenced by the De Stijl movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same year in which he became an architect. The contacts that he made at De Stijl gave him the opportunity to exhibit abroad as well. In 1923, Walter Gropius invited Rietveld to exhibit at the Bauhaus.
He built the Rietveld Schröder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. Built in Utrecht on the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has a conventional ground floor, but is radical on the top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying on sliding walls to create and change living spaces. The house has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. His involvement in the Schröder House exerted a strong influence on Truus' daughter, Han Schröder, who became one of the first female architects in the Netherlands.
Rietveld broke with De Stijl in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style of architecture, known as either Nieuwe Zakelijkheid or Nieuwe Bouwen. The same year he joined the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. From the late 1920s he was concerned with social housing, inexpensive production methods, new materials, prefabrication and standardisation. In 1927 he was already experimenting with prefabricated concrete slabs, a very unusual material at that time. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, all his commissions came from private individuals, and it was not until the 1950s that he was able to put his progressive ideas about social housing into practice, in projects in Utrecht and Reeuwijk.
Rietveld designed the Zig-Zag Chair in 1934 and started the design of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which was finished after his death.
In 1951 Rietveld designed a retrospective exhibition about De Stijl which was held in Amsterdam, Venice and New York. Interest in his work revived as a result. In subsequent years he was given many commissions, including the Dutch pavilion for the Venice Biennale (1953), the art academies in Amsterdam and Arnhem, and the press room for the UNESCO building in Paris. Designed for the display of small sculptures at the Third International Sculpture Exhibition in Arnhem's Sonsbeek Park in 1955, Rietveld's ‘Sonsbeek Pavilion’ was rebuilt at the Kröller-Müller Museum in 1965. Due to irreparable damages caused by regular decay, it was once again rebuilt, this time with new materials, in 2010. In order to handle all these projects, in 1961 Rietveld set up a partnership with the architects Johan van Dillen and J. van Tricht built hundreds of homes, many of them in the city of Utrecht.
His work was neglected when rationalism came into vogue, but he later benefited from a revival of the style of the 1920s thirty years later.
Rietveld died on 25 June 1964 in Utrecht.
His son Wim Rietveld also became a renowned industrial designer.
Rietveld had his first retrospective exhibition devoted to his architectural work at the Central Museum, Utrecht, in 1958. When the art academy in Amsterdam became part of the higher professional education system in 1968 and was given the status of an Academy for Fine Arts and Design, the name was changed to the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in honour of Rietveld. "Gerrit Rietveld: A Centenary Exhibition" at the Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, in 1988 was the first comprehensive presentation of the Dutch architect's original works ever held in the U.S. The highlight of a celebratory “Rietveld Year” in Utrecht, the exhibition “Rietveld’s Universe” opened at the Centraal Museum and compared him and his work with famous contemporaries like Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.
Two software tools, both for code review, have been named after Gerrit Rietveld: Gerrit and Rietveld. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at night school before working as a draughtsman for C. J. Begeer, a jeweller in Utrecht, from 1906 to 1911.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "By the time he opened his own furniture workshop in 1917, Rietveld had taught himself drawing, painting and model-making. He afterwards set up in business as a cabinet-maker.",
"title": "De Stijl"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Rietveld designed his Red and Blue Chair in 1917 which has become an iconic piece of modern furniture. Hoping that much of his furniture would eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted, Rietveld aimed for simplicity in construction. In 1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colours after becoming influenced by the De Stijl movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same year in which he became an architect. The contacts that he made at De Stijl gave him the opportunity to exhibit abroad as well. In 1923, Walter Gropius invited Rietveld to exhibit at the Bauhaus.",
"title": "De Stijl"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "He built the Rietveld Schröder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. Built in Utrecht on the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has a conventional ground floor, but is radical on the top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying on sliding walls to create and change living spaces. The house has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. His involvement in the Schröder House exerted a strong influence on Truus' daughter, Han Schröder, who became one of the first female architects in the Netherlands.",
"title": "De Stijl"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Rietveld broke with De Stijl in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style of architecture, known as either Nieuwe Zakelijkheid or Nieuwe Bouwen. The same year he joined the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. From the late 1920s he was concerned with social housing, inexpensive production methods, new materials, prefabrication and standardisation. In 1927 he was already experimenting with prefabricated concrete slabs, a very unusual material at that time. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, all his commissions came from private individuals, and it was not until the 1950s that he was able to put his progressive ideas about social housing into practice, in projects in Utrecht and Reeuwijk.",
"title": "Nieuwe Zakelijkheid"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Rietveld designed the Zig-Zag Chair in 1934 and started the design of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which was finished after his death.",
"title": "Nieuwe Zakelijkheid"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1951 Rietveld designed a retrospective exhibition about De Stijl which was held in Amsterdam, Venice and New York. Interest in his work revived as a result. In subsequent years he was given many commissions, including the Dutch pavilion for the Venice Biennale (1953), the art academies in Amsterdam and Arnhem, and the press room for the UNESCO building in Paris. Designed for the display of small sculptures at the Third International Sculpture Exhibition in Arnhem's Sonsbeek Park in 1955, Rietveld's ‘Sonsbeek Pavilion’ was rebuilt at the Kröller-Müller Museum in 1965. Due to irreparable damages caused by regular decay, it was once again rebuilt, this time with new materials, in 2010. In order to handle all these projects, in 1961 Rietveld set up a partnership with the architects Johan van Dillen and J. van Tricht built hundreds of homes, many of them in the city of Utrecht.",
"title": "De Stijl revival"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "His work was neglected when rationalism came into vogue, but he later benefited from a revival of the style of the 1920s thirty years later.",
"title": "De Stijl revival"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Rietveld died on 25 June 1964 in Utrecht.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "His son Wim Rietveld also became a renowned industrial designer.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Rietveld had his first retrospective exhibition devoted to his architectural work at the Central Museum, Utrecht, in 1958. When the art academy in Amsterdam became part of the higher professional education system in 1968 and was given the status of an Academy for Fine Arts and Design, the name was changed to the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in honour of Rietveld. \"Gerrit Rietveld: A Centenary Exhibition\" at the Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, in 1988 was the first comprehensive presentation of the Dutch architect's original works ever held in the U.S. The highlight of a celebratory “Rietveld Year” in Utrecht, the exhibition “Rietveld’s Universe” opened at the Centraal Museum and compared him and his work with famous contemporaries like Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.",
"title": "Recognition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Two software tools, both for code review, have been named after Gerrit Rietveld: Gerrit and Rietveld.",
"title": "Recognition"
}
]
| Gerrit Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. | 2001-09-30T13:57:44Z | 2023-12-01T21:54:51Z | [
"Template:Commons",
"Template:ACArt",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Webarchive"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld |
12,649 | Gary | Gary may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Gary may refer to: Gary, a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-08-14T23:30:08Z | [
"Template:Look from",
"Template:Disambiguation",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:TOC right"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary |
12,650 | Gary, Indiana | Gary (/ˈɡæri/ GARR-ee) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The city is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Park, and is within the Chicago metropolitan area.
Gary was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation. U.S. Steel had established the city in 1906 as a company town to serve its steel mills. Although initially a very diverse city, after white flight in the 1970s, the city of Gary held the nation's highest percentage of African Americans for several decades.
As of the 2020 census the city's population was 69,093, making it Indiana's ninth-largest city. Like other Rust Belt cities, Gary's once thriving steel industry has been significantly affected by the disappearance of local manufacturing jobs since the 1970s. As a result of this economic shift, the city's population has decreased drastically, having lost 61% of its population since 1960. Because of its large losses in population and deteriorating economy, Gary is often cited as an example of industrial decline and urban decay in America.
Gary is serviced by the Gary/Chicago International Airport, an alternative airport to the Chicago region's two larger airports. The city's public transport is provided by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation and the South Shore Line passenger railway, which connects to the Chicago transit system. It is also home to a professional baseball team, the Gary SouthShore RailCats. In addition to its large steel mills, the city is known for being the birthplace of the Jackson family, a family of well-known entertainers whose members include singer Michael Jackson.
Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the U.S. Steel as the home for its new plant, Gary Works. The city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.
Gary was the site of civil unrest in the steel strike of 1919. On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north-south street through downtown Gary, between steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Three days later, Indiana governor James P. Goodrich declared martial law. Shortly thereafter, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order.
The jobs offered by the steel industry provided Gary with very rapid growth and a diverse population within the first 26 years of its founding. According to the 1920 United States Census, 29.7% of Gary's population at the time was classified as foreign-born, mostly from eastern European countries, with another 30.8% classified as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. By the 1930 United States Census, the first census in which Gary's population exceeded 100,000, the city was the fifth largest in Indiana and comparable in size to South Bend, Fort Wayne, and Evansville. At that time, 78.7% of the population was classified as white, with 19.3% of the population classified as foreign-born and another 25.9% as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. In addition to white internal migrants, Gary had attracted numerous African-American migrants from the South in the Great Migration, and 17.8% of the population was classified as black. 3.5% were classified as Mexican (now likely to be identified as Hispanic, as some were likely American citizens in addition to immigrants).
Gary's fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the steel industry. The growth of the steel industry brought prosperity to the community. Broadway was known as a commercial center for the region. Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the downtown area and the Glen Park neighborhood.
In the 1960s, like many other American urban centers reliant on one particular industry, Gary entered a spiral of decline. Gary's decline was brought on by the growing overseas competitiveness in the steel industry, which had caused U.S. Steel to lay off many workers from the Gary area. The U.S. Steel Gary Works employed over 30,000 in 1970, declined to just 6,000 by 1990, and further declined to 5,100 in August 2015. Attempts to shore up the city's economy with major construction projects, such as a Holiday Inn hotel and the Genesis Convention Center, failed to reverse the decline.
In July 1968 riots broke out in Gary. Sniper fire killed 10 people; three were police officers. 3,000 National Guard members came in to restore order to the city. Curfews were enforced and a ban on gasoline and liquor sales helped calm the violence. Over 110 people were arrested, at least three stores were set on fire, and at least 15 fire-bombings were reported.
A rapid racial change occurred in Gary during the late 20th century. These population changes resulted in political change which reflected the racial demographics of Gary: the Black and Hispanic share of the city's population increased from 21% in 1930, 39% in 1960, to 53% in 1970. Black and Hispanic were primarily living in the Midtown section just south of downtown (per the 1950 Census, 97% of the black population of Gary was living in this neighborhood). Gary had one of the nation's first African-American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher, and hosted the groundbreaking 1972 National Black Political Convention.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84% (as of the 2000 U.S. census). This no longer applies to Gary since the population of the city has now fallen well below 100,000 residents. As of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned.
U.S. Steel continues to be a major steel producer, but with only a fraction of its former level of employment. While Gary has failed to reestablish a manufacturing base since its population peak, two casinos opened along the Gary lakeshore in the 1990s, although this has been aggravated by the state closing of Cline Avenue, an important access to the area. Today, Gary faces the difficulties of a Rust Belt city, including higher than national average unemployment, and decaying infrastructure.
Gary has closed several of its schools within the last ten years. While some of the school buildings have been reused, most remain unused since their closing. As of 2014, Gary is considering closing additional schools in response to budget deficits.
Gary chief of police Thomas Houston was convicted of excessive force and abuse of authority in 2008; he died in 2010 while serving a three-year, five-month federal prison sentence.
In April 2011, 75-year-old mayor Rudolph M. Clay announced that he would suspend his campaign for reelection as he was being treated for prostate cancer. He endorsed rival Karen Freeman-Wilson, who won the Democratic mayoral primary in May 2011. Freeman-Wilson won election with 87 percent of the vote and her term began in January 2012; she is the first woman elected mayor in the city's history. She was reelected in 2015. She was defeated in her bid for a third term in the 2019 Democratic primary by Lake County Assessor Jerome Prince. Since no challengers filed for the November 2019 general election, Prince's nomination is effectively tantamount to election, and officially succeeded Freeman-Wilson on January 1, 2020, two days after he was sworn in as the city's 21st mayor on December 30, 2019.
In May 2021, a $300 million Hard Rock Casino location opened in the city. Branded as Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, the location includes memorabilia from local natives Jackson 5 and a 1,950-seat Hard Rock Live performance hall.
The following single properties and national historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
Downtown Gary is separated by Broadway into two distinctive communities. Originally, the City of Gary consisted of The East Side, The West Side, The South Side (the area south of the train tracks near 9th Avenue), and Glen Park, located further South along Broadway. The East Side was demarcated by streets named after the States in order of their acceptance into the Union. This area contained mostly wood-frame houses, some of the earliest in the city, and became known in the 20th century for its ethnic populations from Europe and large families. The single-family houses had repeating house designs that alternated from one street to another, with some streets looking very similar. Among the East Side's most notable buildings were Memorial Auditorium (a large red-brick and stone civic auditorium and the site of numerous events, concerts and graduations), The Palace Theater, Emerson School, St. Luke's Church, H.C. Gordon & Sons, and Goldblatt's Department stores, in addition to the Fair Department Store. All fronted Broadway as the main street that divided Gary.
The West Side of Gary, or West of Broadway, the principal commercial street, had streets named after the presidents of the United States in order of their election. Lytton's, Hudson's ladies store, J.C. Penney, and Radigan Bros Furniture Store developed on the west side of Broadway. Developed later, this side of town was known for its masonry or brick residences, its taller and larger commercial buildings, including the Gary National Bank Building, Hotel Gary (now Genesis Towers), The Knights of Columbus Hotel & Building (now affordable housing fronting 5th Avenue), the Tivoli Theater (demolished), the U.S. Post Office, Main Library, Mercy and Methodist Hospitals and Holy Angels Cathedral and School. The West Side also had a secondary principal street, Fifth Avenue, which was lined with many commercial businesses, restaurants, theaters, tall buildings, and elegant apartment buildings. The West Side was viewed as having wealthier residents. The houses dated from about 1908 to the 1930s. Much of the West Side's housing were for executives of U.S. Steel and other prominent businessmen. Notable mansions were 413 Tyler Street and 636 Lincoln Street. Many of the houses were on larger lots. By contrast, a working-class area was made up of row houses made of poured concrete were arranged together and known as "Mill Houses"; they were built to house steel mill workers.
The areas known as Emerson and Downtown West combine to form Downtown Gary. It was developed in the 1920s and houses several pieces of impressive architecture, including the Moe House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and another, the Wynant House (1917), which was destroyed by fire. A significant number of older structures have been demolished in recent years because of the cost of restoration. Restructuring of the steel and other heavy industry in the late 20th century resulted in a loss of jobs, adversely affecting the city.
Abandoned buildings in the downtown area include historic structures such as Union Station, the Palace Theater, and City Methodist Church. A large area of the downtown neighborhood (including City Methodist) was devastated by a major fire on October 12, 1997. Interstate 90 was constructed between downtown Gary and the United States Steel plant.
Ambridge Mann is a neighborhood located on Gary's near west side along 5th Avenue. Ambridge was developed for workers at the nearby steel plant in the 1910s and 1920s. It is named after the American Bridge Works, which was a subsidiary of U.S. Steel. The neighborhood is home to a huge stock of prairie-style and art deco homes. The Gary Masonic Temple was located in the neighborhood, along with the Ambassador apartment building. Located just south of Interstate 90, the neighborhood can be seen while passing Buchanan Street.
Brunswick is located on Gary's far west side. The neighborhood is located just south of Interstate 90 and can also be seen from the expressway. The Brunswick area includes the Tri-City Plaza shopping center on West 5th Avenue (U.S. 20). The area is south of the Gary Chicago International Airport.
Downtown West is located in north-central Gary on the west side of Broadway just south of Interstate 90. The Genesis Convention Center, the Gary Police Department, the Lake Superior Court House, and the Main Branch of the Gary Public Library are located along 5th Avenue. A new 123-unit mixed-income apartment development was built using a HUD HOPE VI grant in 2006. The Adam Benjamin Metro Center is located just north of 4th Avenue. It is operated by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation and serves as a multi-modal hub. It serves both as the Downtown Gary South Shore train station and an intercity bus stop.
Tolleston is one of Gary's oldest neighborhoods, predating much of the rest of the city. It was platted by George Tolle in 1857 when the railroads were constructed in this area. This area is west of Midtown and south of Ambridge Mann. Tarrytown is a subdivision located in Tolleston between Whitcomb Street and Clark Road.
Black Oak is located on the far southwest side of Gary, in the vicinity of the Burr Street exit to the Borman Expressway. It was annexed in the 1970s. Prior to that, Black Oak was an unincorporated area informally associated with Hammond, and the area has Hammond telephone numbers. After three referendums, the community voters approved annexation, having been persuaded by Mayor Hatcher that they would benefit more from services provided by the city than from those provided by the county. In the 21st century, it is the only majority-white neighborhood in Gary.
Glen Park is located on Gary's far south side and is made up mostly of mid-twentieth-century houses. Glen Park is divided from the remainder of the city by the Borman Expressway. The northern portion of Glen Park is home to Gary's Gleason Park Golf Course and the campus of Indiana University Northwest. The far western portion of Glen Park is home to the Village Shopping Center. Glen Park includes the 37th Avenue corridor at Broadway.
Midtown is located south of Downtown Gary, along Broadway. In the pre-1960s days of de facto segregation, this developed historically as a "black" neighborhood as African Americans came to Gary from the rural South in the Great Migration to seek jobs in the industrial economy.
Aetna is located on Gary's far east side along the Dunes Highway. Aetna predates the city of Gary. This company town was founded in 1881 by the Aetna Powder Works, an explosives company. Their factory closed after the end of World War I.
The Town of Aetna was annexed by Gary in 1928, around the same time that the city annexed the Town of Miller. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gary's prosperous industries helped generate residential and other development in Aetna, resulting in an impressive collection of art deco architecture. The rest of the community was built after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s, in a series of phases. On its south and east, Aetna borders the undeveloped floodplain of the Little Calumet River.
Emerson is located in north-central Gary on the east side of Broadway. Located just south of Interstate 90, Gary City Hall is located in Emerson, along with the Indiana Department of Social Services building and the Calumet Township Trustee's office. A 6,000-seat minor league baseball stadium for the Gary SouthShore RailCats, U.S. Steel Yard, was constructed in 2002, along with contiguous commercial space and minor residential development.
Miller Beach, also known simply as Miller, is on Gary's far northeast side. Settled in the 1850s and incorporated as an independent town in 1907, Miller was annexed by the city of Gary in 1918. Miller developed around the old stagecoach stop and train station known by the 1850s as Miller's Junction and/or Miller's Station. Miller Beach is racially and economically diverse. It attracts investor interest due to the many year-round and summer homes within walking distance of Marquette Park and Lake Michigan. Prices for lakefront property are affordable compared to those in Illinois suburban communities. Lake Street provides shopping and dining options for Miller Beach visitors and residents. East Edge, a development of 28 upscale condominium, townhome, and single-family homes, began construction in 2007 at the eastern edge of Miller Beach along County Line Road, one block south of Lake Michigan.
The city is located at the southern end of the former lake bed of the prehistoric Lake Chicago and the current Lake Michigan. Most of the city's soil, to nearly one foot below the surface, is pure sand. The sand beneath Gary, and on its beaches, is of such volume and quality that for over a century companies have mined it, especially for the manufacture of glass.
According to the 2010 census, Gary has a total area of 57.18 square miles (148.10 km), of which 49.87 square miles (129.16 km) (or 87.22%) is land and 7.31 square miles (18.93 km) (or 12.78%) is water.
Gary is "T" shaped, with its northern border on Lake Michigan. In the northwesternmost section, Gary borders Hammond and East Chicago; 165th Street, one of several roads connecting Hammond and Gary, has been walled off from Gary since 1981, initially due to a toxic flood. Miller Beach, Gary's easternmost neighborhood, borders Lake Station and Portage. Gary's southernmost section borders Griffith, Hobart, Merrillville, and unincorporated Ross. Gary is about 30 miles (48 km) from the Chicago Loop.
Gary is listed by the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system as humid continental (Dfa). In July and August, the warmest months, high temperatures average 84 °F (29 °C) and peak just above 100 °F (38 °C), and low temperatures average 63 °F (17 °C). In January and February, the coldest months, high temperatures average around 29 °F (−2 °C) and low temperatures average 13 °F (−11 °C), with at least a few days of temperatures dipping below 0 °F (−18 °C).
The weather in Gary is greatly regulated by its proximity to Lake Michigan. Weather varies yearly. In the summer months Gary is humid. The city's yearly precipitation averages about 40 inches. Summer is the rainiest season. Winters vary but are predominantly snowy. Snowfall in Gary averages approximately 25 inches per year. Sometimes large blizzards hit because of "lake effect snow", a phenomenon whereby large amounts of water evaporated from the lake deposit onto the shoreline areas as inordinate amounts of snow.
The change in the economy and resulting loss of jobs has caused a drop in population by nearly two thirds since its peak in 1960. Gary, along with St. Louis and Detroit, have each lost near or more than two thirds of their peak populations.
As of the census of 2010, there were 80,294 people, 31,380 households, and 19,691 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,610.1 inhabitants per square mile (621.7/km). There were 39,531 housing units at an average density of 792.7 per square mile (306.1/km). The racial makeup of the city was 84.8% African American, 10.7% White, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 1.8% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.1% of the population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 8.9% of the population in 2010, down from 39.1% in 1970.
There were 31,380 households, of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 30.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.23.
The median age in the city was 36.7 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.0% male and 54.0% female.
As of the census of 2000, there were 102,746 people, 38,244 households, and 25,623 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,045.5 inhabitants per square mile (789.8/km). There were 43,630 housing units at an average density of 868.6 per square mile (335.4/km). The racial makeup of the city was 84.03% African American, 11.92% White, 0.21% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.97% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.93% of the population.
There were 38,244 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% were married couples living together, 30.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.28.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.9% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,195, and the median income for a family was $32,205. Males had a median income of $34,992 versus $24,432 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,383. About 22.2% of families and 25.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.
Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man featured the song "Gary, Indiana", in which lead character (and con man) Professor Harold Hill wistfully recalls his purported hometown, then prosperous. Hill claims to be an alumnus of "Gary Conservatory of Music, Class of '05", but this is later revealed to be another of his lies. The City of Gary was not founded until 1906. Willson's musical, set in 1912, was adapted both as a film of the same name released in 1962, and as a television film, produced in 2003.
The 1996 urban film Original Gangstas was filmed in the city. It starred Gary native Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Isabel Sanford, among others. Since the early 2000s, Gary has been the setting for numerous films made by Hollywood filmmakers. In 2009, scenes for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed in Gary. Scenes from Transformers: Dark of the Moon wrapped up filming on August 16, 2010.
The History Channel documentary Life After People was filmed in Gary, exploring areas that have deteriorated or been abandoned because of the loss of jobs and residents.
In John Mellencamp's 1985 song, "Minutes to Memories", an old man on a bus, recalling his humble life, tells the young man beside him, "I worked my whole life in the steel mills of Gary."
The Gary Public Library System consists of the main library at 220 West 5th Avenue and several branches: Brunswick Branch, W. E. B. DuBois Branch, J. F. Kennedy Branch, Tolleston Branch, and Woodson Branch. In March 2011, the Gary Library Board voted to close the main library on 5th Avenue and the Tolleston branch in what officials said was their best economic option. The main library closed at the end of 2011. The building now houses a museum.
Lake County Public Library operates the Black Oak Branch at 5921 West 25th Avenue in the Gary city limits. In addition, Indiana University Northwest operates the John W. Anderson Library on its campus.
The following sports franchises are based in Gary:
Three school districts serve the city, and multiple charter schools are located within the city.
Most public schools in Gary are administered by the Gary Community School Corporation. The other public schools within the city are administered by Lake Ridge Schools Corporation, which is the school system for the Black Oak neighborhood and unincorporated Calumet Township. Due to annexation law, Black Oak residents retained their original school system and were not required to attend Gary public schools. In 1927, it was mandated that Black students attend a separate high school.
Charter schools in Indiana, including those in Gary, are granted charters by one of a small number of chartering institutions. Indiana charter schools are generally managed in cooperation between the chartering institution, a local board of parents and community members, salaried school administrators, and a management company. Charter schools in Gary as of 2011 include Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, Charter School of the Dunes, Gary Lighthouse Charter School (formerly Blessed Sacrament Parish and Grade School), and 21st Century Charter.
Gary is home to two regional state college campuses:
Gary is served by two major newspapers based outside the city, and by a Gary-based, largely African-American interest paper. These papers provide regional topics, and cover events in Gary.
Gary is served by five local broadcasters plus government access and numerous Chicago area radio and TV stations, and by other nearby stations in Illinois and Indiana.
Gary is served by the Gary Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff.
The Gary Fire Department (GFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Gary.
Gary is the hometown of the Jackson family, a family of musicians who influenced the sound of modern popular music. In 1950, Joseph and Katherine Jackson moved from East Chicago, Indiana into their two-bedroom house at 2300 Jackson Street. They had married on November 5, 1949. Their entertainer children later recorded a song entitled "2300 Jackson Street" (1989). The Jackson children include: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary (/ˈɡæri/ GARR-ee) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The city is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Park, and is within the Chicago metropolitan area.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gary was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation. U.S. Steel had established the city in 1906 as a company town to serve its steel mills. Although initially a very diverse city, after white flight in the 1970s, the city of Gary held the nation's highest percentage of African Americans for several decades.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "As of the 2020 census the city's population was 69,093, making it Indiana's ninth-largest city. Like other Rust Belt cities, Gary's once thriving steel industry has been significantly affected by the disappearance of local manufacturing jobs since the 1970s. As a result of this economic shift, the city's population has decreased drastically, having lost 61% of its population since 1960. Because of its large losses in population and deteriorating economy, Gary is often cited as an example of industrial decline and urban decay in America.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Gary is serviced by the Gary/Chicago International Airport, an alternative airport to the Chicago region's two larger airports. The city's public transport is provided by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation and the South Shore Line passenger railway, which connects to the Chicago transit system. It is also home to a professional baseball team, the Gary SouthShore RailCats. In addition to its large steel mills, the city is known for being the birthplace of the Jackson family, a family of well-known entertainers whose members include singer Michael Jackson.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the U.S. Steel as the home for its new plant, Gary Works. The city was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gary was the site of civil unrest in the steel strike of 1919. On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on Broadway, the main north-south street through downtown Gary, between steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Three days later, Indiana governor James P. Goodrich declared martial law. Shortly thereafter, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General Leonard Wood arrived to restore order.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The jobs offered by the steel industry provided Gary with very rapid growth and a diverse population within the first 26 years of its founding. According to the 1920 United States Census, 29.7% of Gary's population at the time was classified as foreign-born, mostly from eastern European countries, with another 30.8% classified as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. By the 1930 United States Census, the first census in which Gary's population exceeded 100,000, the city was the fifth largest in Indiana and comparable in size to South Bend, Fort Wayne, and Evansville. At that time, 78.7% of the population was classified as white, with 19.3% of the population classified as foreign-born and another 25.9% as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. In addition to white internal migrants, Gary had attracted numerous African-American migrants from the South in the Great Migration, and 17.8% of the population was classified as black. 3.5% were classified as Mexican (now likely to be identified as Hispanic, as some were likely American citizens in addition to immigrants).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Gary's fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the steel industry. The growth of the steel industry brought prosperity to the community. Broadway was known as a commercial center for the region. Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the downtown area and the Glen Park neighborhood.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In the 1960s, like many other American urban centers reliant on one particular industry, Gary entered a spiral of decline. Gary's decline was brought on by the growing overseas competitiveness in the steel industry, which had caused U.S. Steel to lay off many workers from the Gary area. The U.S. Steel Gary Works employed over 30,000 in 1970, declined to just 6,000 by 1990, and further declined to 5,100 in August 2015. Attempts to shore up the city's economy with major construction projects, such as a Holiday Inn hotel and the Genesis Convention Center, failed to reverse the decline.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In July 1968 riots broke out in Gary. Sniper fire killed 10 people; three were police officers. 3,000 National Guard members came in to restore order to the city. Curfews were enforced and a ban on gasoline and liquor sales helped calm the violence. Over 110 people were arrested, at least three stores were set on fire, and at least 15 fire-bombings were reported.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A rapid racial change occurred in Gary during the late 20th century. These population changes resulted in political change which reflected the racial demographics of Gary: the Black and Hispanic share of the city's population increased from 21% in 1930, 39% in 1960, to 53% in 1970. Black and Hispanic were primarily living in the Midtown section just south of downtown (per the 1950 Census, 97% of the black population of Gary was living in this neighborhood). Gary had one of the nation's first African-American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher, and hosted the groundbreaking 1972 National Black Political Convention.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans of U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84% (as of the 2000 U.S. census). This no longer applies to Gary since the population of the city has now fallen well below 100,000 residents. As of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "U.S. Steel continues to be a major steel producer, but with only a fraction of its former level of employment. While Gary has failed to reestablish a manufacturing base since its population peak, two casinos opened along the Gary lakeshore in the 1990s, although this has been aggravated by the state closing of Cline Avenue, an important access to the area. Today, Gary faces the difficulties of a Rust Belt city, including higher than national average unemployment, and decaying infrastructure.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Gary has closed several of its schools within the last ten years. While some of the school buildings have been reused, most remain unused since their closing. As of 2014, Gary is considering closing additional schools in response to budget deficits.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Gary chief of police Thomas Houston was convicted of excessive force and abuse of authority in 2008; he died in 2010 while serving a three-year, five-month federal prison sentence.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In April 2011, 75-year-old mayor Rudolph M. Clay announced that he would suspend his campaign for reelection as he was being treated for prostate cancer. He endorsed rival Karen Freeman-Wilson, who won the Democratic mayoral primary in May 2011. Freeman-Wilson won election with 87 percent of the vote and her term began in January 2012; she is the first woman elected mayor in the city's history. She was reelected in 2015. She was defeated in her bid for a third term in the 2019 Democratic primary by Lake County Assessor Jerome Prince. Since no challengers filed for the November 2019 general election, Prince's nomination is effectively tantamount to election, and officially succeeded Freeman-Wilson on January 1, 2020, two days after he was sworn in as the city's 21st mayor on December 30, 2019.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In May 2021, a $300 million Hard Rock Casino location opened in the city. Branded as Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, the location includes memorabilia from local natives Jackson 5 and a 1,950-seat Hard Rock Live performance hall.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The following single properties and national historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Downtown Gary is separated by Broadway into two distinctive communities. Originally, the City of Gary consisted of The East Side, The West Side, The South Side (the area south of the train tracks near 9th Avenue), and Glen Park, located further South along Broadway. The East Side was demarcated by streets named after the States in order of their acceptance into the Union. This area contained mostly wood-frame houses, some of the earliest in the city, and became known in the 20th century for its ethnic populations from Europe and large families. The single-family houses had repeating house designs that alternated from one street to another, with some streets looking very similar. Among the East Side's most notable buildings were Memorial Auditorium (a large red-brick and stone civic auditorium and the site of numerous events, concerts and graduations), The Palace Theater, Emerson School, St. Luke's Church, H.C. Gordon & Sons, and Goldblatt's Department stores, in addition to the Fair Department Store. All fronted Broadway as the main street that divided Gary.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The West Side of Gary, or West of Broadway, the principal commercial street, had streets named after the presidents of the United States in order of their election. Lytton's, Hudson's ladies store, J.C. Penney, and Radigan Bros Furniture Store developed on the west side of Broadway. Developed later, this side of town was known for its masonry or brick residences, its taller and larger commercial buildings, including the Gary National Bank Building, Hotel Gary (now Genesis Towers), The Knights of Columbus Hotel & Building (now affordable housing fronting 5th Avenue), the Tivoli Theater (demolished), the U.S. Post Office, Main Library, Mercy and Methodist Hospitals and Holy Angels Cathedral and School. The West Side also had a secondary principal street, Fifth Avenue, which was lined with many commercial businesses, restaurants, theaters, tall buildings, and elegant apartment buildings. The West Side was viewed as having wealthier residents. The houses dated from about 1908 to the 1930s. Much of the West Side's housing were for executives of U.S. Steel and other prominent businessmen. Notable mansions were 413 Tyler Street and 636 Lincoln Street. Many of the houses were on larger lots. By contrast, a working-class area was made up of row houses made of poured concrete were arranged together and known as \"Mill Houses\"; they were built to house steel mill workers.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The areas known as Emerson and Downtown West combine to form Downtown Gary. It was developed in the 1920s and houses several pieces of impressive architecture, including the Moe House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and another, the Wynant House (1917), which was destroyed by fire. A significant number of older structures have been demolished in recent years because of the cost of restoration. Restructuring of the steel and other heavy industry in the late 20th century resulted in a loss of jobs, adversely affecting the city.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Abandoned buildings in the downtown area include historic structures such as Union Station, the Palace Theater, and City Methodist Church. A large area of the downtown neighborhood (including City Methodist) was devastated by a major fire on October 12, 1997. Interstate 90 was constructed between downtown Gary and the United States Steel plant.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Ambridge Mann is a neighborhood located on Gary's near west side along 5th Avenue. Ambridge was developed for workers at the nearby steel plant in the 1910s and 1920s. It is named after the American Bridge Works, which was a subsidiary of U.S. Steel. The neighborhood is home to a huge stock of prairie-style and art deco homes. The Gary Masonic Temple was located in the neighborhood, along with the Ambassador apartment building. Located just south of Interstate 90, the neighborhood can be seen while passing Buchanan Street.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Brunswick is located on Gary's far west side. The neighborhood is located just south of Interstate 90 and can also be seen from the expressway. The Brunswick area includes the Tri-City Plaza shopping center on West 5th Avenue (U.S. 20). The area is south of the Gary Chicago International Airport.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Downtown West is located in north-central Gary on the west side of Broadway just south of Interstate 90. The Genesis Convention Center, the Gary Police Department, the Lake Superior Court House, and the Main Branch of the Gary Public Library are located along 5th Avenue. A new 123-unit mixed-income apartment development was built using a HUD HOPE VI grant in 2006. The Adam Benjamin Metro Center is located just north of 4th Avenue. It is operated by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation and serves as a multi-modal hub. It serves both as the Downtown Gary South Shore train station and an intercity bus stop.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Tolleston is one of Gary's oldest neighborhoods, predating much of the rest of the city. It was platted by George Tolle in 1857 when the railroads were constructed in this area. This area is west of Midtown and south of Ambridge Mann. Tarrytown is a subdivision located in Tolleston between Whitcomb Street and Clark Road.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Black Oak is located on the far southwest side of Gary, in the vicinity of the Burr Street exit to the Borman Expressway. It was annexed in the 1970s. Prior to that, Black Oak was an unincorporated area informally associated with Hammond, and the area has Hammond telephone numbers. After three referendums, the community voters approved annexation, having been persuaded by Mayor Hatcher that they would benefit more from services provided by the city than from those provided by the county. In the 21st century, it is the only majority-white neighborhood in Gary.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Glen Park is located on Gary's far south side and is made up mostly of mid-twentieth-century houses. Glen Park is divided from the remainder of the city by the Borman Expressway. The northern portion of Glen Park is home to Gary's Gleason Park Golf Course and the campus of Indiana University Northwest. The far western portion of Glen Park is home to the Village Shopping Center. Glen Park includes the 37th Avenue corridor at Broadway.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Midtown is located south of Downtown Gary, along Broadway. In the pre-1960s days of de facto segregation, this developed historically as a \"black\" neighborhood as African Americans came to Gary from the rural South in the Great Migration to seek jobs in the industrial economy.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Aetna is located on Gary's far east side along the Dunes Highway. Aetna predates the city of Gary. This company town was founded in 1881 by the Aetna Powder Works, an explosives company. Their factory closed after the end of World War I.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The Town of Aetna was annexed by Gary in 1928, around the same time that the city annexed the Town of Miller. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Gary's prosperous industries helped generate residential and other development in Aetna, resulting in an impressive collection of art deco architecture. The rest of the community was built after World War II and the Korean War in the 1950s, in a series of phases. On its south and east, Aetna borders the undeveloped floodplain of the Little Calumet River.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Emerson is located in north-central Gary on the east side of Broadway. Located just south of Interstate 90, Gary City Hall is located in Emerson, along with the Indiana Department of Social Services building and the Calumet Township Trustee's office. A 6,000-seat minor league baseball stadium for the Gary SouthShore RailCats, U.S. Steel Yard, was constructed in 2002, along with contiguous commercial space and minor residential development.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Miller Beach, also known simply as Miller, is on Gary's far northeast side. Settled in the 1850s and incorporated as an independent town in 1907, Miller was annexed by the city of Gary in 1918. Miller developed around the old stagecoach stop and train station known by the 1850s as Miller's Junction and/or Miller's Station. Miller Beach is racially and economically diverse. It attracts investor interest due to the many year-round and summer homes within walking distance of Marquette Park and Lake Michigan. Prices for lakefront property are affordable compared to those in Illinois suburban communities. Lake Street provides shopping and dining options for Miller Beach visitors and residents. East Edge, a development of 28 upscale condominium, townhome, and single-family homes, began construction in 2007 at the eastern edge of Miller Beach along County Line Road, one block south of Lake Michigan.",
"title": "Neighborhoods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The city is located at the southern end of the former lake bed of the prehistoric Lake Chicago and the current Lake Michigan. Most of the city's soil, to nearly one foot below the surface, is pure sand. The sand beneath Gary, and on its beaches, is of such volume and quality that for over a century companies have mined it, especially for the manufacture of glass.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "According to the 2010 census, Gary has a total area of 57.18 square miles (148.10 km), of which 49.87 square miles (129.16 km) (or 87.22%) is land and 7.31 square miles (18.93 km) (or 12.78%) is water.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Gary is \"T\" shaped, with its northern border on Lake Michigan. In the northwesternmost section, Gary borders Hammond and East Chicago; 165th Street, one of several roads connecting Hammond and Gary, has been walled off from Gary since 1981, initially due to a toxic flood. Miller Beach, Gary's easternmost neighborhood, borders Lake Station and Portage. Gary's southernmost section borders Griffith, Hobart, Merrillville, and unincorporated Ross. Gary is about 30 miles (48 km) from the Chicago Loop.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Gary is listed by the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system as humid continental (Dfa). In July and August, the warmest months, high temperatures average 84 °F (29 °C) and peak just above 100 °F (38 °C), and low temperatures average 63 °F (17 °C). In January and February, the coldest months, high temperatures average around 29 °F (−2 °C) and low temperatures average 13 °F (−11 °C), with at least a few days of temperatures dipping below 0 °F (−18 °C).",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The weather in Gary is greatly regulated by its proximity to Lake Michigan. Weather varies yearly. In the summer months Gary is humid. The city's yearly precipitation averages about 40 inches. Summer is the rainiest season. Winters vary but are predominantly snowy. Snowfall in Gary averages approximately 25 inches per year. Sometimes large blizzards hit because of \"lake effect snow\", a phenomenon whereby large amounts of water evaporated from the lake deposit onto the shoreline areas as inordinate amounts of snow.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "The change in the economy and resulting loss of jobs has caused a drop in population by nearly two thirds since its peak in 1960. Gary, along with St. Louis and Detroit, have each lost near or more than two thirds of their peak populations.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "As of the census of 2010, there were 80,294 people, 31,380 households, and 19,691 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,610.1 inhabitants per square mile (621.7/km). There were 39,531 housing units at an average density of 792.7 per square mile (306.1/km). The racial makeup of the city was 84.8% African American, 10.7% White, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 1.8% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.1% of the population. Non-Hispanic Whites were 8.9% of the population in 2010, down from 39.1% in 1970.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "There were 31,380 households, of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 30.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.23.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The median age in the city was 36.7 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.0% male and 54.0% female.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "As of the census of 2000, there were 102,746 people, 38,244 households, and 25,623 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,045.5 inhabitants per square mile (789.8/km). There were 43,630 housing units at an average density of 868.6 per square mile (335.4/km). The racial makeup of the city was 84.03% African American, 11.92% White, 0.21% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.97% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.93% of the population.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "There were 38,244 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.2% were married couples living together, 30.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.28.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.9% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The median income for a household in the city was $27,195, and the median income for a family was $32,205. Males had a median income of $34,992 versus $24,432 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,383. About 22.2% of families and 25.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man featured the song \"Gary, Indiana\", in which lead character (and con man) Professor Harold Hill wistfully recalls his purported hometown, then prosperous. Hill claims to be an alumnus of \"Gary Conservatory of Music, Class of '05\", but this is later revealed to be another of his lies. The City of Gary was not founded until 1906. Willson's musical, set in 1912, was adapted both as a film of the same name released in 1962, and as a television film, produced in 2003.",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The 1996 urban film Original Gangstas was filmed in the city. It starred Gary native Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Isabel Sanford, among others. Since the early 2000s, Gary has been the setting for numerous films made by Hollywood filmmakers. In 2009, scenes for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed in Gary. Scenes from Transformers: Dark of the Moon wrapped up filming on August 16, 2010.",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The History Channel documentary Life After People was filmed in Gary, exploring areas that have deteriorated or been abandoned because of the loss of jobs and residents.",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In John Mellencamp's 1985 song, \"Minutes to Memories\", an old man on a bus, recalling his humble life, tells the young man beside him, \"I worked my whole life in the steel mills of Gary.\"",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The Gary Public Library System consists of the main library at 220 West 5th Avenue and several branches: Brunswick Branch, W. E. B. DuBois Branch, J. F. Kennedy Branch, Tolleston Branch, and Woodson Branch. In March 2011, the Gary Library Board voted to close the main library on 5th Avenue and the Tolleston branch in what officials said was their best economic option. The main library closed at the end of 2011. The building now houses a museum.",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Lake County Public Library operates the Black Oak Branch at 5921 West 25th Avenue in the Gary city limits. In addition, Indiana University Northwest operates the John W. Anderson Library on its campus.",
"title": "Arts and culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The following sports franchises are based in Gary:",
"title": "Sports"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Three school districts serve the city, and multiple charter schools are located within the city.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Most public schools in Gary are administered by the Gary Community School Corporation. The other public schools within the city are administered by Lake Ridge Schools Corporation, which is the school system for the Black Oak neighborhood and unincorporated Calumet Township. Due to annexation law, Black Oak residents retained their original school system and were not required to attend Gary public schools. In 1927, it was mandated that Black students attend a separate high school.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Charter schools in Indiana, including those in Gary, are granted charters by one of a small number of chartering institutions. Indiana charter schools are generally managed in cooperation between the chartering institution, a local board of parents and community members, salaried school administrators, and a management company. Charter schools in Gary as of 2011 include Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, Charter School of the Dunes, Gary Lighthouse Charter School (formerly Blessed Sacrament Parish and Grade School), and 21st Century Charter.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Gary is home to two regional state college campuses:",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Gary is served by two major newspapers based outside the city, and by a Gary-based, largely African-American interest paper. These papers provide regional topics, and cover events in Gary.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Gary is served by five local broadcasters plus government access and numerous Chicago area radio and TV stations, and by other nearby stations in Illinois and Indiana.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Gary is served by the Gary Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The Gary Fire Department (GFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Gary.",
"title": "Infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Gary is the hometown of the Jackson family, a family of musicians who influenced the sound of modern popular music. In 1950, Joseph and Katherine Jackson moved from East Chicago, Indiana into their two-bedroom house at 2300 Jackson Street. They had married on November 5, 1949. Their entertainer children later recorded a song entitled \"2300 Jackson Street\" (1989). The Jackson children include:",
"title": "Notable people"
}
]
| Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The city is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Park, and is within the Chicago metropolitan area. Gary was named after lawyer Elbert Henry Gary, who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation. U.S. Steel had established the city in 1906 as a company town to serve its steel mills. Although initially a very diverse city, after white flight in the 1970s, the city of Gary held the nation's highest percentage of African Americans for several decades. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 69,093, making it Indiana's ninth-largest city. Like other Rust Belt cities, Gary's once thriving steel industry has been significantly affected by the disappearance of local manufacturing jobs since the 1970s. As a result of this economic shift, the city's population has decreased drastically, having lost 61% of its population since 1960. Because of its large losses in population and deteriorating economy, Gary is often cited as an example of industrial decline and urban decay in America. Gary is serviced by the Gary/Chicago International Airport, an alternative airport to the Chicago region's two larger airports. The city's public transport is provided by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation and the South Shore Line passenger railway, which connects to the Chicago transit system. It is also home to a professional baseball team, the Gary SouthShore RailCats. In addition to its large steel mills, the city is known for being the birthplace of the Jackson family, a family of well-known entertainers whose members include singer Michael Jackson. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-12-30T17:30:13Z | [
"Template:Respell",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Infobox settlement",
"Template:US Census population",
"Template:Colbegin",
"Template:Dead link",
"Template:Center",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:When",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Subscription required",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Doi",
"Template:Chicagoland",
"Template:Indiana",
"Template:Nobold",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Great Lakes Megalopolis",
"Template:Legend-line",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Gary neighborhoods",
"Template:Lake County, Indiana",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Weather box",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Wikivoyage",
"Template:For",
"Template:Colend",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Use American English"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary,_Indiana |
12,651 | Gregory the Illuminator | Gregory the Illuminator (Classical Armenian: Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, reformed spelling: Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, Grigor Lusavorich; c. 257 – c. 328) was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and in some other churches.
Gregory is said to have been the son of a Parthian nobleman, Anak, who assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II. The young Gregory was saved from the extermination of Anak's family and was raised as a Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Gregory returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III, who had Gregory tortured after he refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. After discovering Gregory's true identity, Tiridates had him thrown into a deep pit well called Khor Virap for 14 years. Gregory was miraculously saved from death and released after many years with the help of Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht. Gregory then converted the King to Christianity, and Armenia then became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. Gregory, the Illuminator, then healed King Tiridates, who the hagiographical sources say had been transfomed into a boar for his sins, and preached Christianity in Armenia. He was consecrated bishop of Armenia at Caesarea, baptized King Tiridates and the Armenian people, and traveled throughout Armenia, destroying pagan temples and building churches in their place.
Gregory eventually gave up the patriarchate to live as a hermit and was succeeded by his son Aristaces. Gregory's descendants, called the Gregorids, hereditarily held the office of Patriarch of Armenia with some interruptions until the fifth century. It is in Gregory's honor that the Armenian Church is sometimes called lusavorchʻakan ("of the Illuminator") or Gregorian.
In the Armenian tradition, the standard version of the life of Gregory the Illuminator derives from the fifth-century hagiographic history attributed to Agathangelos. According to Agathangelos's account, Gregory was the son of the Parthian nobleman Anak; the later Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi identifies Anak as a member of the Parthian noble house of Suren. At the incitation of the Sasanian king Ardashir I, who promised to return Anak his domain as a reward, the Parthian nobleman went to Armenia and assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II after gaining his confidence. Anak was then put to death by the Armenian nobles along with his entire family․ Anak's son Gregory narrowly escaped execution with the help of his nurse, whom Khorenatsi calls Sophy, sister of a Cappadocian notable named Euthalius (Ewtʻagh). Gregory was taken to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he received a Christian upbringing.
According to Khorenatsi, upon coming of age, Gregory married Mariam, daughter of a Christian named David. He had two children with Mariam: Aristaces and Vrtanes, who would later succeed Gregory as patriarchs of Armenia.
After the birth of their sons, Mariam and Gregory separated, and Gregory went to Armenia to enter the service of King Tiridates III, son of the assassinated king Khosrov II. After Gregory refused to sacrifice to the goddess Anahit, the king had Gregory imprisoned and subjected to many tortures. Once Tiridates discovered that Gregory was the son of his father's killer, he had Gregory thrown into a deep pit called Khor Virap near Artaxata, where he remained for thirteen (or fifteen) years. In Agathangelos's history, Gregory is miraculously saved and brought out from the pit after Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht sees a vision. Gregory then healed the king, who, Agathangelos writes, had been transformed into a wild boar for his sinful behavior. Tiridates and his court accepted Christianity, making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion.
After being released, Gregory preached the Christian faith in Armenia and erected shrines to the martyrs Gayane and Hripsime in Vagharshapat on a spot indicated to him in a vision. Vagharshapat would later become home to the mother church of Armenian Christianity and, by medieval times, called Ejmiatsin ("descent of the only-begotten") in reference to Gregory's vision. Gregory, sometimes accompanied by Tiridates, went around Armenia destroying pagan temples, defeating the armed resistance of the pagan priests. Gregory then went to Caesarea with a retinue of Armenian princes and was consecrated bishop of Armenia by Leontius of Caesarea. Until the death of Nerses I in the late fourth century, Gregory's successors would go to Caesarea to be confirmed as bishops of Armenia, and Armenia remained under the titular authority of the metropolitans of Caesarea.
Returning to Armenia, Gregory raised churches in place of the destroyed pagan temples and seized their estates and wealth for the Armenian Church and his house. On the site of the destroyed temple to Vahagn at Ashtishat, Gregory raised a church which became the original center of the Armenian Church and remained so until after the partition of the country in 387. Gregory met King Tiridates near the town of Bagavan and baptized the Armenian king, army and people in the Euphrates. In two non-Armenian versions of Agathangelos's history, Gregory also baptizes together with Tiridates the kings of Caucasian Albania, Georgia and Lazica/Abkhazia. He founded schools for the Christian education of children, where the languages of instruction were Greek and Syriac. He established the ecclesiastical structure of Armenia, appointing as bishops some of the children of pagan priests. Gregory is also said to have journeyed to Rome with King Tiridates in an embassy to the recently converted Constantine the Great, but scholar Robert W. Thomson views this as fictional.
The conversion of Armenia to Christianity is traditionally dated to 301, but modern scholarship considers a later date, approximately 314, to be a more likely. Additionally, the history of Agathangelos depicts the spread of Christianity of Armenia as having occurred practically entirely within Gregory's lifetime, when, in fact, it was a more gradual process.
Some time after converting Armenia to Christianity, Gregory appointed his younger son Aristaces as his successor and went to live an ascetic life in the "cave of Manē" in the district of Daranali in Upper Armenia. The Patriarchate of Armenia would be held as a hereditary office, with some interruptions, by the house of Gregory, called the Gregorids, until the death of Patriarch Isaac in the fifth century. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Gregory sometimes came out from his hermitage and traveled around the country until Aristaces returned from the Council of Nicaea (325), after which Gregory never appeared to anyone again. He died in seclusion in the cave of Manē and was buried nearby by shepherds who did not know who he was. All of the sources indicate that Gregory's death occurred not long after the Council of Nicaea; Cyril Toumanoff gives 328 as the year of Gregory's death.
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, philologist and Armenia's first president, postulates that Gregory and Mesrop Mashtots had the most influence on the course of Armenian history. James R. Russell argues that both Gregory and Mashtots were visionaries, found a champion for their program in the king, looked to the West, had very strong pro-Hellenic bias, trained the children of pagan priests and assembled their own disciples to spread the faith through learning.
After his death his corpse was removed to the village of Thodanum (T'ordan, modern Doğanköy, Kemah, near Erzincan).
The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon each claim to have the right arm of the saint, in an arm-shaped reliquary, which is used for the blessing of the Holy Myron every seven years.
In the calendar of the Armenian Church, the discovery of the relics of St. Gregory is an important feast and is commemorated on the Saturday before the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Two other feast days in the Armenian Apostolic Church are devoted to St. Gregory: the feast of his entry into Khor Virap, the 'deep pit or dungeon' (commemorated on the last Saturday of Lent) and his deliverance from Khor Virap (commemorated on the Saturday before the second Sunday after Pentecost).
Gregory is commemorated on September 30 by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which styles him "Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Greater Armenia, Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of Armenia."
His relics were scattered near and far in the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno. Veneration of Gregory began in the Byzantine Empire in the late 9th century with the ascend of Basil I. A 9th century mosaic of Gregory was uncovered in Hagia Sophia under a layer of plaster in 1847–49 during the restoration by the Fossati brothers. Located in the south tympanum, next to the Fathers of the Church, it shows Gregory standing in bishop robes, blessing with one hand and holding the Book of the Gospels with the other. The mosaic, thought to have been destroyed in the 1894 earthquake, survives in drawing by Wilhelm Salzenberg and the Fossati brothers. Sirarpie Der Nersessian argued that his inclusion in the series of the Church Fathers is explained by the myth of the Arsacid origin of Basil I, likely fabricated by Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople.
Gregory is depicted in two prominent Byzantine illuminated manuscripts—the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000) and the Theodore Psalter (1066)—and in a number of Byzantine churches and monasteries, most notably Hosios Loukas (11th century), Church of Panagia Chalkeon in Thessaloniki (11th century), and the Pammakaristos Church in Constantinople (14th century).
One of the sections of Moscow's iconic Saint Basil's Cathedral is named after Gregory the Armenian (Церковь Григория Армянского). It is dedicated to the capture of Ars Tower of the Kazan Kremlin by Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan on September 30, 1552, on his feast day.
In the 8th century, the iconoclast decrees in Greece caused a number of religious orders to flee the Byzantine Empire and seek refuge elsewhere. San Gregorio Armeno in Naples was built in that century over the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Ceres, by a group of nuns escaping from the Byzantine Empire with the relics of Gregory, including his skull, a femur bone, his staff, the leather straps used in his torture and the manacles that held the saint. The femur and manacles were returned by Pope John Paul II to Catholicos Karekin II and are now enshrined at Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan.
On 20 February, 1743, Nardò, Italy was hit by a devastating earthquake that destroyed almost the entire city. The only structure to survive intact after the quake was the city's statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator. According to the city's registers, only 350 out of the city's 10,000 inhabitants died in the earthquake, leading the inhabitants to believe that St. Gregory saved the city. Every year, they mark the anniversary of the earthquake by holding three days of celebrations in his honor. Relics of the saint are kept at Nardò Cathedral.
He is listed on September 30 in the Roman Martyrology of the Ordinary Form of the Catholic Church; his feast day is listed as October 1 in the Extraordinary Form. He is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 23.
A 5.7 m (19 ft) tall statue of Gregory in the Carrara marble was installed in the north courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in January 2005. Sculpted by France-based Lebanese-Armenian sculptor Khatchik Kazandjian, the statue was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II. Gregory is depicted holding a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other. Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the area as St. Gregory the Illuminator Courtyard in February 2008. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gregory the Illuminator (Classical Armenian: Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, reformed spelling: Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, Grigor Lusavorich; c. 257 – c. 328) was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and in some other churches.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gregory is said to have been the son of a Parthian nobleman, Anak, who assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II. The young Gregory was saved from the extermination of Anak's family and was raised as a Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Gregory returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III, who had Gregory tortured after he refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. After discovering Gregory's true identity, Tiridates had him thrown into a deep pit well called Khor Virap for 14 years. Gregory was miraculously saved from death and released after many years with the help of Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht. Gregory then converted the King to Christianity, and Armenia then became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. Gregory, the Illuminator, then healed King Tiridates, who the hagiographical sources say had been transfomed into a boar for his sins, and preached Christianity in Armenia. He was consecrated bishop of Armenia at Caesarea, baptized King Tiridates and the Armenian people, and traveled throughout Armenia, destroying pagan temples and building churches in their place.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Gregory eventually gave up the patriarchate to live as a hermit and was succeeded by his son Aristaces. Gregory's descendants, called the Gregorids, hereditarily held the office of Patriarch of Armenia with some interruptions until the fifth century. It is in Gregory's honor that the Armenian Church is sometimes called lusavorchʻakan (\"of the Illuminator\") or Gregorian.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In the Armenian tradition, the standard version of the life of Gregory the Illuminator derives from the fifth-century hagiographic history attributed to Agathangelos. According to Agathangelos's account, Gregory was the son of the Parthian nobleman Anak; the later Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi identifies Anak as a member of the Parthian noble house of Suren. At the incitation of the Sasanian king Ardashir I, who promised to return Anak his domain as a reward, the Parthian nobleman went to Armenia and assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II after gaining his confidence. Anak was then put to death by the Armenian nobles along with his entire family․ Anak's son Gregory narrowly escaped execution with the help of his nurse, whom Khorenatsi calls Sophy, sister of a Cappadocian notable named Euthalius (Ewtʻagh). Gregory was taken to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he received a Christian upbringing.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "According to Khorenatsi, upon coming of age, Gregory married Mariam, daughter of a Christian named David. He had two children with Mariam: Aristaces and Vrtanes, who would later succeed Gregory as patriarchs of Armenia.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "After the birth of their sons, Mariam and Gregory separated, and Gregory went to Armenia to enter the service of King Tiridates III, son of the assassinated king Khosrov II. After Gregory refused to sacrifice to the goddess Anahit, the king had Gregory imprisoned and subjected to many tortures. Once Tiridates discovered that Gregory was the son of his father's killer, he had Gregory thrown into a deep pit called Khor Virap near Artaxata, where he remained for thirteen (or fifteen) years. In Agathangelos's history, Gregory is miraculously saved and brought out from the pit after Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht sees a vision. Gregory then healed the king, who, Agathangelos writes, had been transformed into a wild boar for his sinful behavior. Tiridates and his court accepted Christianity, making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion.",
"title": "Christianization of Armenia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "After being released, Gregory preached the Christian faith in Armenia and erected shrines to the martyrs Gayane and Hripsime in Vagharshapat on a spot indicated to him in a vision. Vagharshapat would later become home to the mother church of Armenian Christianity and, by medieval times, called Ejmiatsin (\"descent of the only-begotten\") in reference to Gregory's vision. Gregory, sometimes accompanied by Tiridates, went around Armenia destroying pagan temples, defeating the armed resistance of the pagan priests. Gregory then went to Caesarea with a retinue of Armenian princes and was consecrated bishop of Armenia by Leontius of Caesarea. Until the death of Nerses I in the late fourth century, Gregory's successors would go to Caesarea to be confirmed as bishops of Armenia, and Armenia remained under the titular authority of the metropolitans of Caesarea.",
"title": "Christianization of Armenia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Returning to Armenia, Gregory raised churches in place of the destroyed pagan temples and seized their estates and wealth for the Armenian Church and his house. On the site of the destroyed temple to Vahagn at Ashtishat, Gregory raised a church which became the original center of the Armenian Church and remained so until after the partition of the country in 387. Gregory met King Tiridates near the town of Bagavan and baptized the Armenian king, army and people in the Euphrates. In two non-Armenian versions of Agathangelos's history, Gregory also baptizes together with Tiridates the kings of Caucasian Albania, Georgia and Lazica/Abkhazia. He founded schools for the Christian education of children, where the languages of instruction were Greek and Syriac. He established the ecclesiastical structure of Armenia, appointing as bishops some of the children of pagan priests. Gregory is also said to have journeyed to Rome with King Tiridates in an embassy to the recently converted Constantine the Great, but scholar Robert W. Thomson views this as fictional.",
"title": "Christianization of Armenia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The conversion of Armenia to Christianity is traditionally dated to 301, but modern scholarship considers a later date, approximately 314, to be a more likely. Additionally, the history of Agathangelos depicts the spread of Christianity of Armenia as having occurred practically entirely within Gregory's lifetime, when, in fact, it was a more gradual process.",
"title": "Christianization of Armenia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Some time after converting Armenia to Christianity, Gregory appointed his younger son Aristaces as his successor and went to live an ascetic life in the \"cave of Manē\" in the district of Daranali in Upper Armenia. The Patriarchate of Armenia would be held as a hereditary office, with some interruptions, by the house of Gregory, called the Gregorids, until the death of Patriarch Isaac in the fifth century. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Gregory sometimes came out from his hermitage and traveled around the country until Aristaces returned from the Council of Nicaea (325), after which Gregory never appeared to anyone again. He died in seclusion in the cave of Manē and was buried nearby by shepherds who did not know who he was. All of the sources indicate that Gregory's death occurred not long after the Council of Nicaea; Cyril Toumanoff gives 328 as the year of Gregory's death.",
"title": "Retirement and death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Levon Ter-Petrosyan, philologist and Armenia's first president, postulates that Gregory and Mesrop Mashtots had the most influence on the course of Armenian history. James R. Russell argues that both Gregory and Mashtots were visionaries, found a champion for their program in the king, looked to the West, had very strong pro-Hellenic bias, trained the children of pagan priests and assembled their own disciples to spread the faith through learning.",
"title": "Historical assessment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "After his death his corpse was removed to the village of Thodanum (T'ordan, modern Doğanköy, Kemah, near Erzincan).",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon each claim to have the right arm of the saint, in an arm-shaped reliquary, which is used for the blessing of the Holy Myron every seven years.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In the calendar of the Armenian Church, the discovery of the relics of St. Gregory is an important feast and is commemorated on the Saturday before the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Two other feast days in the Armenian Apostolic Church are devoted to St. Gregory: the feast of his entry into Khor Virap, the 'deep pit or dungeon' (commemorated on the last Saturday of Lent) and his deliverance from Khor Virap (commemorated on the Saturday before the second Sunday after Pentecost).",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Gregory is commemorated on September 30 by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which styles him \"Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Greater Armenia, Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of Armenia.\"",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "His relics were scattered near and far in the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno. Veneration of Gregory began in the Byzantine Empire in the late 9th century with the ascend of Basil I. A 9th century mosaic of Gregory was uncovered in Hagia Sophia under a layer of plaster in 1847–49 during the restoration by the Fossati brothers. Located in the south tympanum, next to the Fathers of the Church, it shows Gregory standing in bishop robes, blessing with one hand and holding the Book of the Gospels with the other. The mosaic, thought to have been destroyed in the 1894 earthquake, survives in drawing by Wilhelm Salzenberg and the Fossati brothers. Sirarpie Der Nersessian argued that his inclusion in the series of the Church Fathers is explained by the myth of the Arsacid origin of Basil I, likely fabricated by Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Gregory is depicted in two prominent Byzantine illuminated manuscripts—the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000) and the Theodore Psalter (1066)—and in a number of Byzantine churches and monasteries, most notably Hosios Loukas (11th century), Church of Panagia Chalkeon in Thessaloniki (11th century), and the Pammakaristos Church in Constantinople (14th century).",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "One of the sections of Moscow's iconic Saint Basil's Cathedral is named after Gregory the Armenian (Церковь Григория Армянского). It is dedicated to the capture of Ars Tower of the Kazan Kremlin by Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan on September 30, 1552, on his feast day.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In the 8th century, the iconoclast decrees in Greece caused a number of religious orders to flee the Byzantine Empire and seek refuge elsewhere. San Gregorio Armeno in Naples was built in that century over the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Ceres, by a group of nuns escaping from the Byzantine Empire with the relics of Gregory, including his skull, a femur bone, his staff, the leather straps used in his torture and the manacles that held the saint. The femur and manacles were returned by Pope John Paul II to Catholicos Karekin II and are now enshrined at Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "On 20 February, 1743, Nardò, Italy was hit by a devastating earthquake that destroyed almost the entire city. The only structure to survive intact after the quake was the city's statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator. According to the city's registers, only 350 out of the city's 10,000 inhabitants died in the earthquake, leading the inhabitants to believe that St. Gregory saved the city. Every year, they mark the anniversary of the earthquake by holding three days of celebrations in his honor. Relics of the saint are kept at Nardò Cathedral.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "He is listed on September 30 in the Roman Martyrology of the Ordinary Form of the Catholic Church; his feast day is listed as October 1 in the Extraordinary Form. He is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 23.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "A 5.7 m (19 ft) tall statue of Gregory in the Carrara marble was installed in the north courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in January 2005. Sculpted by France-based Lebanese-Armenian sculptor Khatchik Kazandjian, the statue was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II. Gregory is depicted holding a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other. Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the area as St. Gregory the Illuminator Courtyard in February 2008.",
"title": "Relics and veneration"
}
]
| Gregory the Illuminator was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century, making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and in some other churches. Gregory is said to have been the son of a Parthian nobleman, Anak, who assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II. The young Gregory was saved from the extermination of Anak's family and was raised as a Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Gregory returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III, who had Gregory tortured after he refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. After discovering Gregory's true identity, Tiridates had him thrown into a deep pit well called Khor Virap for 14 years. Gregory was miraculously saved from death and released after many years with the help of Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht. Gregory then converted the King to Christianity, and Armenia then became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. Gregory, the Illuminator, then healed King Tiridates, who the hagiographical sources say had been transfomed into a boar for his sins, and preached Christianity in Armenia. He was consecrated bishop of Armenia at Caesarea, baptized King Tiridates and the Armenian people, and traveled throughout Armenia, destroying pagan temples and building churches in their place. Gregory eventually gave up the patriarchate to live as a hermit and was succeeded by his son Aristaces. Gregory's descendants, called the Gregorids, hereditarily held the office of Patriarch of Armenia with some interruptions until the fifth century. It is in Gregory's honor that the Armenian Church is sometimes called lusavorchʻakan or Gregorian. | 2001-09-30T15:38:01Z | 2023-11-07T20:19:23Z | [
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:S-start",
"Template:C.",
"Template:Cite Collier's",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Encyclopædia Iranica",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:Catholic saints",
"Template:Infobox saint",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Cite EB9",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:Lang-hy",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Oriental Orthodox sidebar",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite EB1911",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Sfn whitelist",
"Template:Christian History",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_the_Illuminator |
12,653 | God Emperor of Dune | God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert, published in 1981. The fourth in his Dune series of six novels, it was ranked as the No. 11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.
Leto II Atreides, the God Emperor, has ruled the universe as a tyrant for 3,500 years after becoming a hybrid of human and giant sandworm in Children of Dune. The death of all other sandworms as a result of the terraforming of Arrakis, and his control of the remaining supply of the all-important drug melange, has allowed him to keep civilization under his complete command. Leto has been physically transformed into a worm, retaining only his human face and arms, and though he is now seemingly immortal and invulnerable to harm, he is prone to instinct-driven bouts of violence when provoked to anger. As a result, his rule is one of religious awe and despotic fear.
Leto has disbanded the Landsraad to all but a few Great Houses; the remaining powers defer to his authority, although they individually conspire against him in secret. The Fremen have long since lost their identity and military power, and have been replaced as the Imperial army by the Fish Speakers, an all-female army who obey Leto without question. He has rendered the human population into a state of trans-galactic stagnation; space travel is non-existent to most people in his Empire, which he has deliberately kept to a near-medieval level of technological sophistication. All of this he has done in accordance with a prophecy divined through precognition that will establish an enforced peace preventing humanity from destroying itself through aggressive behavior.
The desert planet Arrakis has been entirely transformed by terraforming into a lush forested biosphere with the exception of "The Sareer", a single section of desert retained by Leto for his Citadel. A string of Duncan Idaho gholas have served Leto over the millennia, and Leto has also fostered the bloodline of his twin sister Ghanima. Her descendant Moneo Atreides is Leto's majordomo and closest confidante, while Moneo's daughter Siona has become the leader of an Arrakis-based rebellion against Leto. She steals a set of secret records from his archives, not realizing that he has allowed it. Leto intends to breed Siona with the latest Duncan ghola, but is aware that the ghola, moved by his own morality, may try to assassinate him before this can occur.
The Ixians send a new ambassador named Hwi Noree to serve Leto, and though he realizes that she has been specifically designed and trained to ensnare him, he cannot resist falling in love with her. She agrees to marry him. Leto tests Siona by taking her out to the middle of the desert. After improperly using her stillsuit to preserve moisture, dehydration forces her to accept Leto's offer of spice essence from his body to replenish her. Awakened to Leto's prophecy, which he calls the Golden Path, Siona is convinced of the importance of it. She remains dedicated to Leto's destruction, and an errant rainstorm demonstrates for her his mortal vulnerability to water.
When Idaho falls in love and copulates with Hwi, Moneo sends him and Siona out to Tuono Village, an outcropping along the Royal Procession road, to keep them safe from Leto's wrath. Leto changes the venue of his wedding from Tabur Village to Tuono Village. Siona and Idaho overcome a searing mutual hatred of each other to plan an assassination. As Leto's wedding procession moves across a high bridge over a river, Siona's associate Nayla destroys the support beams with a lasgun. The bridge collapses and Leto's entourage, including Hwi, plunge to their deaths into the river below. Leto's body rends apart in the water; the sandtrout which are part of his body encyst the water and scurry off, while the worm portion burns and disintegrates on the shore.
With his dying breaths, Leto reveals a secret portion of the Golden Path: the production of a human who is invisible to prescient vision. Having begun millennia before with the union of Leto's twin sister Ghanima and Farad'n of House Corrino, Siona is the finished result, and she and her descendants will retain this ability. He explains that humanity is now free from the domination of oracles, free to scatter throughout the universe, never again to face complete domination or complete destruction. After revealing the location of his secret spice hoard, Leto dies, leaving Duncan and Siona to face the task of managing the empire.
The Ixians have also begun the construction of navigation computers that will render the Spacing Guild's Navigators obsolete. Leto's death causes the Scattering, a great forced exodus of the former Imperium citizens to other galaxies and planets.
In God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert analyzes the cyclical patterns of human society, as well as humanity's evolutionary drives. Using his ancestral memories, Leto II has knowledge of the entirety of human history and is able to recall the effects and patterns of tyrannical institutions, from the Babylonian empire through to the Jesuits on ancient Earth, and thus builds an empire existing as a complete nexus encompassing all these methods. This galactic empire differs from the historical tyrants in that it is deliberately designed to end in destruction, and is only instituted in the first place as part of a plan to rescue humanity from an absolute destruction which Leto II has foreseen through his prescient visions. Leto II personally explores the emergent effects of civilization, noting that most hierarchical structures are remnants of evolutionary urges toward safety. Thus, by forming a perfectly safe and stable empire, Leto II delivers a message to be felt throughout history.
Stylistically, the novel is permeated by quotations from, and speeches by its main character, Leto, to a degree unseen in any of the other Dune novels. The quotations are from Leto's own dictated records, made for future humanity. In part, this stylistic shift is an artifact of how Herbert wrote it: the first draft was written almost entirely in the first-person narrative voice, only being revised in later drafts to insert more third-person narration of events.
God Emperor of Dune was ranked as the No. 11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the novel was "Rich fare ... heady stuff", and Time called it "a fourth visit to distant Arrakis that is every bit as fascinating as the other three—every bit as timely." Critic John Leonard of The New York Times was less charitable, stating the original Dune novel "was just about a perfect science fiction" that had not been improved on: "not in Dune Messiah, in Children of Dune or in God Emperor of Dune." | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert, published in 1981. The fourth in his Dune series of six novels, it was ranked as the No. 11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Leto II Atreides, the God Emperor, has ruled the universe as a tyrant for 3,500 years after becoming a hybrid of human and giant sandworm in Children of Dune. The death of all other sandworms as a result of the terraforming of Arrakis, and his control of the remaining supply of the all-important drug melange, has allowed him to keep civilization under his complete command. Leto has been physically transformed into a worm, retaining only his human face and arms, and though he is now seemingly immortal and invulnerable to harm, he is prone to instinct-driven bouts of violence when provoked to anger. As a result, his rule is one of religious awe and despotic fear.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Leto has disbanded the Landsraad to all but a few Great Houses; the remaining powers defer to his authority, although they individually conspire against him in secret. The Fremen have long since lost their identity and military power, and have been replaced as the Imperial army by the Fish Speakers, an all-female army who obey Leto without question. He has rendered the human population into a state of trans-galactic stagnation; space travel is non-existent to most people in his Empire, which he has deliberately kept to a near-medieval level of technological sophistication. All of this he has done in accordance with a prophecy divined through precognition that will establish an enforced peace preventing humanity from destroying itself through aggressive behavior.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The desert planet Arrakis has been entirely transformed by terraforming into a lush forested biosphere with the exception of \"The Sareer\", a single section of desert retained by Leto for his Citadel. A string of Duncan Idaho gholas have served Leto over the millennia, and Leto has also fostered the bloodline of his twin sister Ghanima. Her descendant Moneo Atreides is Leto's majordomo and closest confidante, while Moneo's daughter Siona has become the leader of an Arrakis-based rebellion against Leto. She steals a set of secret records from his archives, not realizing that he has allowed it. Leto intends to breed Siona with the latest Duncan ghola, but is aware that the ghola, moved by his own morality, may try to assassinate him before this can occur.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The Ixians send a new ambassador named Hwi Noree to serve Leto, and though he realizes that she has been specifically designed and trained to ensnare him, he cannot resist falling in love with her. She agrees to marry him. Leto tests Siona by taking her out to the middle of the desert. After improperly using her stillsuit to preserve moisture, dehydration forces her to accept Leto's offer of spice essence from his body to replenish her. Awakened to Leto's prophecy, which he calls the Golden Path, Siona is convinced of the importance of it. She remains dedicated to Leto's destruction, and an errant rainstorm demonstrates for her his mortal vulnerability to water.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "When Idaho falls in love and copulates with Hwi, Moneo sends him and Siona out to Tuono Village, an outcropping along the Royal Procession road, to keep them safe from Leto's wrath. Leto changes the venue of his wedding from Tabur Village to Tuono Village. Siona and Idaho overcome a searing mutual hatred of each other to plan an assassination. As Leto's wedding procession moves across a high bridge over a river, Siona's associate Nayla destroys the support beams with a lasgun. The bridge collapses and Leto's entourage, including Hwi, plunge to their deaths into the river below. Leto's body rends apart in the water; the sandtrout which are part of his body encyst the water and scurry off, while the worm portion burns and disintegrates on the shore.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "With his dying breaths, Leto reveals a secret portion of the Golden Path: the production of a human who is invisible to prescient vision. Having begun millennia before with the union of Leto's twin sister Ghanima and Farad'n of House Corrino, Siona is the finished result, and she and her descendants will retain this ability. He explains that humanity is now free from the domination of oracles, free to scatter throughout the universe, never again to face complete domination or complete destruction. After revealing the location of his secret spice hoard, Leto dies, leaving Duncan and Siona to face the task of managing the empire.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The Ixians have also begun the construction of navigation computers that will render the Spacing Guild's Navigators obsolete. Leto's death causes the Scattering, a great forced exodus of the former Imperium citizens to other galaxies and planets.",
"title": "Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert analyzes the cyclical patterns of human society, as well as humanity's evolutionary drives. Using his ancestral memories, Leto II has knowledge of the entirety of human history and is able to recall the effects and patterns of tyrannical institutions, from the Babylonian empire through to the Jesuits on ancient Earth, and thus builds an empire existing as a complete nexus encompassing all these methods. This galactic empire differs from the historical tyrants in that it is deliberately designed to end in destruction, and is only instituted in the first place as part of a plan to rescue humanity from an absolute destruction which Leto II has foreseen through his prescient visions. Leto II personally explores the emergent effects of civilization, noting that most hierarchical structures are remnants of evolutionary urges toward safety. Thus, by forming a perfectly safe and stable empire, Leto II delivers a message to be felt throughout history.",
"title": "Analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Stylistically, the novel is permeated by quotations from, and speeches by its main character, Leto, to a degree unseen in any of the other Dune novels. The quotations are from Leto's own dictated records, made for future humanity. In part, this stylistic shift is an artifact of how Herbert wrote it: the first draft was written almost entirely in the first-person narrative voice, only being revised in later drafts to insert more third-person narration of events.",
"title": "Analysis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "God Emperor of Dune was ranked as the No. 11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the novel was \"Rich fare ... heady stuff\", and Time called it \"a fourth visit to distant Arrakis that is every bit as fascinating as the other three—every bit as timely.\" Critic John Leonard of The New York Times was less charitable, stating the original Dune novel \"was just about a perfect science fiction\" that had not been improved on: \"not in Dune Messiah, in Children of Dune or in God Emperor of Dune.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
}
]
| God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert, published in 1981. The fourth in his Dune series of six novels, it was ranked as the No. 11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly. | 2001-09-30T18:32:47Z | 2023-11-11T20:17:32Z | [
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Dune franchise",
"Template:Frank Herbert",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox book",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Isfdb title",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Emperor_of_Dune |
12,654 | Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station | Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large radiocommunication site located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England. Owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd under a 999-year lease from BT Group plc, it was at one time the largest satellite earth station in the world, with more than 30 communication antennas and dishes in use. The site also links into undersea cable lines.
Its first dish, Antenna One (dubbed "Arthur"), was built in 1962 to link with Telstar. It was the first open parabolic design and is 25.9 metres (85 feet) in diameter and weighs 1,118 tonnes. After Pleumeur-Bodou Ground Station (Brittany) which received the first live transatlantic television broadcasts from the United States via the Telstar satellite at 0H47 GMT on 11 July 1962, Arthur received his first video in the middle of the same day. It is now a Grade II listed structure and is therefore protected.
The site has also played a key role in communications events such as the Muhammad Ali fights, the Olympic Games, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and 1985's Live Aid concert.
The site's largest dish, dubbed "Merlin", has a diameter of 32 metres (105 feet). Other dishes include Guinevere, Tristan, and Isolde after characters in Arthurian legend, much of which takes place in Cornwall.
The earth station is powered by the National Grid. If power fails, all essential equipment will run off huge batteries for up to 20 minutes, during which time four one-megawatt diesel generators will take over. The nearby wind generator farm is not part of the complex.
On 12 September 2006, BT announced it would shut down satellite operations at Goonhilly in 2008, and move them to Madley Communications Centre in Herefordshire, making that centre BT's only earth station.
Until Easter 2010 the site had a visitor centre inside which the Connected Earth gallery told the history of satellite communications. There were many other interactive exhibits, a cafe, a shop and one of Britain's fastest cybercafés (a one gigabit pipe and a theoretical maximum speed per computer of 100 Mbit). There were also tours around the main BT site and into the heart of Arthur.
At its prime, the site attracted around 80,000 visitors a year, but in March 2010 BT announced that the visitor centre would be "Closed for Easter and beyond, until further notice."
On 11 January 2011 it was announced that part of the site was to be sold to create a space science centre. This would involve upgrading some of the dishes to make them suitable for deep space communication with spacecraft missions. A new company was formed to manage the operations, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. The company leased most of the antennas for at least three years with the option to buy the entire complex in the future. Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. took ownership of the site in January 2014.
There are plans to connect one or more of the Goonhilly dishes into global radio astronomy interferometer networks.
There are also plans to upgrade the former visitor centre into "an outreach centre promoting space and space science for visitors, including local residents and schools".
In July 2015 European Space Agency examined if antenna Goonhilly 6 could be used to support Artemis 1 of the Orion spacecraft. Since then the 30 and 32 meter dishes have been refurbished, upgraded, tested and certified as deep space stations and confirm to CCSDS and now can enhance NASA's Deep-Space-Network or ESA's ESTRACK network. The services are offered to NASA, ESA, JAXA, ASI, CNES, CSA, DLR and UKSA.
The site is (as of 2017) a partner in the bid by Newquay Airport to become the UK's first Spaceport.
In April 2018, Goonhilly became part of a collaboration partnership for commercial lunar mission support services, with the European Space Agency and Surrey Satellite Technology. The agreement calls for the upgrade of Goonhilly, and development of the Lunar Pathfinder mission. Plans exist for small landers with a lunar mothership providing communications relay. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large radiocommunication site located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England. Owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd under a 999-year lease from BT Group plc, it was at one time the largest satellite earth station in the world, with more than 30 communication antennas and dishes in use. The site also links into undersea cable lines.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Its first dish, Antenna One (dubbed \"Arthur\"), was built in 1962 to link with Telstar. It was the first open parabolic design and is 25.9 metres (85 feet) in diameter and weighs 1,118 tonnes. After Pleumeur-Bodou Ground Station (Brittany) which received the first live transatlantic television broadcasts from the United States via the Telstar satellite at 0H47 GMT on 11 July 1962, Arthur received his first video in the middle of the same day. It is now a Grade II listed structure and is therefore protected.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The site has also played a key role in communications events such as the Muhammad Ali fights, the Olympic Games, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and 1985's Live Aid concert.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The site's largest dish, dubbed \"Merlin\", has a diameter of 32 metres (105 feet). Other dishes include Guinevere, Tristan, and Isolde after characters in Arthurian legend, much of which takes place in Cornwall.",
"title": "Statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The earth station is powered by the National Grid. If power fails, all essential equipment will run off huge batteries for up to 20 minutes, during which time four one-megawatt diesel generators will take over. The nearby wind generator farm is not part of the complex.",
"title": "Statistics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "On 12 September 2006, BT announced it would shut down satellite operations at Goonhilly in 2008, and move them to Madley Communications Centre in Herefordshire, making that centre BT's only earth station.",
"title": "Closure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Until Easter 2010 the site had a visitor centre inside which the Connected Earth gallery told the history of satellite communications. There were many other interactive exhibits, a cafe, a shop and one of Britain's fastest cybercafés (a one gigabit pipe and a theoretical maximum speed per computer of 100 Mbit). There were also tours around the main BT site and into the heart of Arthur.",
"title": "Visitor centre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "At its prime, the site attracted around 80,000 visitors a year, but in March 2010 BT announced that the visitor centre would be \"Closed for Easter and beyond, until further notice.\"",
"title": "Visitor centre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "On 11 January 2011 it was announced that part of the site was to be sold to create a space science centre. This would involve upgrading some of the dishes to make them suitable for deep space communication with spacecraft missions. A new company was formed to manage the operations, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. The company leased most of the antennas for at least three years with the option to buy the entire complex in the future. Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. took ownership of the site in January 2014.",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "There are plans to connect one or more of the Goonhilly dishes into global radio astronomy interferometer networks.",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "There are also plans to upgrade the former visitor centre into \"an outreach centre promoting space and space science for visitors, including local residents and schools\".",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In July 2015 European Space Agency examined if antenna Goonhilly 6 could be used to support Artemis 1 of the Orion spacecraft. Since then the 30 and 32 meter dishes have been refurbished, upgraded, tested and certified as deep space stations and confirm to CCSDS and now can enhance NASA's Deep-Space-Network or ESA's ESTRACK network. The services are offered to NASA, ESA, JAXA, ASI, CNES, CSA, DLR and UKSA.",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The site is (as of 2017) a partner in the bid by Newquay Airport to become the UK's first Spaceport.",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In April 2018, Goonhilly became part of a collaboration partnership for commercial lunar mission support services, with the European Space Agency and Surrey Satellite Technology. The agreement calls for the upgrade of Goonhilly, and development of the Lunar Pathfinder mission. Plans exist for small landers with a lunar mothership providing communications relay.",
"title": "Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large radiocommunication site located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England. Owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd under a 999-year lease from BT Group plc, it was at one time the largest satellite earth station in the world, with more than 30 communication antennas and dishes in use. The site also links into undersea cable lines. | 2023-07-05T02:38:33Z | [
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Update",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite arXiv",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Infobox Observatory",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:BT Group",
"Template:Short description"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goonhilly_Satellite_Earth_Station |
|
12,656 | Godwin's law | Godwin's law, short for Godwin's law (or rule) of Nazi analogies, is an Internet adage asserting: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
Promulgated by the American attorney and author Mike Godwin in 1990, Godwin's law originally referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions. He stated that he introduced Godwin's law in 1990 as an experiment in memetics, specifically to address the ubiquity of such comparisons which he believes regrettably trivialize the Holocaust. Later, it was applied to any threaded online discussion, such as Internet forums, chat rooms, and social-media comment threads, as well as to speeches, articles, and other rhetoric where reductio ad Hitlerum occurs.
In 2012, Godwin's law became an entry in the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Godwin's law can be applied mistakenly or abused as a distraction, a diversion, or even censorship, when miscasting an opponent's argument as hyperbole even when the comparison made by the argument is appropriate. Godwin has criticized the over-application of the adage, claiming that it does not articulate a fallacy, but rather is intended to reduce the frequency of inappropriate and hyperbolic comparisons:
Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics, its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler to think a bit harder about the Holocaust.
In 2021, Harvard researchers published an article showing that the Nazi-comparison phenomenon does not occur with statistically meaningful frequency in Reddit discussions.
Godwin's law has many corollaries, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself) than others. For example, many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums have a tradition that, when a Nazi or Hitler comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever made the comparison loses whatever debate is in progress. This idea is itself sometimes mistakenly referred to as Godwin's law.
Godwin rejected the idea that whoever invokes Godwin's law has lost the argument, and suggested that, applied appropriately, the rule "should function less as a conversation ender and more as a conversation starter." The author has repeatedly made statements in the press about how Godwin's law could relate to contemporary American politics. In December 2015, he commented in The Washington Post on comparisons being made between Hitler and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying: "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump, or any other politician." In August 2017, Godwin made similar remarks in The Times of Israel with respect to the two previous days' Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, endorsing and encouraging social-media comparisons of its alt-right organizers to Nazis. Godwin wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in June 2018, denying the need to update or amend the rule: "It still serves us as a tool to recognize specious comparisons to Nazism – but also, by contrast, to recognize comparisons that aren't." In a December 2023 interview with Politico, Godwin stated "there's nothing categorically wrong with Biden's – or anyone else's – comparison of Trump calling people vermin or talking about blood poisoning to Hitler." He also reiterated this point the day after in a new op-ed in The Washington Post: "Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you." | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Godwin's law, short for Godwin's law (or rule) of Nazi analogies, is an Internet adage asserting: \"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Promulgated by the American attorney and author Mike Godwin in 1990, Godwin's law originally referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions. He stated that he introduced Godwin's law in 1990 as an experiment in memetics, specifically to address the ubiquity of such comparisons which he believes regrettably trivialize the Holocaust. Later, it was applied to any threaded online discussion, such as Internet forums, chat rooms, and social-media comment threads, as well as to speeches, articles, and other rhetoric where reductio ad Hitlerum occurs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 2012, Godwin's law became an entry in the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Godwin's law can be applied mistakenly or abused as a distraction, a diversion, or even censorship, when miscasting an opponent's argument as hyperbole even when the comparison made by the argument is appropriate. Godwin has criticized the over-application of the adage, claiming that it does not articulate a fallacy, but rather is intended to reduce the frequency of inappropriate and hyperbolic comparisons:",
"title": "Generalization, corollaries, and usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics, its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler to think a bit harder about the Holocaust.",
"title": "Generalization, corollaries, and usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 2021, Harvard researchers published an article showing that the Nazi-comparison phenomenon does not occur with statistically meaningful frequency in Reddit discussions.",
"title": "Generalization, corollaries, and usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Godwin's law has many corollaries, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself) than others. For example, many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums have a tradition that, when a Nazi or Hitler comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever made the comparison loses whatever debate is in progress. This idea is itself sometimes mistakenly referred to as Godwin's law.",
"title": "Generalization, corollaries, and usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Godwin rejected the idea that whoever invokes Godwin's law has lost the argument, and suggested that, applied appropriately, the rule \"should function less as a conversation ender and more as a conversation starter.\" The author has repeatedly made statements in the press about how Godwin's law could relate to contemporary American politics. In December 2015, he commented in The Washington Post on comparisons being made between Hitler and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying: \"If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump, or any other politician.\" In August 2017, Godwin made similar remarks in The Times of Israel with respect to the two previous days' Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, endorsing and encouraging social-media comparisons of its alt-right organizers to Nazis. Godwin wrote an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in June 2018, denying the need to update or amend the rule: \"It still serves us as a tool to recognize specious comparisons to Nazism – but also, by contrast, to recognize comparisons that aren't.\" In a December 2023 interview with Politico, Godwin stated \"there's nothing categorically wrong with Biden's – or anyone else's – comparison of Trump calling people vermin or talking about blood poisoning to Hitler.\" He also reiterated this point the day after in a new op-ed in The Washington Post: \"Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you.\"",
"title": "Generalization, corollaries, and usage"
}
]
| Godwin's law, short for Godwin's law of Nazi analogies, is an Internet adage asserting: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." | 2001-10-01T09:08:50Z | 2023-12-27T22:24:16Z | [
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Fallacies",
"Template:Use American English",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite episode",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Spoken Wikipedia",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Cite newsgroup",
"Template:Cite podcast",
"Template:Wiktionary"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law |
12,657 | Groningen (disambiguation) | Groningen is a city in the Netherlands.
Groningen may also refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Groningen is a city in the Netherlands.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Groningen may also refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Groningen is a city in the Netherlands. Groningen may also refer to: | 2021-08-07T13:13:20Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:In title",
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groningen_(disambiguation) |
|
12,662 | Goya (disambiguation) | Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker.
Goya may also refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Goya may also refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. Goya may also refer to: | 2023-04-23T20:30:01Z | [
"Template:Intitle",
"Template:Disambiguation",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Mv"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goya_(disambiguation) |
|
12,663 | Green Bay Packers | The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957. They have the most wins of any NFL franchise.
The Packers are the last of the "small-town teams" that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the forerunner of today's NFL, in 1921. In 1933, the Packers began playing part of their home slate in Milwaukee until changes at Lambeau Field in 1995 made it more lucrative to stay in Green Bay full-time; Milwaukee is still considered a home media market for the team. Although Green Bay is by far the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as the world's 27th-most-valuable sports franchise in 2019, with a value of $2.63 billion.
The Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967; they were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League (AFL) before the AFL–NFL merger. After Lombardi retired, the Super Bowl trophy was named for him, but the team struggled through the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1993, the team has enjoyed much regular-season success, making the playoffs 22 times and winning two Super Bowls in 1996 under head coach Mike Holmgren and 2010 under head coach Mike McCarthy. The Packers have the most wins (826) and the second-highest win–loss record (.571) in NFL history, including both regular season and playoff games. The Packers are longstanding adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, who today form the NFL's NFC North division (formerly known as the NFC Central Division). They have played more than 100 games against each of those teams, and have a winning overall record against all of them, a distinction only shared with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. The Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in U.S. professional sports history, dating to 1921.
The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, 1919 by former high-school football rivals Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company, a meat packing company. He was given $500 ($8,400 today) for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named after its sponsor. The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL.
On August 27, 1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the American Professional Football Association, a new national pro football league that had been formed the previous year. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League a year later. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year before Lambeau found new financial backers and regained the franchise the next year. These backers, known as "The Hungry Five", formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.
After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeau's squad claimed the Packers' first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, behind a stifling defense which registered eight shutouts. Green Bay would repeat as league champions in 1930 and 1931, bettering teams from New York, Chicago and throughout the league, with all-time greats and future Hall of Famers Mike Michalske, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Cal Hubbard and Green Bay native Arnie Herber. Among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers' streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands.
The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau and the Packers the most-feared and dynamic offensive weapon in the game. Credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936, 1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940. Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand. In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, and he was inducted as a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
After Hutson's retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers' slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members and families to live. Rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946–49 Packers. The 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12–10–1, and 1949 was even worse at 3–9. The lodge burned down on January 24, 1950, and insurance money paid for many of the Packers' debts.
Curly Lambeau departed after the 1949 season. Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn could not coach the Packers back to their former magic, even as a new stadium was unveiled in 1957. The losing would descend to the disastrous 1958 campaign under coach Ray "Scooter" McLean, whose lone 1–10–1 year at the helm is the worst in Packers history.
Former New York Giants assistant Vince Lombardi was hired as Packers head coach and general manager on February 2, 1959. Few suspected the hiring represented the beginning of a remarkable, immediate turnaround. Under Lombardi, the Packers would become the team of the 1960s, winning five championships over a seven-year span, including victories in the first two Super Bowls. During the Lombardi era, the stars of the Packers' offense included Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Carroll Dale, Paul Hornung (as halfback and placekicker), Forrest Gregg, and Jerry Kramer. The defense included Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Willie Wood, Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson, and Herb Adderley.
The Packers' first regular-season game under Lombardi was on September 27, 1959, a 9–6 victory over the Chicago Bears in Green Bay. After winning their first three, the Packers lost the next five before finishing strong by sweeping their final four. The 7–5 record represented the Packers' first winning season since 1947, enough to earn rookie head coach Lombardi the NFL Coach of the Year.
The next year, the Packers, led by Paul Hornung's 176 points, won the NFL West title and played in the NFL Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles at Philadelphia. In a see-saw game, the Packers trailed by only four points when All-Pro Eagle linebacker Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor just nine yards short of the goal line as time expired.
The Packers returned to the NFL Championship game the following season and faced the New York Giants in the first league title game to be played in Green Bay. The Packers scored 24-second-quarter points, including a championship-record 19 by Paul Hornung, on special "loan" from the Army (one touchdown, four extra-points and three field goals), powering the Packers to a 37–0 rout of the Giants, their first NFL Championship since 1944. It was in 1961 that Green Bay became known as "Titletown".
The Packers stormed back in the 1962 season, jumping out to a 10–0 start, on their way to a 13–1 season. This consistent level of success would lead to Lombardi's Packers becoming one of the most prominent teams of their era, and to being featured as the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on December 21, 1962, as part of the magazine's cover story on "The Sport of the '60s". Shortly after Time's article, the Packers faced the Giants in a much more brutal championship game than the previous year, but the Packers prevailed on the kicking of Jerry Kramer and the determined running of Jim Taylor. The Packers defeated the Giants in New York, 16–7.
The Packers returned to the championship game in 1965 following a two-year absence when they defeated the Colts in a playoff for the Western Conference title. That game would be remembered for Don Chandler's controversial tying field goal in which the ball allegedly went wide right, but the officials signaled "good". The 13–10 overtime win earned the Packers a trip to the NFL Championship game, where Hornung and Taylor ran through the defending champion Cleveland Browns, helping the Packers win, 23–12, to earn their third NFL Championship under Lombardi and ninth overall. Goalpost uprights would be made taller the next year.
The 1966 season saw the Packers led to the first-ever Super Bowl by MVP quarterback Bart Starr. The team went 12–2, and as time wound down in the NFL Championship against the Dallas Cowboys, the Packers clung to a 34–27 lead. Dallas had the ball on the Packers' two-yard line, threatening to tie the ballgame. But on fourth down the Packers' Tom Brown intercepted Don Meredith's pass in the end zone to seal the win. The team crowned its season by rolling over the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 in Super Bowl I.
The 1967 season was the last for Lombardi as the Packers' head coach. The NFL Championship game, a rematch of the 1966 contest against Dallas, became indelibly known as the "Ice Bowl" as a result of the brutal conditions at Lambeau Field. Still the coldest NFL game ever played, it remains one of the most famous football games at any level in the history of the sport. With 16 seconds left, Bart Starr's touchdown on a quarterback sneak brought the Packers a 21–17 victory and their still unequaled third straight NFL Championship. They then won Super Bowl II with a 33–14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the game, and Phil Bengtson was named his successor. Lombardi remained as general manager for one season but left in 1969 to become head coach and minority owner of the Washington Redskins.
After Lombardi died of cancer on September 3, 1970, the NFL renamed the Super Bowl trophy the Vince Lombardi Trophy in recognition of his accomplishments with the Packers. The city of Green Bay renamed Highland Avenue in his honor in 1968, placing Lambeau Field at 1265 Lombardi Avenue ever since.
For about a quarter-century after Lombardi's departure, the Packers had relatively little on-field success. In the 24 seasons from 1968 to 1991, they had only five seasons with a winning record, one being the shortened 1982 strike season. They appeared in the playoffs twice, with a 1–2 record. The period saw five different head coaches—Phil Bengtson, Dan Devine, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, and Lindy Infante—two of whom, Starr and Gregg, were Lombardi's era stars, while Bengtson was a former Packer coach. Each led the Packers to a worse record than his predecessor. Poor personnel decisions were rife, notoriously the 1974 trade by acting general manager Dan Devine which sent five 1975 or 1976 draft picks (two first-rounders, two-second-rounders and a third) to the Los Angeles Rams for aging quarterback John Hadl, who would spend only 11⁄2 seasons in Green Bay. Another came in the 1989 NFL Draft, when offensive lineman Tony Mandarich was taken with the second overall pick ahead of future Hall of Fame inductees Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders. Though rated highly by nearly every professional scout at the time, Mandarich's performance failed to meet expectations, earning him ESPN's ranking as the third "biggest sports flop" in the last 25 years.
The Packers' performance in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s led to a shakeup, with Ron Wolf hired as general manager and given full control of the team's football operations to start the 1991 season.
In 1992, Wolf hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren as the Packers' new head coach.
Soon afterward, Wolf acquired quarterback Brett Favre from the Atlanta Falcons for a first-round pick. Favre got the Packers their first win of the 1992 season, stepping in for injured quarterback Don Majkowski and leading a comeback over the Cincinnati Bengals. He started the following week, a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and never missed another start for Green Bay through the end of the 2007 season. He would go on to break the record for consecutive starts by an NFL quarterback, starting 297 consecutive games including stints with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings with the streak finally coming to an end late in the 2010 season.
The Packers had a 9–7 record in 1992, and began to turn heads around the league when they signed perhaps the most prized free agent in NFL history in Reggie White on the defense in 1993. White believed that Wolf, Holmgren, and Favre had the team heading in the right direction with a "total commitment to winning". With White on board the Packers made it to the second round of the playoffs during both the 1993 and 1994 seasons but lost their 2nd-round matches to their playoff rival, the Dallas Cowboys, playing in Dallas on both occasions. In 1995, the Packers won the NFC Central Division championship for the first time since 1972. After a home playoff 37–20 win against Favre's former team, the Atlanta Falcons, the Packers defeated the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 27–17 in San Francisco on the road to advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost again to the Dallas Cowboys 38–27.
In 1996, the Packers' turnaround was complete. The team posted a league-best 13–3 record in the regular season, dominating the competition and securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They were ranked no. 1 in offense with Brett Favre leading the way, no. 1 in defense with Reggie White as the leader of the defense and no. 1 in special teams with former Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard returning punts and kickoffs for touchdowns. After relatively easy wins against the San Francisco 49ers in a muddy 35–14 beatdown and Carolina Panthers 30–13, the Packers advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years. In Super Bowl XXXI, Green Bay defeated the New England Patriots 35–21 to win their 12th championship. Desmond Howard was named MVP of the game for his kickoff return for a touchdown that ended the Patriots' bid for a comeback. Then-Packers president Bob Harlan credited Wolf, Holmgren, Favre, and White for ultimately changing the fortunes of the organization and turning the Green Bay Packers into a model NFL franchise. A 2007 panel of football experts at ESPN ranked the 1996 Packers the 6th-greatest team ever to play in the Super Bowl.
The following season the Packers recorded another 13–3 record and won their second consecutive NFC championship. After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21–7 and San Francisco 49ers 23–10 in the playoffs, the Packers returned to the Super Bowl as an 111/2 point favorite. The team ended up losing in an upset to John Elway and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII, by the score of 31–24.
In 1998, the Packers went 11–5 and met the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the NFC playoffs. It was the fourth consecutive year these teams had met in the playoffs and the sixth overall contest since the 1995 season. The Packers had won all previous games, and the media speculated that another 49ers loss would result in the dismissal of San Francisco head coach Steve Mariucci. Unlike the previous playoff matches, this game was hotly contested, with the teams frequently exchanging leads. With 4:19 left in the 4th quarter, Brett Favre and the Packers embarked on an 89-yard drive, which concluded with a Favre touchdown pass to receiver Antonio Freeman. This play appeared to give Green Bay the victory. But San Francisco quarterback Steve Young led the 49ers on an improbable touchdown drive, which culminated when Terrell Owens caught Young's pass between several defenders to give the 49ers a lead with three seconds remaining. Afterwards, the game was mired in controversy. Many argued that during the 49ers game-winning drive, Niners receiver Jerry Rice fumbled the ball but officials stated he was down by contact. Television replays confirmed the fumble, but referees were unable to review the play; the next season the NFL reinstituted an instant replay system. In the end, this game turned out to be the end of an era in Green Bay. Days later Mike Holmgren left the Packers to become vice president, general manager and head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Much of Holmgren's coaching staff went with him, and Reggie White also retired after the season (but later played one season for the Carolina Panthers in 2000).
In 1999, the team struggled to find an identity after the departure of so many of the individuals responsible for their Super Bowl run. Ray Rhodes was hired in 1999 as the team's new head coach. Rhodes had served around the league as a highly regarded defensive coordinator and more recently experienced moderate success as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995 to 1998. Ron Wolf believed that Rhodes' experience and player-friendly demeanor would fit nicely in Green Bay's veteran locker room, but Rhodes was fired after one 8–8 season. Wolf visited team practice late in the 1999 season and believed that players had become too comfortable with Rhodes' style, and said the atmosphere resembled a country club.
In 2000, Wolf replaced Rhodes with Mike Sherman. Sherman had never been a head coach at any level of football and was relatively unknown in NFL circles. He had only coached in professional football for three years starting as the Packers' tight ends coach in 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he followed Mike Holmgren to Seattle and became the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, although Sherman did not call the plays during games. Despite Sherman's apparent anonymity, Wolf was blown away in the interview process by the coach's organizational skills and attention to detail. Sherman's inaugural season started slowly, but the Packers won their final four games to achieve a 9–7 record. Brett Favre praised the atmosphere Sherman had cultivated in Green Bay's locker room and fans were optimistic about the team's future. In the offseason, however, Wolf suddenly announced his own resignation as general manager to take effect after the April 2001 draft. Packers' president Bob Harlan was surprised by Wolf's decision and felt unsure of how to replace him. Harlan preferred the structure Green Bay had employed since 1991; a general manager who ran football operations and hired a subservient head coach. But with the momentum and locker room chemistry that was built during the 2000 season, Harlan was reluctant to bring in a new individual with a potentially different philosophy. Wolf recommended that Harlan give the job to Sherman. Though Harlan was wary of the structure in principle, he agreed with Wolf that it was the best solution. In 2001, Sherman assumed the duties of both general manager and head coach.
From 2001 to 2004, Sherman coached the Packers to respectable regular-season success, led by the spectacular play of Brett Favre, Ahman Green, and a formidable offensive line. But Sherman's teams faltered in the playoffs. Prior to 2003, the Packers had never lost a home playoff game since the NFL instituted a post-season in 1933 (they were 13–0, with 11 of the wins at Lambeau and two more in Milwaukee.). That ended January 4, 2003, when the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Packers 27–7 in an NFC Wild Card game. The Packers would also lose at home in the playoffs to the Minnesota Vikings two years later.
By the end of the 2004 season, the Packers team depth appeared to be diminishing. Sherman also seemed overworked and reportedly had trouble communicating with players on the practice field with whom he was also negotiating contracts. Harlan felt the dual roles were too much for one man to handle and removed Sherman from the general manager position in early 2005 while retaining him as a head coach. Harlan hired the Seattle Seahawks' vice president of operations Ted Thompson as the new executive vice president, general manager and director of football operations. The relationship between Thompson and Sherman appeared strained, as Thompson immediately began rebuilding Green Bay's roster. Following a dismal 4–12 season, Thompson fired Sherman.
In 2006, Thompson hired Mike McCarthy, the former offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints, as his new head coach. McCarthy had also previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Packers in 1999. In McCarthy's debut year coaching the Packers, the team began the season with a 4–8 record. Then, Brett Favre sustained injuries, as did the backup quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Despite the injuries, McCarthy coached the team to four consecutive wins, finishing with an 8–8 record.
After missing the playoffs in 2006, Brett Favre announced that he would return for the 2007 season; under McCarthy it would turn out to be one of his best. The Packers won 10 of their first 11 games and finished 13–3, earning a first-round bye in the playoffs. That was sufficient to propel McCarthy to secure the best record among active coaches through their first 25 games. The Packers' passing offense, led by Favre and a very skilled wide receiver group, finished second in the NFC, behind the Dallas Cowboys, and third overall in the league. Running back Ryan Grant, acquired for a sixth-round draft pick from the New York Giants, became the featured back in Green Bay and rushed for 956 yards and 8 touchdowns in the final 10 games of the regular season. In the divisional playoff round, in a heavy snowstorm, the Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 42–20. Grant rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns, while Favre tossed an additional three touchdown passes to receiver Donald Driver (as well as a snowball, which Favre memorably threw at Driver in celebration).
On January 20, 2008, Green Bay appeared in their first NFC Championship Game in 10 years facing the New York Giants in Green Bay. The game was lost 23–20 on an overtime field goal by Lawrence Tynes. This would be Brett Favre's final game as a Green Bay Packer with his final pass being an interception in overtime.
Mike McCarthy coached the NFC team during the 2008 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Al Harris and Aaron Kampman were also picked to play for the NFC Pro Bowl team as starters. Donald Driver was named as a third-string wideout on the Pro Bowl roster. Brett Favre was named the first-string quarterback for the NFC, but he declined to play in the Pro Bowl and was replaced on the roster by Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia. The Packers also had several first alternates, including offensive tackle Chad Clifton and linebacker Nick Barnett.
In December 2007, Ted Thompson was signed to a 5-year contract extension with the Packers. In addition, on February 5, 2008, head coach Mike McCarthy signed a 5-year contract extension.
On March 4, 2008, Brett Favre announced his retirement. Within five months, however, he filed for reinstatement with the NFL on July 29. Favre's petition was granted by Commissioner Roger Goodell, effective August 4, 2008. On August 6, 2008, it was announced that Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick in 2009.
The Packers began their 2008 season with their 2005 first-round draft pick, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, under center, as the first QB other than Favre to start for the Packers in 16 years. Rodgers played well in his first year starting for the Packers, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. However, injuries plagued the Packers' defense, as they lost 7 close games by 4 points or less, finishing with a 6–10 record. After the season, eight assistant coaches were dismissed by the organization, including Bob Sanders, the team's defensive coordinator, who was replaced by Dom Capers.
In March 2009, the organization assured fans that Brett Favre's jersey number would be retired, but not during the 2009 season. In April 2009, the Packers selected defensive lineman B. J. Raji of Boston College as the team's first pick in the draft. The team then traded three draft picks (including the pick the Packers acquired from the Jets for Brett Favre) for another first-round pick, selecting linebacker Clay Matthews III of the University of Southern California.
During the 2009 NFL season, two match-ups between the franchise and its former quarterback Brett Favre were highly anticipated after Favre's arrival with the division-rival Vikings in August. The first encounter took place in Week 4, on a Monday Night Football game that broke several TV audience records. The scheduling of this game was made possible when Baseball Commissioner and Packer board of directors member Bud Selig forced baseball's Minnesota Twins to play 2 games within a 12-hour span. The Vikings won the game 30–23. Brett Favre threw 3 TDs, no interceptions, and had a passer rating of 135. The teams met for a second time in Week 8, Favre leading the Vikings to a second win, 38–26, in Green Bay. Rodgers was heavily pressured in both games, being sacked 14 times total, but still played well, throwing five touchdowns and only one interception. The next week, the Packers were upset by the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Following a players-only meeting, the team found some stability on the offensive line with the return of tackle Mark Tauscher bringing a minor halt to sacks to Rodgers and opening the running game to Ryan Grant and the other running backs. Green Bay finished the season strongly, winning 7 out of their last 8 games, including winning their 16th regular season finale in the past 17 seasons, and earning a NFC wild-card playoff bid with an 11–5 regular-season record. The Packers defense was ranked No. 2 and the offense was ranked No. 6 with rookies Brad Jones and Clay Matthews III becoming sensations at linebacker and young players like James Jones, Brandon Jackson, Jermichael Finley and Jordy Nelson becoming threats on offense. Rodgers also became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter. Also, cornerback Charles Woodson won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors after recording 9 interceptions, forcing four fumbles, 3 touchdowns and registering 74 tackles and 2 sacks. In fact, Woodson's 9 interceptions were more than the 8 collected by all Packer opponents that season. Though the defense was ranked high, injuries to Al Harris, Tramon Williams, Will Blackmon, Atari Bigby and Brandon Underwood severely limited the depth of the secondary and teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers used that to their advantage by unleashing aerial assaults against inexperienced players with the NFL's best receivers. The season ended with an overtime loss in a wild card round shootout at the Arizona Cardinals, 51–45. It was the second time McCarthy led the Packers to the postseason. While they weren't as successful as their 90s counterparts in the postseason, the 2000s were by no means a dark time for the Packers. The team finished the decade with the 5th highest winning percentage.
The team lost Johnny Jolly to a season-long suspension after he violated the NFL drug policy. Their running corps suffered a blow when RB Ryan Grant sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 1. By the end of the season, the team had 16 people on injured reserve, including 7 starters: running back Ryan Grant, tight end Jermichael Finley, linebacker Nick Barnett, safety Morgan Burnett, linebacker Brandon Chillar, tackle Mark Tauscher, and linebacker Brad Jones. Key injuries didn't stop McCarthy's team from finishing the regular season with a 10–6 record. In week 7, the team faced the Minnesota Vikings, then led by former Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Green Bay beat Favre's new team 28–24, when Favre's final pass to Randy Moss in the end zone flew incomplete. In week 17, the Packers clinched their playoff berth with a 10–3 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field, aided in large part by Nick Collins' interception of Jay Cutler's throw that allowed Green Bay to run out the clock.
The Packers 10–6 record allowed them to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. They first faced No. 3 seeded Philadelphia, winning 21–16. In the Divisional round, they defeated No. 1 seed Atlanta 48–21. They then played the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC Championship Game—only the second playoff meeting between the two storied rivals (the other a 33–14 Chicago victory which sent them to the 1941 NFL Championship Game). McCarthy's Packers won 21–14 to move on to Super Bowl XLV, having secured a 3–0 record in the postseason.
On the evening before the Super Bowl, McCarthy had each player fitted for a championship ring. Aware of the motivational tactic, team president Mark Murphy instructed his organization to begin designing the ring. The following day on February 6, 2011, they defeated the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25, becoming the first No. 6 seed from the NFC to win a Super Bowl. It was the first time the Packers had won the Lombardi Trophy since 1996. Aaron Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP.
During Super Bowl XLV, McCarthy's team initially enjoyed a comfortable 21–3 lead over the Steelers. Then, Charles Woodson had to leave the game with a broken collarbone and the Steelers' Hines Ward found the end-zone to make the score 21–10 by halftime. During the third quarter, Pittsburgh scored 7 more points to make the score 21–17. In the fourth quarter, Green Bay's Clay Matthews tackled Pittsburgh's Rashard Mendenhall, and Desmond Bishop recovered the ball for a key turnover.
In 2011, coming off their victory in Super Bowl XLV, the Packers won their first 13 games, eventually finishing the season 15–1. The 15 victories marked the franchise record for wins in a season, and tied for second-most regular-season wins in NFL history, behind only the 2007 Patriots who went 16–0. Following the season, Aaron Rodgers would be named the NFL's MVP, his first such award. During that year, McCarthy's offensive strategies aided Rodgers in throwing for 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns. These strategies also propelled the Packers to lead the NFL in scoring that year.
Despite receiving home-field advantage, Green Bay lost their first postseason game to eventual Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants, 37–20.
Finishing the 2012 season with an 11–5 record and their second straight division title, the Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC wild-card round 24–10, but lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the eventual NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers by a score of 45–31. The Packers offense finished the season fifth in points and 11th in yards per game. Under McCarthy, Rodgers passed for 4,295 yards. The defense finished 11th in points allowed and 22nd in yards allowed per game.
The Packers topped the first-ever AP Pro32 rankings, a new pro football version of the AP Top 25 college football and basketball polls.
In 2013, the Packers started 5–2, leading up to a Week 9 match-up against the Bears. It was in that game which the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone; Rodgers would miss the next six games, during which the club would go 2–3–1 under three different quarterbacks: Seneca Wallace (injured during first start), Scott Tolzien (benched), and Matt Flynn.
Despite having a 7–7–1 record, the Packers were still in a position to win the NFC North division, if they were able to win their final game. With Rodgers returning, the Packers managed to beat the Bears in a Week 9 rematch, 33–28. Finishing at 8–7–1, the Packers won their division and were awarded a home playoff game. It was the fifth consecutive time that McCarthy led his team to a playoff appearance. However, despite Rodgers' return, the Packers would lose to the San Francisco 49ers 20–23 in the first round of the playoffs.
The Packers recorded their 700th victory, against the Bears, in Week 4. The team went undefeated at home for the first time since the 2011 season; they also led the league in scoring, with 486 points, the second-most in franchise history. The 2014 season also marked the first time since 2009 that the team had a 4,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers, and a 1,000-yard rusher. McCarthy led an offense that finished sixth in the league in total offense. After winning against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16, McCarthy (99 wins) passed Hall of Famer Vince Lombardi (98) on the all-time wins list for the Packers. Overall, the team went 12–4, clinching the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a fourth consecutive NFC North division title, making the playoffs for the sixth straight season, tying a franchise record. The Packers beat the Cowboys in the divisional round, advancing to the NFC Championship to face the Seattle Seahawks. After leading throughout most of regulation, the Packers lost 28–22 in a historic overtime rally by Seattle.
Following the season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the second time.
During Week 2 of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver Jordy Nelson caught an eight-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers, but then fell to the turf without contact. A few days later, it was revealed that Nelson had torn his ACL. He would remain inactive for the rest of the 2015 season. Even without Nelson, the Packers managed to get off to a 6–0 start, but the Packers then lost four of their next five games, falling to 7–4.
On December 3, against the Detroit Lions, the Packers quickly fell to a 20–0 deficit going into halftime. Green Bay started to make a comeback in the second half thanks to a touchdown by Davante Adams and a 27-yard touchdown run by Aaron Rodgers to bring the game within two points at 23–21. The Packers then got the ball back in their possession with 23 seconds left in the game. While attempting a "lateral" play, Rodgers was sacked with no time remaining but then a flag was thrown for a facemask penalty on Detroit. The Packers now had one more un-timed play, which Aaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown to tight end Richard Rodgers II. It was the longest Hail Mary touchdown pass thrown in NFL history.
Up until week 14, McCarthy delegated play calling duties to associate head coach Tom Clements. However, the team's struggling offense made McCarthy decide to take back play calling duties. During that first game that McCarthy resumed play calling, the Packers ran the ball for 230 yards in 44 carries. Green Bay then finished the season 10–6 and 2nd in the NFC North behind the Minnesota Vikings.
The Packers beat the Washington Redskins in the NFC wild-card game to advance to the divisional round with the Arizona Cardinals. A similar play to tie the game against the Cardinals happened between Aaron Rodgers and Jeff Janis. Janis caught a 41-yard touchdown from Rodgers which sent the game into overtime. However, the Packers fell to Arizona 26–20, ending their season.
After a 4–6 start to the season, the Packers went on a six-game winning streak to finish the regular season with a 10–6 record. The team clinched the NFC North for the fifth time in six years with their Week 17 win over the Detroit Lions. At the conclusion of the regular season, the success of his team made McCarthy the fourth head coach in NFL history to guide his team to eight or more consecutive playoff appearances. They routed the fifth-seeded New York Giants, 38–13, in the wild-card round of the playoffs and upset the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys, 34–31, in the divisional round of the playoffs, but their season came to an end when they were beaten by the second-seeded Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, 44–21.
The Green Bay Packers began the 2017 regular season with a 4–2 record. On October 15, during a week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Rodgers was driven to the ground by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr after throwing a pass. Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone during the play, and the Packers placed him on injured reserve on October 20, with the stipulation that he could return in eight weeks (in accordance with NFL rules), especially if the injury healed quickly and the Packers were still in playoff contention. Rodgers did indeed return to the field for a week 15 game against the Carolina Panthers on December 17, but the Packers were eliminated from the playoff hunt after a 31–24 loss. The team placed Rodgers back on injured reserve after the game, a move that prompted several teams to complain that the Packers had violated the NFL's rules about reactivating injured players.
During Rodgers' absence, backup quarterback Brett Hundley stepped into the starting role for the first time in his professional career, but struggled to replicate Rodgers' success, despite a Pro Bowl-caliber season by receiver Davante Adams. In a 23–0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in week 11, the Packers suffered their first shutout at Lambeau Field in 11 years (the last time was a 35–0 loss to the New England Patriots in 2006). The Packers finished the season at 7–9, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Off the field, the Packers organization opened the Titletown District adjacent to Lambeau Field. This shopping, entertainment, and restaurant district includes a public plaza, park, and various commercial businesses.
In 2018, the Packers again failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing third in the NFC North with a record of 6–9–1. Following a Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Mike McCarthy was released as head coach, replaced by Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin on an interim basis. McCarthy left Green Bay having tallied a 125–77–2 (.618) regular season record, as well as a postseason record of 10–8 (.556). His total record with the Packers was 135–85–2. McCarthy had brought the team to nine playoff berths and facilitated one Super Bowl win. Following the season, Matt LaFleur, the Offensive Coordinator of the Tennessee Titans the prior season, was hired as the Packers' new coach.
Under first-year head coach Matt LaFleur, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers opened the season by defeating the Chicago Bears in the season's opening game, the first time since 2003 that the league-wide kickoff game did not feature the defending Super Bowl champions, with the Packers and Bears being selected for their historic rivalry in the NFL's 100th season. The Packers returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, finishing with a record of 13–3 and securing a first-round bye as the NFC's second seed. They defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–23 in the NFC Divisional round to advance to the NFC Championship game, where they were defeated 37–20 by the San Francisco 49ers.
In 2020, the Green Bay Packers won the NFC North Division for the second consecutive year. They also earned a first-round bye, with the top seed in the NFC. They defeated the Los Angeles Rams 32–18 in the Divisional Round, but fell to the underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC championship- their fourth straight loss in the game in five appearances under Rodgers. Rodgers won his third MVP award during the season.
The next year, they clinched the top seed in the NFC again, with a 13–4 record, before losing 13–10 to the 49ers in the Divisional round. The special teams unit was consistently the worst in the NFL during the season, though their defense was noted as an improvement from previous seasons. The special teams was especially costly in the postseason game as a field goal attempt and punt were both blocked, the latter of which the 49ers returned for a touchdown. The defense did not allow any touchdowns in that game, as the only other points the 49ers scored were off two field goals. Matt LaFleur became the first coach to have three straight 13-win seasons, however none of them ended with a trip to the Super Bowl. For his performance in the season, Aaron Rodgers won his fourth MVP award- the second most for any quarterback, only behind Peyton Manning who has five.
In the 2022 season, the Green Bay Packers struggled, and were eliminated from advancing to the NFL's wild card playoffs when they lost their last regular-season game 20-16 to the Detroit Lions. This was the first time the team missed the playoffs during Matt LaFleur's coaching stint, and the last season with Rodgers. The team finished with an 8-9 record.
The Packers are the only community-owned franchise in North America's four traditional major leagues. Rather than being the property of an individual, partnership, or corporate entity, they are held by stockholders, more than 537,000 in total as of 2022. No one is allowed to hold more than 200,000 shares. It is this broad-based community support and non-profit structure which has kept the team in Green Bay for nearly a century even though it is the smallest market in North American professional sports.
The city of Green Bay had a population of only 107,395 as of the 2020 census, and 600,000 in its television market, significantly less than the average NFL figures. The team, however, has long had an extended fan base throughout Wisconsin and parts of the Midwest, thanks in part to playing one pre-season and three regular-season home games each year in Milwaukee through 1995. It was only when baseball-only Miller Park preempted football there that the Packers' home slate became played entirely in Green Bay.
As of 2021, there have been six stock sales to fund Packer operations over the team's history, beginning with $5,000 being raised through 1,000 shares offered at $5 apiece in 1923. The latest was in November 2021, where they sold almost 200,000 shares.
The original "Articles of Incorporation for the Green Bay Football Corporation", enacted in 1923, specified that should the franchise be sold, any post-expenses money would have gone to the Sullivan-Wallen Post of the American Legion to build "a proper soldier's memorial". This stipulation was included to ensure there could never be any financial inducement for shareholders to move the club from Green Bay. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation, which makes donations to many charities and institutions throughout Wisconsin.
Even though it is referred to as "common stock" in corporate offering documents, a share of Packers stock does not share the same rights traditionally associated with common or preferred stock. It does not include an equity interest, does not pay dividends, cannot be traded, has no securities-law protection, and brings no season ticket purchase privileges. All shareholders receive are voting rights, an invitation to the corporation's annual meeting, and an opportunity to buy exclusive shareholder-only merchandise. Shares of stock cannot be resold, except back to the team for a fraction of the original price. While new shares can be given as gifts, transfers are technically allowed only between immediate family members once ownership has been established.
Green Bay is the only team with this form of ownership structure in the NFL, which does not comply with current league rules stipulating a maximum of 32 owners per team, with one holding a minimum 30% stake. The Packers' corporation was grandfathered when the NFL's current ownership policy was established in the 1980s. As a publicly held nonprofit, the Packers are also the only American major-league sports franchise to release its financial balance sheet every year.
Green Bay Packers, Inc., is governed by a seven-member executive committee elected from a 45-member board of directors. It consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and three members-at-large; only the president is compensated. Responsibilities include directing corporate management, approving major capital expenditures, establishing broad policy, and monitoring management performance.
The team's elected president normally represents the Packers in NFL owners meetings. During his time as coach, Vince Lombardi generally represented the team at league meetings in his role as general manager, except at owners-only meetings, where president Dominic Olejniczak appeared.
The team created the Green Bay Packers Foundation in December 1986. It assists in a wide variety of activities and programs benefiting education, civic affairs, health services, human services and youth-related programs.
At the team's 1997 annual stockholders meeting the foundation was designated in place of a Sullivan-Wallen Post soldiers memorial as recipient of any residual assets upon the team's sale or dissolution.
The Packers have an exceptionally loyal fan base. Regardless of team performance, every game played in Green Bay–preseason, regular season, and playoffs–has been sold out since 1960. Despite the Packers having by far the smallest local TV market, the team consistently ranks as one of the most popular in the NFL. They also have one of the longest season ticket waiting lists in professional sports: 140,000 names long, more than there are seats at Lambeau Field. The average wait is said to be over 30 years, but with only 90 or so tickets turned over annually it would be 955 years before the newest name on the list got theirs. As a result, season tickets are willed to next of kin and newborns placed optimistically on the waiting list.
Packers fans are often referred to as cheeseheads, a nickname for Wisconsin residents reflecting the state's bountiful cheese production first leveled as an insult at a 1987 game between the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, it came to be a statewide source of pride, and particularly since 1994 has been embraced by Packers fans. Bright orange triangular cheesehead hats are a fixture wherever the team plays.
During training camp in the summer months, held outside the Don Hutson Center, young Packers fans can bring their bikes and have their favorite players ride them from the locker room to practice at Ray Nitschke Field. This old tradition began around the time of Lambeau Field's construction in 1957. Gary Knafelc, a Packers end at the time, said, "I think it was just that kids wanted us to ride their bikes. I can remember kids saying, 'Hey, ride my bike.'"
The team holds an annual scrimmage called Family Night, typically an intra-squad affair, at Lambeau Field. During 2004 and 2005 sellout crowds of over 60,000 fans showed up, with an all-time mark of 62,492 set in 2005 when the Buffalo Bills appeared.
In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked Packers fans as second-best in the NFL. The team initially finished tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers (who finished ahead of the Packers) as having the best fans, but the tie was broken by ESPN's own John Clayton, a Pittsburgh native.
Needing to outfit his new squad, team founder Curly Lambeau solicited funds from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment in return for the team being named for its sponsor. An early newspaper article referred to the fledglings as "the Indians", but by the time they played their first game "Packers" had taken hold.
Indian Packing was purchased in 1920 by the Acme Packing Company. Acme continued to support the team, which played its first NFL season with "ACME PACKERS" emblazoned on its jerseys.
Lambeau, a Notre Dame alumnus, borrowed its Irish's navy blue and gold team colors, much as George Halas borrowed his Illinois alma mater's for the Chicago Bears. As a result, the early Packers were often referred to as the "Bays" or the "Blues" (and even occasionally as "the Big Bay Blues").
By 1950, Green Bay replaced navy blue with kelly green, but kept what was by then a lighter shade of athletic gold. Navy blue was kept as a secondary color, seen primarily on sideline capes, but was quietly dropped on all official materials shortly thereafter. In 1958, this kelly green was replaced by a darker hunter green; it and athletic gold have served as the team colors since. The team's current uniform combination of forest green or white jerseys and metallic gold pants was adopted soon after Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959. However, to celebrate the NFL's 75th anniversary in 1994, the Packers joined in a league-wide donning of "throwback" jerseys, back to navy blue and gold. The team would go throwback again for two Thanksgiving Day games against the Detroit Lions, in blue and gold 1930s-era uniforms in 2001, and 1960s green and gold (only slightly different from the current ones) in 2003.
In 1951, the team finally stopped wearing leather helmets, adopting the metallic gold plastic headgear it has used ever since. The oval "G" logo was added in 1961 when Lombardi asked Packers equipment manager Gerald "Dad" Braisher to design a logo. Braisher tasked his assistant, St. Norbert College art student John Gordon. Satisfied with a football-shaped letter "G", the pair presented it to Lombardi, who then approved the addition. Tiki Barber falsely reported it to stand for "greatness" without a reliable source to back up his claims. Other reputable media outlets then published similar stories using Barber's false claim as a source. The Packers' Assistant Director of PR and Corporate Communications had the following to say: "There's nothing in our history that suggests there's any truth to this. The Packers Hall of Fame archivist said the same thing." The team used a number of different logos prior to 1961, but the "G" is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet. The Packers hold the trademark on the "G" logo, and have granted limited permission to other organizations to utilize a similar logo, such as the University of Georgia and Grambling State University, in addition to the city of Green Bay itself as part of its civic logo. Adopted in 1964, the Georgia "G", though different in design and color, was similar to the Packers' "G". Then-Georgia head coach Vince Dooley thought it best to clear the use of Georgia's new emblem with the Packers.
While several NFL teams choose to wear white jerseys at home early in the season due to white's ability to reflect the late summer sun rays, the Packers have done so only twice, during the opening two games of the 1989 season. In 2016, the Packers debuted their Color Rush uniform, wearing white pants and socks with the white uniform. This set has been worn five times, four of them at home and two against the Chicago Bears. Although alternate gold jerseys with green numbers are sold on a retail basis, the team currently has no plans to introduce such a jersey to be used in actual games.
During the 2010 season, the Packers paid tribute to their historical roots with a throwback jersey modeled after that worn by the club in 1929, during its first championship season. The jersey was navy blue with a gold circle and navy numbers, again making the Packers "the Blues". These were then changed in 2015 to the navy blue throwback worn from 1937 to 1949, featuring gold shoulders and numbers. In 2021, the Packers changed their throwback thirds to an all-green design, resembling the uniforms worn from 1950 to 1953. Originally, the Packers wore brown helmets with the throwbacks, but in 2013, they started wearing their gold helmets without any decals due to the then-implementation of the NFL's one-shell rule; this rule has been abolished in 2022. As a result, they changed their throwbacks in both 2015 and 2021 in order to properly recreate those original uniforms, which had gold helmets with them.
Upon the NFL's switch of uniform suppliers in 2012 to Nike from Reebok, the Packers refused any changes to their uniform in any way outside of the required supplier's logo and new league uniform logos, declining all of Nike's "Elite 51" enhancements, including retaining the traditional striped collar of the jersey rather than Nike's new collar design.
The Packers and Chicago Bears have been rivals since their team's inception in 1920, becoming one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in the league's history. The Packers currently lead the series 103–95–6, and the teams have met twice in the postseason. The Bears won the 1941 meeting, 33–14, and eventually defeated the New York Giants in the 1941 NFL Championship Game, and the Packers won the 2011 meeting, 21–14, en route to a Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The teams' first meeting was a victory for the Bears (known as the Staleys at the time) in 1921 in a shutout, 20–0. The Packers claimed their first win over the Bears in 1925, 14–10. The 1924 matchup (which ended in a 3–0 win for Chicago) was notable for featuring the first-ever ejection of players in a game in NFL history, as Frank Hanny of the Bears and Walter Voss of the Packers were ejected for punching each other. The rivalry also featured one of the last successful fair catch kicks in 1968, when Bears kicker Mac Percival kicked the game-winning field goal.
The rivalry between the Packers and Minnesota Vikings began in 1961, similarly to their other divisional rivalries. It is also considered to be one of the most intense rivalries in the NFL, due the intensity of most of the matchups over the years, As is the case with many of their respective state's college teams sharing a rivalry; (Minnesota and Wisconsin) have a rivalry in multiple sports, seen between the Big Ten rivals, the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota. Events such as Randy Moss mooning the Green Bay crowd in the first playoff game between these two teams (won by the Vikings), and former Packer great Brett Favre's move to the Vikings have created more resentment between these teams. The Packers lead the all-time series 65–57–3, despite the two teams splitting their two playoff contests.
The Packers' rivalry with the Detroit Lions has been another one of the oldest regular matchups in the NFL. They first met in 1930 when the Lions were known as the Portsmouth Spartans and based in Portsmouth, Ohio. The team eventually moved to Detroit for the 1934 season. The Lions and Packers have been division rivals since 1933 and have always met at least twice a season since 1932, without any canceled games between both rivals. The Packers lead the series 105–75–7 as of the end of the 2022 season, the first time in NFL history that a team has recorded 100 wins over an opponent.
The rivalry between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys has resulted in a number of notable games in league history, including the "Ice Bowl" and other games impacting the playoff race. heated up during the 2010s, with several of their games impacting the NFC playoff race during that decade. During the Brett Favre era in Green Bay, the Cowboys dominated the rivalry, going 9–2 (including 9–0 in Dallas) against the Packers when Favre was the quarterback. However, since Aaron Rodgers became the Packers' starter in 2008, they have dominated the rivalry, as Rodgers has an 8–2 record against the Cowboys, including a perfect 3–0 record in Dallas. The Packers lead the all-time series 21–17. The teams are tied 4–4 in the playoffs.
The series between the Packers and New York Giants has been one of the oldest regular matchups in the league as the two teams first met in 1928. The two teams have played since 1970 in the National Football Conference, and they play each other in the regular season either every three years or depending on its NFC division placement, and in the postseason, The Packers lead the all-time series 34–27–2 and postseason series 5–3.
The rivalry between the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers ignited during the 1990s, with the two teams facing each other in four consecutive playoff games. The Packers won four of five playoff games against the 49ers with Brett Favre as its quarterback, with four of those games pitting Favre against 49ers' Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Since 2012, the 49ers have defeated the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers four times in the playoffs. The Packers currently lead the series 38–33–1, but the 49ers have won the last four postseason meetings to take a 5–4 lead.
Following Seattle's relocation to the NFC in 2002, the Packers have faced the Seattle Seahawks multiple times in the playoffs, developing an intense rivalry as well. Some notable moments include the clubs' first playoff meeting in 2003 in which Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw a game-losing pick-six in overtime after guaranteeing a game-winning drive, the Fail Mary, and Russell Wilson overcoming four interceptions and a 16–0 Packers lead to lead Seattle to a 28–22 overtime win to advance to Super Bowl XLIX.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Packers were division rivals from 1977 to 2002, when both were in the NFC Central division. The teams have played a number of notable games, including a Snow Bowl game in 1985, a playoff game in 1998 and the NFC Championship Game in 2021. The Packers lead the series 34–23–1.
After their early seasons at Bellevue Park and Hagemeister Park, the Packers played home games in City Stadium from 1925 to 1956. The team won its first six NFL championships there.
By the 1950s, the wooden 25,000-seat arena was considered outmoded. The NFL threatened to move the franchise to Milwaukee full-time unless it got a better stadium. The city responded by building a new 32,150 seat City Stadium for the team, the first built exclusively for an NFL team, which opened in time for the 1957 season. It was renamed Lambeau Field in 1965 to honor Curly Lambeau, who had died earlier in the year.
Expanded seven times before the end of the 1990s, Lambeau Field capacity reached 60,890. In 2003, it was extensively renovated to expand seating, modernize stadium facilities, and add an atrium area. Even with a current seating capacity of 72,928, ticket demand far outpaces supply, as all Packers games have been sold out since 1960. About 86,000 names are on the waiting list for season tickets.
The Packers played part of their home slate in Milwaukee starting in 1933, including two to three home games each year in Milwaukee's County Stadium from 1953 to 1994. Indeed, County Stadium had been built partly to entice the Packers to move to Milwaukee full-time. The Packers worked to capture their growing fan base in Milwaukee and the larger crowds. By the 1960s, threat of an American Football League franchise in Milwaukee prompted the Packers to stay, including scheduling a Western Conference Playoff in 1967.
County Stadium was built primarily as a baseball stadium and made only the bare minimum adjustments to accommodate football. At its height, it only seated 56,000 people, just barely above the NFL minimum; many of those seats were badly obstructed. The field was just barely large enough to fit a football field. Both teams shared the same sideline (separated by a piece of tape) and the end zones extended onto the warning track. By 1994, improvements and seating expansions at Lambeau, along with the Brewers preparing to campaign for their new stadium prompted the Packers to play their full slate in Green Bay for the first time in 62 years. Former season ticketholders for the Milwaukee package continue to receive preference for one pre-season and the second and fifth regular-season games at Lambeau Field each season, along with playoff games through a lottery under the "Gold Package" plan.
The Packers have three practice facilities across the street from Lambeau Field in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin: the Don Hutson Center, an indoor facility; Ray Nitschke Field, an outdoor field with artificial FieldTurf; and Clarke Hinkle Field, an outdoor field with natural grass.
The Packers Pro Shop has been the official retail store of the Packers since 1989. The primary retail store is located at Lambeau Field, having been expanded numerous times since it opened. The Pro Shop reported sales of over $7 million in 2015.
This is a partial list of the Packers' last five completed seasons. For the full season-by-season franchise results, see List of Green Bay Packers seasons.
Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.
As of January 2023
The Packers have been league champions a record 13 times, topping their nearest rival, the Chicago Bears, by four. The first three were decided by league standing, the next six by the NFL Title Game, and the last four by Super Bowl victories. The Packers are also the only team to win three consecutive NFL titles, having accomplished this twice—from 1929 to 1931 under Lambeau, and from 1965 to 1967 under Lombardi.
Starting in 1966, the NFL began holding the Super Bowl. The Packers have won four Super Bowls.
From 1933 to 1969, the NFL held a championship game to decide their champion. The Packers won 8 NFL Championship Games. From 1966 to 1969, the NFL Championship Game was followed by the Super Bowl.
The Packers have won three NFC Championship Games, with twice as many losses. NFC Championships did not exist before the AFL–NFL merger in 1970.
From 1920 to 1932, the NFL championship was awarded based on standings, with no championship game taking place. The Packers won three such championships.
The Packers have won 21 divisional championships.
The Packers have the second most members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with 30, 25 of which were inducted as Packers. They trail only the Chicago Bears with 37 Hall of Famers, 30 of which were inducted as Bears.
Many Packers players and coaches are also enshrined in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2018 Ron Wolf, the most recent Packers contributor to be honored, was inducted.
In nearly nine decades of Packers football, the Packers have formally retired six numbers. All six Packers are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and their numbers and names are displayed on the green facade of Lambeau Field's north endzone as well as in the Lambeau Field Atrium.
The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame was the first hall of fame built to honor a single professional American football team. John P. Holloway, a Brown County administrator and arena director, and William L. Brault, a Green Bay restaurateur and Packers fan, co-founded the Packer Hall of Fame museum in 1966.
As of 2019, the Packers Hall of Fame has inducted 162 people, 24 of whom have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
*Interim head coaches
The Packers are unique in having their market area cover two media markets, both Green Bay and Milwaukee. NFL blackout restrictions for the team apply within both areas. However, Packers games have not been blacked out locally since 1972 (the last year home game local telecasts were prohibited regardless of sellout status) due to strong home attendance and popularity. As mentioned above, every Packers home game—preseason, regular season and playoffs—has been sold out since 1960.
The flagship station of the Packers Radio Network is Good Karma Brands's WTMJ in Milwaukee, which was the former flagship of the Journal Broadcast Group before its merger with E. W. Scripps Company in April 2015; Scripps itself sold their Milwaukee radio assets to GKB in November 2018, and the team then brought their broadcast operations in-house, thus the personnel is directly employed by the team. WTMJ has aired Packers games since 1929, the longest association between a radio station and an NFL team to date, and the only rights deal in American professional sports where a station outside of the team's main metro area is the radio flagship. While this might be unusual, the station can be heard at city-grade strength at all hours in Green Bay proper. Games air in Green Bay on WTAQ (1360/97.5) and WIXX-FM (101.1), and WAPL (105.7) and WHBY (1150) in Appleton and the Fox Cities. Wayne Larrivee is the play-by-play announcer and Larry McCarren is the color analyst. Larrivee joined the team after many years as the Chicago Bears' announcer. Jim Irwin and Max McGee were the longtime radio announcers before Larrivee and McCarren. When victory is assured for the Packers, either a game-winning touchdown, interception or a crucial 4th down defensive stop, Larrivee's trademark declaration of "And there is your dagger!" signifies the event. In limited circumstances where the Milwaukee Brewers are in either playoff or post-season contention and their play-by-play takes priority, WTMJ's sister FM station WKTI (94.5) currently airs Packer games to avert game conflicts. Surrounding pre-game programming is also carried on sister station WAUK (540), an ESPN Radio affiliate and former competitor which produced unofficial Packers programming for years.
On October 27, 2021, the Packers announced that it would end its longtime association with WTMJ at the end of the season, with iHeartMedia's sports radio station WRNW (97.3) becoming the team's Milwaukee radio affiliate in 2022.
The TV rights for pre-season games not nationally broadcast are held by E. W. Scripps Company-owned television stations WGBA-TV (channel 26) in Green Bay and WTMJ-TV (channel 4) in Milwaukee; the game broadcasts are distributed to 19 further TV stations in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, and Alaska, as well as Spanish-language WYTU-LD "Telemundo Wisconsin" in Milwaukee. The deal marked a change in affiliate in Green Bay from WFRV-TV; in the wake of the 2012 deal, McCarren resigned his duties as sports director of WFRV to move to WTMJ/WGBA as a Packers analyst, becoming WGBA's official sports director on April 1, 2013. McCarren left WGBA in 2015 and became a team employee.
The team's intra-squad Lambeau scrimmage at the beginning of the season, marketed as Packers Family Night, was produced for over a decade by WLUK-TV in Green Bay and broadcast by the state's Fox affiliates through the 2016 season. In 2017, Scripps and the Packers Television Network began to originate the Packers Family Night broadcast.
Preseason television games are announced by Kevin Harlan, son of former Packers president Bob Harlan, and color commentator Rich Gannon. Regular-season and postseason games not aired on a broadcast network are simulcast on broadcast stations in the Green Bay and Milwaukee markets.
On the television sitcom That '70s Show, in season 7 episode 14, Donna Pinciotti gave the gang—including Red Forman, a long-time Packer fan—six free tickets to Lambeau Field for a game against the Chicago Bears. Eric comes back wearing Bears Jersey # 34 Sweetness Walter Payton causing the crowd to boo and make negative comments towards him. Eric doesn't understand football in general. In the season 8 finale, Red declined to move to Florida after Steven Hyde bought him season tickets.
In 2015, five members of the Packers (David Bakhtiari, Don Barclay, T. J. Lang, Clay Matthews, and Josh Sitton) made an appearance as an a cappella group in the musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2. Aaron Rodgers' brother Jordan also appeared. That same year, Rodgers himself appeared in an episode of the sketch comedy television series Key & Peele, along with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
In the television series Danny Phantom, the main antagonist, Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius, is a Packers "Fanatic". His prized possession is a football autographed by Ray Nitschke, and his dream is to own the team.
In the 1998 film There's Something about Mary, Mary, played by actress Cameron Diaz, consistently talks about her boyfriend "Brett". It is revealed towards the end of the film that "Brett" is then-Packers' quarterback Brett Favre. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957. They have the most wins of any NFL franchise.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Packers are the last of the \"small-town teams\" that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl \"Curly\" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the forerunner of today's NFL, in 1921. In 1933, the Packers began playing part of their home slate in Milwaukee until changes at Lambeau Field in 1995 made it more lucrative to stay in Green Bay full-time; Milwaukee is still considered a home media market for the team. Although Green Bay is by far the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as the world's 27th-most-valuable sports franchise in 2019, with a value of $2.63 billion.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967; they were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League (AFL) before the AFL–NFL merger. After Lombardi retired, the Super Bowl trophy was named for him, but the team struggled through the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1993, the team has enjoyed much regular-season success, making the playoffs 22 times and winning two Super Bowls in 1996 under head coach Mike Holmgren and 2010 under head coach Mike McCarthy. The Packers have the most wins (826) and the second-highest win–loss record (.571) in NFL history, including both regular season and playoff games. The Packers are longstanding adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, who today form the NFL's NFC North division (formerly known as the NFC Central Division). They have played more than 100 games against each of those teams, and have a winning overall record against all of them, a distinction only shared with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. The Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in U.S. professional sports history, dating to 1921.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11, 1919 by former high-school football rivals Earl \"Curly\" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company, a meat packing company. He was given $500 ($8,400 today) for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named after its sponsor. The Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "On August 27, 1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the American Professional Football Association, a new national pro football league that had been formed the previous year. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League a year later. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year before Lambeau found new financial backers and regained the franchise the next year. These backers, known as \"The Hungry Five\", formed the Green Bay Football Corporation.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeau's squad claimed the Packers' first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, behind a stifling defense which registered eight shutouts. Green Bay would repeat as league champions in 1930 and 1931, bettering teams from New York, Chicago and throughout the league, with all-time greats and future Hall of Famers Mike Michalske, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Cal Hubbard and Green Bay native Arnie Herber. Among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers' streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau and the Packers the most-feared and dynamic offensive weapon in the game. Credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936, 1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940. Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand. In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, and he was inducted as a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "After Hutson's retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers' slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members and families to live. Rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946–49 Packers. The 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12–10–1, and 1949 was even worse at 3–9. The lodge burned down on January 24, 1950, and insurance money paid for many of the Packers' debts.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Curly Lambeau departed after the 1949 season. Gene Ronzani and Lisle Blackbourn could not coach the Packers back to their former magic, even as a new stadium was unveiled in 1957. The losing would descend to the disastrous 1958 campaign under coach Ray \"Scooter\" McLean, whose lone 1–10–1 year at the helm is the worst in Packers history.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Former New York Giants assistant Vince Lombardi was hired as Packers head coach and general manager on February 2, 1959. Few suspected the hiring represented the beginning of a remarkable, immediate turnaround. Under Lombardi, the Packers would become the team of the 1960s, winning five championships over a seven-year span, including victories in the first two Super Bowls. During the Lombardi era, the stars of the Packers' offense included Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Carroll Dale, Paul Hornung (as halfback and placekicker), Forrest Gregg, and Jerry Kramer. The defense included Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Willie Wood, Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson, and Herb Adderley.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Packers' first regular-season game under Lombardi was on September 27, 1959, a 9–6 victory over the Chicago Bears in Green Bay. After winning their first three, the Packers lost the next five before finishing strong by sweeping their final four. The 7–5 record represented the Packers' first winning season since 1947, enough to earn rookie head coach Lombardi the NFL Coach of the Year.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The next year, the Packers, led by Paul Hornung's 176 points, won the NFL West title and played in the NFL Championship against the Philadelphia Eagles at Philadelphia. In a see-saw game, the Packers trailed by only four points when All-Pro Eagle linebacker Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor just nine yards short of the goal line as time expired.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The Packers returned to the NFL Championship game the following season and faced the New York Giants in the first league title game to be played in Green Bay. The Packers scored 24-second-quarter points, including a championship-record 19 by Paul Hornung, on special \"loan\" from the Army (one touchdown, four extra-points and three field goals), powering the Packers to a 37–0 rout of the Giants, their first NFL Championship since 1944. It was in 1961 that Green Bay became known as \"Titletown\".",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Packers stormed back in the 1962 season, jumping out to a 10–0 start, on their way to a 13–1 season. This consistent level of success would lead to Lombardi's Packers becoming one of the most prominent teams of their era, and to being featured as the face of the NFL on the cover of Time on December 21, 1962, as part of the magazine's cover story on \"The Sport of the '60s\". Shortly after Time's article, the Packers faced the Giants in a much more brutal championship game than the previous year, but the Packers prevailed on the kicking of Jerry Kramer and the determined running of Jim Taylor. The Packers defeated the Giants in New York, 16–7.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The Packers returned to the championship game in 1965 following a two-year absence when they defeated the Colts in a playoff for the Western Conference title. That game would be remembered for Don Chandler's controversial tying field goal in which the ball allegedly went wide right, but the officials signaled \"good\". The 13–10 overtime win earned the Packers a trip to the NFL Championship game, where Hornung and Taylor ran through the defending champion Cleveland Browns, helping the Packers win, 23–12, to earn their third NFL Championship under Lombardi and ninth overall. Goalpost uprights would be made taller the next year.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The 1966 season saw the Packers led to the first-ever Super Bowl by MVP quarterback Bart Starr. The team went 12–2, and as time wound down in the NFL Championship against the Dallas Cowboys, the Packers clung to a 34–27 lead. Dallas had the ball on the Packers' two-yard line, threatening to tie the ballgame. But on fourth down the Packers' Tom Brown intercepted Don Meredith's pass in the end zone to seal the win. The team crowned its season by rolling over the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 in Super Bowl I.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The 1967 season was the last for Lombardi as the Packers' head coach. The NFL Championship game, a rematch of the 1966 contest against Dallas, became indelibly known as the \"Ice Bowl\" as a result of the brutal conditions at Lambeau Field. Still the coldest NFL game ever played, it remains one of the most famous football games at any level in the history of the sport. With 16 seconds left, Bart Starr's touchdown on a quarterback sneak brought the Packers a 21–17 victory and their still unequaled third straight NFL Championship. They then won Super Bowl II with a 33–14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Lombardi stepped down as head coach after the game, and Phil Bengtson was named his successor. Lombardi remained as general manager for one season but left in 1969 to become head coach and minority owner of the Washington Redskins.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "After Lombardi died of cancer on September 3, 1970, the NFL renamed the Super Bowl trophy the Vince Lombardi Trophy in recognition of his accomplishments with the Packers. The city of Green Bay renamed Highland Avenue in his honor in 1968, placing Lambeau Field at 1265 Lombardi Avenue ever since.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "For about a quarter-century after Lombardi's departure, the Packers had relatively little on-field success. In the 24 seasons from 1968 to 1991, they had only five seasons with a winning record, one being the shortened 1982 strike season. They appeared in the playoffs twice, with a 1–2 record. The period saw five different head coaches—Phil Bengtson, Dan Devine, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, and Lindy Infante—two of whom, Starr and Gregg, were Lombardi's era stars, while Bengtson was a former Packer coach. Each led the Packers to a worse record than his predecessor. Poor personnel decisions were rife, notoriously the 1974 trade by acting general manager Dan Devine which sent five 1975 or 1976 draft picks (two first-rounders, two-second-rounders and a third) to the Los Angeles Rams for aging quarterback John Hadl, who would spend only 11⁄2 seasons in Green Bay. Another came in the 1989 NFL Draft, when offensive lineman Tony Mandarich was taken with the second overall pick ahead of future Hall of Fame inductees Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders. Though rated highly by nearly every professional scout at the time, Mandarich's performance failed to meet expectations, earning him ESPN's ranking as the third \"biggest sports flop\" in the last 25 years.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The Packers' performance in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s led to a shakeup, with Ron Wolf hired as general manager and given full control of the team's football operations to start the 1991 season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1992, Wolf hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren as the Packers' new head coach.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Soon afterward, Wolf acquired quarterback Brett Favre from the Atlanta Falcons for a first-round pick. Favre got the Packers their first win of the 1992 season, stepping in for injured quarterback Don Majkowski and leading a comeback over the Cincinnati Bengals. He started the following week, a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and never missed another start for Green Bay through the end of the 2007 season. He would go on to break the record for consecutive starts by an NFL quarterback, starting 297 consecutive games including stints with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings with the streak finally coming to an end late in the 2010 season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The Packers had a 9–7 record in 1992, and began to turn heads around the league when they signed perhaps the most prized free agent in NFL history in Reggie White on the defense in 1993. White believed that Wolf, Holmgren, and Favre had the team heading in the right direction with a \"total commitment to winning\". With White on board the Packers made it to the second round of the playoffs during both the 1993 and 1994 seasons but lost their 2nd-round matches to their playoff rival, the Dallas Cowboys, playing in Dallas on both occasions. In 1995, the Packers won the NFC Central Division championship for the first time since 1972. After a home playoff 37–20 win against Favre's former team, the Atlanta Falcons, the Packers defeated the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 27–17 in San Francisco on the road to advance to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost again to the Dallas Cowboys 38–27.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 1996, the Packers' turnaround was complete. The team posted a league-best 13–3 record in the regular season, dominating the competition and securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They were ranked no. 1 in offense with Brett Favre leading the way, no. 1 in defense with Reggie White as the leader of the defense and no. 1 in special teams with former Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard returning punts and kickoffs for touchdowns. After relatively easy wins against the San Francisco 49ers in a muddy 35–14 beatdown and Carolina Panthers 30–13, the Packers advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years. In Super Bowl XXXI, Green Bay defeated the New England Patriots 35–21 to win their 12th championship. Desmond Howard was named MVP of the game for his kickoff return for a touchdown that ended the Patriots' bid for a comeback. Then-Packers president Bob Harlan credited Wolf, Holmgren, Favre, and White for ultimately changing the fortunes of the organization and turning the Green Bay Packers into a model NFL franchise. A 2007 panel of football experts at ESPN ranked the 1996 Packers the 6th-greatest team ever to play in the Super Bowl.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The following season the Packers recorded another 13–3 record and won their second consecutive NFC championship. After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21–7 and San Francisco 49ers 23–10 in the playoffs, the Packers returned to the Super Bowl as an 111/2 point favorite. The team ended up losing in an upset to John Elway and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII, by the score of 31–24.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In 1998, the Packers went 11–5 and met the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the NFC playoffs. It was the fourth consecutive year these teams had met in the playoffs and the sixth overall contest since the 1995 season. The Packers had won all previous games, and the media speculated that another 49ers loss would result in the dismissal of San Francisco head coach Steve Mariucci. Unlike the previous playoff matches, this game was hotly contested, with the teams frequently exchanging leads. With 4:19 left in the 4th quarter, Brett Favre and the Packers embarked on an 89-yard drive, which concluded with a Favre touchdown pass to receiver Antonio Freeman. This play appeared to give Green Bay the victory. But San Francisco quarterback Steve Young led the 49ers on an improbable touchdown drive, which culminated when Terrell Owens caught Young's pass between several defenders to give the 49ers a lead with three seconds remaining. Afterwards, the game was mired in controversy. Many argued that during the 49ers game-winning drive, Niners receiver Jerry Rice fumbled the ball but officials stated he was down by contact. Television replays confirmed the fumble, but referees were unable to review the play; the next season the NFL reinstituted an instant replay system. In the end, this game turned out to be the end of an era in Green Bay. Days later Mike Holmgren left the Packers to become vice president, general manager and head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Much of Holmgren's coaching staff went with him, and Reggie White also retired after the season (but later played one season for the Carolina Panthers in 2000).",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1999, the team struggled to find an identity after the departure of so many of the individuals responsible for their Super Bowl run. Ray Rhodes was hired in 1999 as the team's new head coach. Rhodes had served around the league as a highly regarded defensive coordinator and more recently experienced moderate success as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995 to 1998. Ron Wolf believed that Rhodes' experience and player-friendly demeanor would fit nicely in Green Bay's veteran locker room, but Rhodes was fired after one 8–8 season. Wolf visited team practice late in the 1999 season and believed that players had become too comfortable with Rhodes' style, and said the atmosphere resembled a country club.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 2000, Wolf replaced Rhodes with Mike Sherman. Sherman had never been a head coach at any level of football and was relatively unknown in NFL circles. He had only coached in professional football for three years starting as the Packers' tight ends coach in 1997 and 1998. In 1999, he followed Mike Holmgren to Seattle and became the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, although Sherman did not call the plays during games. Despite Sherman's apparent anonymity, Wolf was blown away in the interview process by the coach's organizational skills and attention to detail. Sherman's inaugural season started slowly, but the Packers won their final four games to achieve a 9–7 record. Brett Favre praised the atmosphere Sherman had cultivated in Green Bay's locker room and fans were optimistic about the team's future. In the offseason, however, Wolf suddenly announced his own resignation as general manager to take effect after the April 2001 draft. Packers' president Bob Harlan was surprised by Wolf's decision and felt unsure of how to replace him. Harlan preferred the structure Green Bay had employed since 1991; a general manager who ran football operations and hired a subservient head coach. But with the momentum and locker room chemistry that was built during the 2000 season, Harlan was reluctant to bring in a new individual with a potentially different philosophy. Wolf recommended that Harlan give the job to Sherman. Though Harlan was wary of the structure in principle, he agreed with Wolf that it was the best solution. In 2001, Sherman assumed the duties of both general manager and head coach.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "From 2001 to 2004, Sherman coached the Packers to respectable regular-season success, led by the spectacular play of Brett Favre, Ahman Green, and a formidable offensive line. But Sherman's teams faltered in the playoffs. Prior to 2003, the Packers had never lost a home playoff game since the NFL instituted a post-season in 1933 (they were 13–0, with 11 of the wins at Lambeau and two more in Milwaukee.). That ended January 4, 2003, when the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Packers 27–7 in an NFC Wild Card game. The Packers would also lose at home in the playoffs to the Minnesota Vikings two years later.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "By the end of the 2004 season, the Packers team depth appeared to be diminishing. Sherman also seemed overworked and reportedly had trouble communicating with players on the practice field with whom he was also negotiating contracts. Harlan felt the dual roles were too much for one man to handle and removed Sherman from the general manager position in early 2005 while retaining him as a head coach. Harlan hired the Seattle Seahawks' vice president of operations Ted Thompson as the new executive vice president, general manager and director of football operations. The relationship between Thompson and Sherman appeared strained, as Thompson immediately began rebuilding Green Bay's roster. Following a dismal 4–12 season, Thompson fired Sherman.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In 2006, Thompson hired Mike McCarthy, the former offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints, as his new head coach. McCarthy had also previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Packers in 1999. In McCarthy's debut year coaching the Packers, the team began the season with a 4–8 record. Then, Brett Favre sustained injuries, as did the backup quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Despite the injuries, McCarthy coached the team to four consecutive wins, finishing with an 8–8 record.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "After missing the playoffs in 2006, Brett Favre announced that he would return for the 2007 season; under McCarthy it would turn out to be one of his best. The Packers won 10 of their first 11 games and finished 13–3, earning a first-round bye in the playoffs. That was sufficient to propel McCarthy to secure the best record among active coaches through their first 25 games. The Packers' passing offense, led by Favre and a very skilled wide receiver group, finished second in the NFC, behind the Dallas Cowboys, and third overall in the league. Running back Ryan Grant, acquired for a sixth-round draft pick from the New York Giants, became the featured back in Green Bay and rushed for 956 yards and 8 touchdowns in the final 10 games of the regular season. In the divisional playoff round, in a heavy snowstorm, the Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 42–20. Grant rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns, while Favre tossed an additional three touchdown passes to receiver Donald Driver (as well as a snowball, which Favre memorably threw at Driver in celebration).",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "On January 20, 2008, Green Bay appeared in their first NFC Championship Game in 10 years facing the New York Giants in Green Bay. The game was lost 23–20 on an overtime field goal by Lawrence Tynes. This would be Brett Favre's final game as a Green Bay Packer with his final pass being an interception in overtime.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Mike McCarthy coached the NFC team during the 2008 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Al Harris and Aaron Kampman were also picked to play for the NFC Pro Bowl team as starters. Donald Driver was named as a third-string wideout on the Pro Bowl roster. Brett Favre was named the first-string quarterback for the NFC, but he declined to play in the Pro Bowl and was replaced on the roster by Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia. The Packers also had several first alternates, including offensive tackle Chad Clifton and linebacker Nick Barnett.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In December 2007, Ted Thompson was signed to a 5-year contract extension with the Packers. In addition, on February 5, 2008, head coach Mike McCarthy signed a 5-year contract extension.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "On March 4, 2008, Brett Favre announced his retirement. Within five months, however, he filed for reinstatement with the NFL on July 29. Favre's petition was granted by Commissioner Roger Goodell, effective August 4, 2008. On August 6, 2008, it was announced that Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick in 2009.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The Packers began their 2008 season with their 2005 first-round draft pick, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, under center, as the first QB other than Favre to start for the Packers in 16 years. Rodgers played well in his first year starting for the Packers, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. However, injuries plagued the Packers' defense, as they lost 7 close games by 4 points or less, finishing with a 6–10 record. After the season, eight assistant coaches were dismissed by the organization, including Bob Sanders, the team's defensive coordinator, who was replaced by Dom Capers.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In March 2009, the organization assured fans that Brett Favre's jersey number would be retired, but not during the 2009 season. In April 2009, the Packers selected defensive lineman B. J. Raji of Boston College as the team's first pick in the draft. The team then traded three draft picks (including the pick the Packers acquired from the Jets for Brett Favre) for another first-round pick, selecting linebacker Clay Matthews III of the University of Southern California.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "During the 2009 NFL season, two match-ups between the franchise and its former quarterback Brett Favre were highly anticipated after Favre's arrival with the division-rival Vikings in August. The first encounter took place in Week 4, on a Monday Night Football game that broke several TV audience records. The scheduling of this game was made possible when Baseball Commissioner and Packer board of directors member Bud Selig forced baseball's Minnesota Twins to play 2 games within a 12-hour span. The Vikings won the game 30–23. Brett Favre threw 3 TDs, no interceptions, and had a passer rating of 135. The teams met for a second time in Week 8, Favre leading the Vikings to a second win, 38–26, in Green Bay. Rodgers was heavily pressured in both games, being sacked 14 times total, but still played well, throwing five touchdowns and only one interception. The next week, the Packers were upset by the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Following a players-only meeting, the team found some stability on the offensive line with the return of tackle Mark Tauscher bringing a minor halt to sacks to Rodgers and opening the running game to Ryan Grant and the other running backs. Green Bay finished the season strongly, winning 7 out of their last 8 games, including winning their 16th regular season finale in the past 17 seasons, and earning a NFC wild-card playoff bid with an 11–5 regular-season record. The Packers defense was ranked No. 2 and the offense was ranked No. 6 with rookies Brad Jones and Clay Matthews III becoming sensations at linebacker and young players like James Jones, Brandon Jackson, Jermichael Finley and Jordy Nelson becoming threats on offense. Rodgers also became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards in each of his first two seasons as a starter. Also, cornerback Charles Woodson won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors after recording 9 interceptions, forcing four fumbles, 3 touchdowns and registering 74 tackles and 2 sacks. In fact, Woodson's 9 interceptions were more than the 8 collected by all Packer opponents that season. Though the defense was ranked high, injuries to Al Harris, Tramon Williams, Will Blackmon, Atari Bigby and Brandon Underwood severely limited the depth of the secondary and teams like the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers used that to their advantage by unleashing aerial assaults against inexperienced players with the NFL's best receivers. The season ended with an overtime loss in a wild card round shootout at the Arizona Cardinals, 51–45. It was the second time McCarthy led the Packers to the postseason. While they weren't as successful as their 90s counterparts in the postseason, the 2000s were by no means a dark time for the Packers. The team finished the decade with the 5th highest winning percentage.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The team lost Johnny Jolly to a season-long suspension after he violated the NFL drug policy. Their running corps suffered a blow when RB Ryan Grant sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 1. By the end of the season, the team had 16 people on injured reserve, including 7 starters: running back Ryan Grant, tight end Jermichael Finley, linebacker Nick Barnett, safety Morgan Burnett, linebacker Brandon Chillar, tackle Mark Tauscher, and linebacker Brad Jones. Key injuries didn't stop McCarthy's team from finishing the regular season with a 10–6 record. In week 7, the team faced the Minnesota Vikings, then led by former Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Green Bay beat Favre's new team 28–24, when Favre's final pass to Randy Moss in the end zone flew incomplete. In week 17, the Packers clinched their playoff berth with a 10–3 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field, aided in large part by Nick Collins' interception of Jay Cutler's throw that allowed Green Bay to run out the clock.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The Packers 10–6 record allowed them to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. They first faced No. 3 seeded Philadelphia, winning 21–16. In the Divisional round, they defeated No. 1 seed Atlanta 48–21. They then played the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC Championship Game—only the second playoff meeting between the two storied rivals (the other a 33–14 Chicago victory which sent them to the 1941 NFL Championship Game). McCarthy's Packers won 21–14 to move on to Super Bowl XLV, having secured a 3–0 record in the postseason.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "On the evening before the Super Bowl, McCarthy had each player fitted for a championship ring. Aware of the motivational tactic, team president Mark Murphy instructed his organization to begin designing the ring. The following day on February 6, 2011, they defeated the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25, becoming the first No. 6 seed from the NFC to win a Super Bowl. It was the first time the Packers had won the Lombardi Trophy since 1996. Aaron Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "During Super Bowl XLV, McCarthy's team initially enjoyed a comfortable 21–3 lead over the Steelers. Then, Charles Woodson had to leave the game with a broken collarbone and the Steelers' Hines Ward found the end-zone to make the score 21–10 by halftime. During the third quarter, Pittsburgh scored 7 more points to make the score 21–17. In the fourth quarter, Green Bay's Clay Matthews tackled Pittsburgh's Rashard Mendenhall, and Desmond Bishop recovered the ball for a key turnover.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In 2011, coming off their victory in Super Bowl XLV, the Packers won their first 13 games, eventually finishing the season 15–1. The 15 victories marked the franchise record for wins in a season, and tied for second-most regular-season wins in NFL history, behind only the 2007 Patriots who went 16–0. Following the season, Aaron Rodgers would be named the NFL's MVP, his first such award. During that year, McCarthy's offensive strategies aided Rodgers in throwing for 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns. These strategies also propelled the Packers to lead the NFL in scoring that year.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Despite receiving home-field advantage, Green Bay lost their first postseason game to eventual Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants, 37–20.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Finishing the 2012 season with an 11–5 record and their second straight division title, the Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC wild-card round 24–10, but lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the eventual NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers by a score of 45–31. The Packers offense finished the season fifth in points and 11th in yards per game. Under McCarthy, Rodgers passed for 4,295 yards. The defense finished 11th in points allowed and 22nd in yards allowed per game.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The Packers topped the first-ever AP Pro32 rankings, a new pro football version of the AP Top 25 college football and basketball polls.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "In 2013, the Packers started 5–2, leading up to a Week 9 match-up against the Bears. It was in that game which the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone; Rodgers would miss the next six games, during which the club would go 2–3–1 under three different quarterbacks: Seneca Wallace (injured during first start), Scott Tolzien (benched), and Matt Flynn.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Despite having a 7–7–1 record, the Packers were still in a position to win the NFC North division, if they were able to win their final game. With Rodgers returning, the Packers managed to beat the Bears in a Week 9 rematch, 33–28. Finishing at 8–7–1, the Packers won their division and were awarded a home playoff game. It was the fifth consecutive time that McCarthy led his team to a playoff appearance. However, despite Rodgers' return, the Packers would lose to the San Francisco 49ers 20–23 in the first round of the playoffs.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The Packers recorded their 700th victory, against the Bears, in Week 4. The team went undefeated at home for the first time since the 2011 season; they also led the league in scoring, with 486 points, the second-most in franchise history. The 2014 season also marked the first time since 2009 that the team had a 4,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers, and a 1,000-yard rusher. McCarthy led an offense that finished sixth in the league in total offense. After winning against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16, McCarthy (99 wins) passed Hall of Famer Vince Lombardi (98) on the all-time wins list for the Packers. Overall, the team went 12–4, clinching the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a fourth consecutive NFC North division title, making the playoffs for the sixth straight season, tying a franchise record. The Packers beat the Cowboys in the divisional round, advancing to the NFC Championship to face the Seattle Seahawks. After leading throughout most of regulation, the Packers lost 28–22 in a historic overtime rally by Seattle.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Following the season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the second time.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "During Week 2 of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver Jordy Nelson caught an eight-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers, but then fell to the turf without contact. A few days later, it was revealed that Nelson had torn his ACL. He would remain inactive for the rest of the 2015 season. Even without Nelson, the Packers managed to get off to a 6–0 start, but the Packers then lost four of their next five games, falling to 7–4.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "On December 3, against the Detroit Lions, the Packers quickly fell to a 20–0 deficit going into halftime. Green Bay started to make a comeback in the second half thanks to a touchdown by Davante Adams and a 27-yard touchdown run by Aaron Rodgers to bring the game within two points at 23–21. The Packers then got the ball back in their possession with 23 seconds left in the game. While attempting a \"lateral\" play, Rodgers was sacked with no time remaining but then a flag was thrown for a facemask penalty on Detroit. The Packers now had one more un-timed play, which Aaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown to tight end Richard Rodgers II. It was the longest Hail Mary touchdown pass thrown in NFL history.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Up until week 14, McCarthy delegated play calling duties to associate head coach Tom Clements. However, the team's struggling offense made McCarthy decide to take back play calling duties. During that first game that McCarthy resumed play calling, the Packers ran the ball for 230 yards in 44 carries. Green Bay then finished the season 10–6 and 2nd in the NFC North behind the Minnesota Vikings.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "The Packers beat the Washington Redskins in the NFC wild-card game to advance to the divisional round with the Arizona Cardinals. A similar play to tie the game against the Cardinals happened between Aaron Rodgers and Jeff Janis. Janis caught a 41-yard touchdown from Rodgers which sent the game into overtime. However, the Packers fell to Arizona 26–20, ending their season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "After a 4–6 start to the season, the Packers went on a six-game winning streak to finish the regular season with a 10–6 record. The team clinched the NFC North for the fifth time in six years with their Week 17 win over the Detroit Lions. At the conclusion of the regular season, the success of his team made McCarthy the fourth head coach in NFL history to guide his team to eight or more consecutive playoff appearances. They routed the fifth-seeded New York Giants, 38–13, in the wild-card round of the playoffs and upset the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys, 34–31, in the divisional round of the playoffs, but their season came to an end when they were beaten by the second-seeded Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, 44–21.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The Green Bay Packers began the 2017 regular season with a 4–2 record. On October 15, during a week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Rodgers was driven to the ground by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr after throwing a pass. Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone during the play, and the Packers placed him on injured reserve on October 20, with the stipulation that he could return in eight weeks (in accordance with NFL rules), especially if the injury healed quickly and the Packers were still in playoff contention. Rodgers did indeed return to the field for a week 15 game against the Carolina Panthers on December 17, but the Packers were eliminated from the playoff hunt after a 31–24 loss. The team placed Rodgers back on injured reserve after the game, a move that prompted several teams to complain that the Packers had violated the NFL's rules about reactivating injured players.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "During Rodgers' absence, backup quarterback Brett Hundley stepped into the starting role for the first time in his professional career, but struggled to replicate Rodgers' success, despite a Pro Bowl-caliber season by receiver Davante Adams. In a 23–0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in week 11, the Packers suffered their first shutout at Lambeau Field in 11 years (the last time was a 35–0 loss to the New England Patriots in 2006). The Packers finished the season at 7–9, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Off the field, the Packers organization opened the Titletown District adjacent to Lambeau Field. This shopping, entertainment, and restaurant district includes a public plaza, park, and various commercial businesses.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In 2018, the Packers again failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing third in the NFC North with a record of 6–9–1. Following a Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Mike McCarthy was released as head coach, replaced by Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin on an interim basis. McCarthy left Green Bay having tallied a 125–77–2 (.618) regular season record, as well as a postseason record of 10–8 (.556). His total record with the Packers was 135–85–2. McCarthy had brought the team to nine playoff berths and facilitated one Super Bowl win. Following the season, Matt LaFleur, the Offensive Coordinator of the Tennessee Titans the prior season, was hired as the Packers' new coach.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Under first-year head coach Matt LaFleur, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers opened the season by defeating the Chicago Bears in the season's opening game, the first time since 2003 that the league-wide kickoff game did not feature the defending Super Bowl champions, with the Packers and Bears being selected for their historic rivalry in the NFL's 100th season. The Packers returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, finishing with a record of 13–3 and securing a first-round bye as the NFC's second seed. They defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28–23 in the NFC Divisional round to advance to the NFC Championship game, where they were defeated 37–20 by the San Francisco 49ers.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 2020, the Green Bay Packers won the NFC North Division for the second consecutive year. They also earned a first-round bye, with the top seed in the NFC. They defeated the Los Angeles Rams 32–18 in the Divisional Round, but fell to the underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC championship- their fourth straight loss in the game in five appearances under Rodgers. Rodgers won his third MVP award during the season.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The next year, they clinched the top seed in the NFC again, with a 13–4 record, before losing 13–10 to the 49ers in the Divisional round. The special teams unit was consistently the worst in the NFL during the season, though their defense was noted as an improvement from previous seasons. The special teams was especially costly in the postseason game as a field goal attempt and punt were both blocked, the latter of which the 49ers returned for a touchdown. The defense did not allow any touchdowns in that game, as the only other points the 49ers scored were off two field goals. Matt LaFleur became the first coach to have three straight 13-win seasons, however none of them ended with a trip to the Super Bowl. For his performance in the season, Aaron Rodgers won his fourth MVP award- the second most for any quarterback, only behind Peyton Manning who has five.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "In the 2022 season, the Green Bay Packers struggled, and were eliminated from advancing to the NFL's wild card playoffs when they lost their last regular-season game 20-16 to the Detroit Lions. This was the first time the team missed the playoffs during Matt LaFleur's coaching stint, and the last season with Rodgers. The team finished with an 8-9 record.",
"title": "Franchise history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "The Packers are the only community-owned franchise in North America's four traditional major leagues. Rather than being the property of an individual, partnership, or corporate entity, they are held by stockholders, more than 537,000 in total as of 2022. No one is allowed to hold more than 200,000 shares. It is this broad-based community support and non-profit structure which has kept the team in Green Bay for nearly a century even though it is the smallest market in North American professional sports.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "The city of Green Bay had a population of only 107,395 as of the 2020 census, and 600,000 in its television market, significantly less than the average NFL figures. The team, however, has long had an extended fan base throughout Wisconsin and parts of the Midwest, thanks in part to playing one pre-season and three regular-season home games each year in Milwaukee through 1995. It was only when baseball-only Miller Park preempted football there that the Packers' home slate became played entirely in Green Bay.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "As of 2021, there have been six stock sales to fund Packer operations over the team's history, beginning with $5,000 being raised through 1,000 shares offered at $5 apiece in 1923. The latest was in November 2021, where they sold almost 200,000 shares.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "The original \"Articles of Incorporation for the Green Bay Football Corporation\", enacted in 1923, specified that should the franchise be sold, any post-expenses money would have gone to the Sullivan-Wallen Post of the American Legion to build \"a proper soldier's memorial\". This stipulation was included to ensure there could never be any financial inducement for shareholders to move the club from Green Bay. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation, which makes donations to many charities and institutions throughout Wisconsin.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Even though it is referred to as \"common stock\" in corporate offering documents, a share of Packers stock does not share the same rights traditionally associated with common or preferred stock. It does not include an equity interest, does not pay dividends, cannot be traded, has no securities-law protection, and brings no season ticket purchase privileges. All shareholders receive are voting rights, an invitation to the corporation's annual meeting, and an opportunity to buy exclusive shareholder-only merchandise. Shares of stock cannot be resold, except back to the team for a fraction of the original price. While new shares can be given as gifts, transfers are technically allowed only between immediate family members once ownership has been established.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Green Bay is the only team with this form of ownership structure in the NFL, which does not comply with current league rules stipulating a maximum of 32 owners per team, with one holding a minimum 30% stake. The Packers' corporation was grandfathered when the NFL's current ownership policy was established in the 1980s. As a publicly held nonprofit, the Packers are also the only American major-league sports franchise to release its financial balance sheet every year.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Green Bay Packers, Inc., is governed by a seven-member executive committee elected from a 45-member board of directors. It consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and three members-at-large; only the president is compensated. Responsibilities include directing corporate management, approving major capital expenditures, establishing broad policy, and monitoring management performance.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "The team's elected president normally represents the Packers in NFL owners meetings. During his time as coach, Vince Lombardi generally represented the team at league meetings in his role as general manager, except at owners-only meetings, where president Dominic Olejniczak appeared.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The team created the Green Bay Packers Foundation in December 1986. It assists in a wide variety of activities and programs benefiting education, civic affairs, health services, human services and youth-related programs.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "At the team's 1997 annual stockholders meeting the foundation was designated in place of a Sullivan-Wallen Post soldiers memorial as recipient of any residual assets upon the team's sale or dissolution.",
"title": "Community ownership"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The Packers have an exceptionally loyal fan base. Regardless of team performance, every game played in Green Bay–preseason, regular season, and playoffs–has been sold out since 1960. Despite the Packers having by far the smallest local TV market, the team consistently ranks as one of the most popular in the NFL. They also have one of the longest season ticket waiting lists in professional sports: 140,000 names long, more than there are seats at Lambeau Field. The average wait is said to be over 30 years, but with only 90 or so tickets turned over annually it would be 955 years before the newest name on the list got theirs. As a result, season tickets are willed to next of kin and newborns placed optimistically on the waiting list.",
"title": "Fan base"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Packers fans are often referred to as cheeseheads, a nickname for Wisconsin residents reflecting the state's bountiful cheese production first leveled as an insult at a 1987 game between the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, it came to be a statewide source of pride, and particularly since 1994 has been embraced by Packers fans. Bright orange triangular cheesehead hats are a fixture wherever the team plays.",
"title": "Fan base"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "During training camp in the summer months, held outside the Don Hutson Center, young Packers fans can bring their bikes and have their favorite players ride them from the locker room to practice at Ray Nitschke Field. This old tradition began around the time of Lambeau Field's construction in 1957. Gary Knafelc, a Packers end at the time, said, \"I think it was just that kids wanted us to ride their bikes. I can remember kids saying, 'Hey, ride my bike.'\"",
"title": "Fan base"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "The team holds an annual scrimmage called Family Night, typically an intra-squad affair, at Lambeau Field. During 2004 and 2005 sellout crowds of over 60,000 fans showed up, with an all-time mark of 62,492 set in 2005 when the Buffalo Bills appeared.",
"title": "Fan base"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked Packers fans as second-best in the NFL. The team initially finished tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers (who finished ahead of the Packers) as having the best fans, but the tie was broken by ESPN's own John Clayton, a Pittsburgh native.",
"title": "Fan base"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Needing to outfit his new squad, team founder Curly Lambeau solicited funds from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment in return for the team being named for its sponsor. An early newspaper article referred to the fledglings as \"the Indians\", but by the time they played their first game \"Packers\" had taken hold.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Indian Packing was purchased in 1920 by the Acme Packing Company. Acme continued to support the team, which played its first NFL season with \"ACME PACKERS\" emblazoned on its jerseys.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Lambeau, a Notre Dame alumnus, borrowed its Irish's navy blue and gold team colors, much as George Halas borrowed his Illinois alma mater's for the Chicago Bears. As a result, the early Packers were often referred to as the \"Bays\" or the \"Blues\" (and even occasionally as \"the Big Bay Blues\").",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "By 1950, Green Bay replaced navy blue with kelly green, but kept what was by then a lighter shade of athletic gold. Navy blue was kept as a secondary color, seen primarily on sideline capes, but was quietly dropped on all official materials shortly thereafter. In 1958, this kelly green was replaced by a darker hunter green; it and athletic gold have served as the team colors since. The team's current uniform combination of forest green or white jerseys and metallic gold pants was adopted soon after Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959. However, to celebrate the NFL's 75th anniversary in 1994, the Packers joined in a league-wide donning of \"throwback\" jerseys, back to navy blue and gold. The team would go throwback again for two Thanksgiving Day games against the Detroit Lions, in blue and gold 1930s-era uniforms in 2001, and 1960s green and gold (only slightly different from the current ones) in 2003.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "In 1951, the team finally stopped wearing leather helmets, adopting the metallic gold plastic headgear it has used ever since. The oval \"G\" logo was added in 1961 when Lombardi asked Packers equipment manager Gerald \"Dad\" Braisher to design a logo. Braisher tasked his assistant, St. Norbert College art student John Gordon. Satisfied with a football-shaped letter \"G\", the pair presented it to Lombardi, who then approved the addition. Tiki Barber falsely reported it to stand for \"greatness\" without a reliable source to back up his claims. Other reputable media outlets then published similar stories using Barber's false claim as a source. The Packers' Assistant Director of PR and Corporate Communications had the following to say: \"There's nothing in our history that suggests there's any truth to this. The Packers Hall of Fame archivist said the same thing.\" The team used a number of different logos prior to 1961, but the \"G\" is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet. The Packers hold the trademark on the \"G\" logo, and have granted limited permission to other organizations to utilize a similar logo, such as the University of Georgia and Grambling State University, in addition to the city of Green Bay itself as part of its civic logo. Adopted in 1964, the Georgia \"G\", though different in design and color, was similar to the Packers' \"G\". Then-Georgia head coach Vince Dooley thought it best to clear the use of Georgia's new emblem with the Packers.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "While several NFL teams choose to wear white jerseys at home early in the season due to white's ability to reflect the late summer sun rays, the Packers have done so only twice, during the opening two games of the 1989 season. In 2016, the Packers debuted their Color Rush uniform, wearing white pants and socks with the white uniform. This set has been worn five times, four of them at home and two against the Chicago Bears. Although alternate gold jerseys with green numbers are sold on a retail basis, the team currently has no plans to introduce such a jersey to be used in actual games.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "During the 2010 season, the Packers paid tribute to their historical roots with a throwback jersey modeled after that worn by the club in 1929, during its first championship season. The jersey was navy blue with a gold circle and navy numbers, again making the Packers \"the Blues\". These were then changed in 2015 to the navy blue throwback worn from 1937 to 1949, featuring gold shoulders and numbers. In 2021, the Packers changed their throwback thirds to an all-green design, resembling the uniforms worn from 1950 to 1953. Originally, the Packers wore brown helmets with the throwbacks, but in 2013, they started wearing their gold helmets without any decals due to the then-implementation of the NFL's one-shell rule; this rule has been abolished in 2022. As a result, they changed their throwbacks in both 2015 and 2021 in order to properly recreate those original uniforms, which had gold helmets with them.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Upon the NFL's switch of uniform suppliers in 2012 to Nike from Reebok, the Packers refused any changes to their uniform in any way outside of the required supplier's logo and new league uniform logos, declining all of Nike's \"Elite 51\" enhancements, including retaining the traditional striped collar of the jersey rather than Nike's new collar design.",
"title": "Branding"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The Packers and Chicago Bears have been rivals since their team's inception in 1920, becoming one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in the league's history. The Packers currently lead the series 103–95–6, and the teams have met twice in the postseason. The Bears won the 1941 meeting, 33–14, and eventually defeated the New York Giants in the 1941 NFL Championship Game, and the Packers won the 2011 meeting, 21–14, en route to a Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The teams' first meeting was a victory for the Bears (known as the Staleys at the time) in 1921 in a shutout, 20–0. The Packers claimed their first win over the Bears in 1925, 14–10. The 1924 matchup (which ended in a 3–0 win for Chicago) was notable for featuring the first-ever ejection of players in a game in NFL history, as Frank Hanny of the Bears and Walter Voss of the Packers were ejected for punching each other. The rivalry also featured one of the last successful fair catch kicks in 1968, when Bears kicker Mac Percival kicked the game-winning field goal.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The rivalry between the Packers and Minnesota Vikings began in 1961, similarly to their other divisional rivalries. It is also considered to be one of the most intense rivalries in the NFL, due the intensity of most of the matchups over the years, As is the case with many of their respective state's college teams sharing a rivalry; (Minnesota and Wisconsin) have a rivalry in multiple sports, seen between the Big Ten rivals, the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota. Events such as Randy Moss mooning the Green Bay crowd in the first playoff game between these two teams (won by the Vikings), and former Packer great Brett Favre's move to the Vikings have created more resentment between these teams. The Packers lead the all-time series 65–57–3, despite the two teams splitting their two playoff contests.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "The Packers' rivalry with the Detroit Lions has been another one of the oldest regular matchups in the NFL. They first met in 1930 when the Lions were known as the Portsmouth Spartans and based in Portsmouth, Ohio. The team eventually moved to Detroit for the 1934 season. The Lions and Packers have been division rivals since 1933 and have always met at least twice a season since 1932, without any canceled games between both rivals. The Packers lead the series 105–75–7 as of the end of the 2022 season, the first time in NFL history that a team has recorded 100 wins over an opponent.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "The rivalry between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys has resulted in a number of notable games in league history, including the \"Ice Bowl\" and other games impacting the playoff race. heated up during the 2010s, with several of their games impacting the NFC playoff race during that decade. During the Brett Favre era in Green Bay, the Cowboys dominated the rivalry, going 9–2 (including 9–0 in Dallas) against the Packers when Favre was the quarterback. However, since Aaron Rodgers became the Packers' starter in 2008, they have dominated the rivalry, as Rodgers has an 8–2 record against the Cowboys, including a perfect 3–0 record in Dallas. The Packers lead the all-time series 21–17. The teams are tied 4–4 in the playoffs.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The series between the Packers and New York Giants has been one of the oldest regular matchups in the league as the two teams first met in 1928. The two teams have played since 1970 in the National Football Conference, and they play each other in the regular season either every three years or depending on its NFC division placement, and in the postseason, The Packers lead the all-time series 34–27–2 and postseason series 5–3.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The rivalry between the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers ignited during the 1990s, with the two teams facing each other in four consecutive playoff games. The Packers won four of five playoff games against the 49ers with Brett Favre as its quarterback, with four of those games pitting Favre against 49ers' Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Since 2012, the 49ers have defeated the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers four times in the playoffs. The Packers currently lead the series 38–33–1, but the 49ers have won the last four postseason meetings to take a 5–4 lead.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Following Seattle's relocation to the NFC in 2002, the Packers have faced the Seattle Seahawks multiple times in the playoffs, developing an intense rivalry as well. Some notable moments include the clubs' first playoff meeting in 2003 in which Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw a game-losing pick-six in overtime after guaranteeing a game-winning drive, the Fail Mary, and Russell Wilson overcoming four interceptions and a 16–0 Packers lead to lead Seattle to a 28–22 overtime win to advance to Super Bowl XLIX.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Packers were division rivals from 1977 to 2002, when both were in the NFC Central division. The teams have played a number of notable games, including a Snow Bowl game in 1985, a playoff game in 1998 and the NFC Championship Game in 2021. The Packers lead the series 34–23–1.",
"title": "Rivalries"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "After their early seasons at Bellevue Park and Hagemeister Park, the Packers played home games in City Stadium from 1925 to 1956. The team won its first six NFL championships there.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "By the 1950s, the wooden 25,000-seat arena was considered outmoded. The NFL threatened to move the franchise to Milwaukee full-time unless it got a better stadium. The city responded by building a new 32,150 seat City Stadium for the team, the first built exclusively for an NFL team, which opened in time for the 1957 season. It was renamed Lambeau Field in 1965 to honor Curly Lambeau, who had died earlier in the year.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Expanded seven times before the end of the 1990s, Lambeau Field capacity reached 60,890. In 2003, it was extensively renovated to expand seating, modernize stadium facilities, and add an atrium area. Even with a current seating capacity of 72,928, ticket demand far outpaces supply, as all Packers games have been sold out since 1960. About 86,000 names are on the waiting list for season tickets.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "The Packers played part of their home slate in Milwaukee starting in 1933, including two to three home games each year in Milwaukee's County Stadium from 1953 to 1994. Indeed, County Stadium had been built partly to entice the Packers to move to Milwaukee full-time. The Packers worked to capture their growing fan base in Milwaukee and the larger crowds. By the 1960s, threat of an American Football League franchise in Milwaukee prompted the Packers to stay, including scheduling a Western Conference Playoff in 1967.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "County Stadium was built primarily as a baseball stadium and made only the bare minimum adjustments to accommodate football. At its height, it only seated 56,000 people, just barely above the NFL minimum; many of those seats were badly obstructed. The field was just barely large enough to fit a football field. Both teams shared the same sideline (separated by a piece of tape) and the end zones extended onto the warning track. By 1994, improvements and seating expansions at Lambeau, along with the Brewers preparing to campaign for their new stadium prompted the Packers to play their full slate in Green Bay for the first time in 62 years. Former season ticketholders for the Milwaukee package continue to receive preference for one pre-season and the second and fifth regular-season games at Lambeau Field each season, along with playoff games through a lottery under the \"Gold Package\" plan.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "The Packers have three practice facilities across the street from Lambeau Field in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin: the Don Hutson Center, an indoor facility; Ray Nitschke Field, an outdoor field with artificial FieldTurf; and Clarke Hinkle Field, an outdoor field with natural grass.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "The Packers Pro Shop has been the official retail store of the Packers since 1989. The primary retail store is located at Lambeau Field, having been expanded numerous times since it opened. The Pro Shop reported sales of over $7 million in 2015.",
"title": "Stadium history"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "This is a partial list of the Packers' last five completed seasons. For the full season-by-season franchise results, see List of Green Bay Packers seasons.",
"title": "Statistics and records"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.",
"title": "Statistics and records"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "As of January 2023",
"title": "Statistics and records"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "The Packers have been league champions a record 13 times, topping their nearest rival, the Chicago Bears, by four. The first three were decided by league standing, the next six by the NFL Title Game, and the last four by Super Bowl victories. The Packers are also the only team to win three consecutive NFL titles, having accomplished this twice—from 1929 to 1931 under Lambeau, and from 1965 to 1967 under Lombardi.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Starting in 1966, the NFL began holding the Super Bowl. The Packers have won four Super Bowls.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "From 1933 to 1969, the NFL held a championship game to decide their champion. The Packers won 8 NFL Championship Games. From 1966 to 1969, the NFL Championship Game was followed by the Super Bowl.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "The Packers have won three NFC Championship Games, with twice as many losses. NFC Championships did not exist before the AFL–NFL merger in 1970.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "From 1920 to 1932, the NFL championship was awarded based on standings, with no championship game taking place. The Packers won three such championships.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "The Packers have won 21 divisional championships.",
"title": "Championships"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "The Packers have the second most members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with 30, 25 of which were inducted as Packers. They trail only the Chicago Bears with 37 Hall of Famers, 30 of which were inducted as Bears.",
"title": "Notable players"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Many Packers players and coaches are also enshrined in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2018 Ron Wolf, the most recent Packers contributor to be honored, was inducted.",
"title": "Notable players"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In nearly nine decades of Packers football, the Packers have formally retired six numbers. All six Packers are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and their numbers and names are displayed on the green facade of Lambeau Field's north endzone as well as in the Lambeau Field Atrium.",
"title": "Notable players"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame was the first hall of fame built to honor a single professional American football team. John P. Holloway, a Brown County administrator and arena director, and William L. Brault, a Green Bay restaurateur and Packers fan, co-founded the Packer Hall of Fame museum in 1966.",
"title": "Notable players"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "As of 2019, the Packers Hall of Fame has inducted 162 people, 24 of whom have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.",
"title": "Notable players"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "*Interim head coaches",
"title": "Notable coaches"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "The Packers are unique in having their market area cover two media markets, both Green Bay and Milwaukee. NFL blackout restrictions for the team apply within both areas. However, Packers games have not been blacked out locally since 1972 (the last year home game local telecasts were prohibited regardless of sellout status) due to strong home attendance and popularity. As mentioned above, every Packers home game—preseason, regular season and playoffs—has been sold out since 1960.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "The flagship station of the Packers Radio Network is Good Karma Brands's WTMJ in Milwaukee, which was the former flagship of the Journal Broadcast Group before its merger with E. W. Scripps Company in April 2015; Scripps itself sold their Milwaukee radio assets to GKB in November 2018, and the team then brought their broadcast operations in-house, thus the personnel is directly employed by the team. WTMJ has aired Packers games since 1929, the longest association between a radio station and an NFL team to date, and the only rights deal in American professional sports where a station outside of the team's main metro area is the radio flagship. While this might be unusual, the station can be heard at city-grade strength at all hours in Green Bay proper. Games air in Green Bay on WTAQ (1360/97.5) and WIXX-FM (101.1), and WAPL (105.7) and WHBY (1150) in Appleton and the Fox Cities. Wayne Larrivee is the play-by-play announcer and Larry McCarren is the color analyst. Larrivee joined the team after many years as the Chicago Bears' announcer. Jim Irwin and Max McGee were the longtime radio announcers before Larrivee and McCarren. When victory is assured for the Packers, either a game-winning touchdown, interception or a crucial 4th down defensive stop, Larrivee's trademark declaration of \"And there is your dagger!\" signifies the event. In limited circumstances where the Milwaukee Brewers are in either playoff or post-season contention and their play-by-play takes priority, WTMJ's sister FM station WKTI (94.5) currently airs Packer games to avert game conflicts. Surrounding pre-game programming is also carried on sister station WAUK (540), an ESPN Radio affiliate and former competitor which produced unofficial Packers programming for years.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "On October 27, 2021, the Packers announced that it would end its longtime association with WTMJ at the end of the season, with iHeartMedia's sports radio station WRNW (97.3) becoming the team's Milwaukee radio affiliate in 2022.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "The TV rights for pre-season games not nationally broadcast are held by E. W. Scripps Company-owned television stations WGBA-TV (channel 26) in Green Bay and WTMJ-TV (channel 4) in Milwaukee; the game broadcasts are distributed to 19 further TV stations in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, and Alaska, as well as Spanish-language WYTU-LD \"Telemundo Wisconsin\" in Milwaukee. The deal marked a change in affiliate in Green Bay from WFRV-TV; in the wake of the 2012 deal, McCarren resigned his duties as sports director of WFRV to move to WTMJ/WGBA as a Packers analyst, becoming WGBA's official sports director on April 1, 2013. McCarren left WGBA in 2015 and became a team employee.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "The team's intra-squad Lambeau scrimmage at the beginning of the season, marketed as Packers Family Night, was produced for over a decade by WLUK-TV in Green Bay and broadcast by the state's Fox affiliates through the 2016 season. In 2017, Scripps and the Packers Television Network began to originate the Packers Family Night broadcast.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "Preseason television games are announced by Kevin Harlan, son of former Packers president Bob Harlan, and color commentator Rich Gannon. Regular-season and postseason games not aired on a broadcast network are simulcast on broadcast stations in the Green Bay and Milwaukee markets.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "On the television sitcom That '70s Show, in season 7 episode 14, Donna Pinciotti gave the gang—including Red Forman, a long-time Packer fan—six free tickets to Lambeau Field for a game against the Chicago Bears. Eric comes back wearing Bears Jersey # 34 Sweetness Walter Payton causing the crowd to boo and make negative comments towards him. Eric doesn't understand football in general. In the season 8 finale, Red declined to move to Florida after Steven Hyde bought him season tickets.",
"title": "In popular culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "In 2015, five members of the Packers (David Bakhtiari, Don Barclay, T. J. Lang, Clay Matthews, and Josh Sitton) made an appearance as an a cappella group in the musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2. Aaron Rodgers' brother Jordan also appeared. That same year, Rodgers himself appeared in an episode of the sketch comedy television series Key & Peele, along with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.",
"title": "In popular culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "In the television series Danny Phantom, the main antagonist, Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius, is a Packers \"Fanatic\". His prized possession is a football autographed by Ray Nitschke, and his dream is to own the team.",
"title": "In popular culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "In the 1998 film There's Something about Mary, Mary, played by actress Cameron Diaz, consistently talks about her boyfriend \"Brett\". It is revealed towards the end of the film that \"Brett\" is then-Packers' quarterback Brett Favre.",
"title": "In popular culture"
}
]
| The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957. They have the most wins of any NFL franchise. The Packers are the last of the "small-town teams" that were common in the NFL during the league's early days of the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl "Curly" Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the forerunner of today's NFL, in 1921. In 1933, the Packers began playing part of their home slate in Milwaukee until changes at Lambeau Field in 1995 made it more lucrative to stay in Green Bay full-time; Milwaukee is still considered a home media market for the team. Although Green Bay is by far the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as the world's 27th-most-valuable sports franchise in 2019, with a value of $2.63 billion. The Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967; they were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League (AFL) before the AFL–NFL merger. After Lombardi retired, the Super Bowl trophy was named for him, but the team struggled through the 1970s and 1980s. Since 1993, the team has enjoyed much regular-season success, making the playoffs 22 times and winning two Super Bowls in 1996 under head coach Mike Holmgren and 2010 under head coach Mike McCarthy. The Packers have the most wins (826) and the second-highest win–loss record (.571) in NFL history, including both regular season and playoff games.
The Packers are longstanding adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, who today form the NFL's NFC North division. They have played more than 100 games against each of those teams, and have a winning overall record against all of them, a distinction only shared with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. The Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries in U.S. professional sports history, dating to 1921. | 2001-10-11T20:47:40Z | 2023-12-30T00:22:49Z | [
"Template:Snd",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Green Bay Packers",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Green Bay Packers roster",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Pp-move-indef",
"Template:Infobox NFL team",
"Template:Nfly",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Cite newspaper",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Frac",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Dead link",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Inflation",
"Template:'s",
"Template:R",
"Template:Pp-semi-indef",
"Template:Use American English",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Navboxes",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:'\"",
"Template:Green Bay Packers staff",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Sfrac",
"Template:NFL Year",
"Template:Small",
"Template:Citation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers |
12,664 | General-purpose machine gun | A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for various fully powered cartridges such as the 7.62×51mm NATO, 7.62×54mmR, 7.5×54mm French, 7.5×55mm Swiss and 7.92×57mm Mauser, and be configured for mounting to different stabilizing platforms from bipods and tripods to vehicles, aircraft, boats and fortifications, usually as an infantry support weapon or squad automatic weapon.
The general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) originated with the MG 34, designed in 1934 by Heinrich Vollmer of Mauser on the commission of Nazi Germany to circumvent the restrictions on machine guns imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. It was introduced into the Wehrmacht as an entirely new concept in automatic firepower, dubbed the Einheitsmaschinengewehr, meaning "universal machine gun" in German. In itself the MG 34 was an excellent weapon for its time: an air-cooled, recoil-operated machine gun that could run through belts of 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition at a rate of 850 rounds per minute, with lethality at ranges of more than 1,000 meters. The main feature of the MG 34 is that simply by changing its mount, sights and feed mechanism, the operator could radically transform its function: on its standard bipod it was a light machine gun ideal for infantry assaults; on a tripod it could serve as a sustained-fire medium machine gun; mounting on aircraft or vehicles turned it into an air defence weapon, and it also served as the coaxial machine gun on numerous German tanks.
During World War II, the MG 34 was supplemented by a new GPMG, the MG 42, although it remained in combat use. The MG 42 was more efficient and cheaper to manufacture, and more robust, as well as having an extremely high cyclic rate of fire of 1,200 to 1,500 rounds per minute. One of the Einheits Maschinengewehr GPMG roles was to provide low level anti-aircraft coverage. A high cyclic rate of fire is advantageous for use against targets typically exposed to fire for a limited time span, like aircraft or targets minimizing their exposure by quickly moving from cover to cover. It was nicknamed "Hitler's buzzsaw" by Allied troops, and alongside the MG 34 it inflicted heavy casualties on Allied soldiers on all European and North African fronts of World War II. Following the war the victorious Allied nations took an interest in the MG 34 and MG 42, influencing many post-war general-purpose machine guns, many still in use today. They lent design elements to the Belgian FN MAG and the American M60, while spawning the Zastava M53, Swiss M51, and Austrian MG 74. The MG 42's qualities of firepower and usability meant that it became the foundation of an entire series of postwar machine guns, including the MG 1 and MG 3 - the latter, as of 2023, is still in production. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for various fully powered cartridges such as the 7.62×51mm NATO, 7.62×54mmR, 7.5×54mm French, 7.5×55mm Swiss and 7.92×57mm Mauser, and be configured for mounting to different stabilizing platforms from bipods and tripods to vehicles, aircraft, boats and fortifications, usually as an infantry support weapon or squad automatic weapon.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) originated with the MG 34, designed in 1934 by Heinrich Vollmer of Mauser on the commission of Nazi Germany to circumvent the restrictions on machine guns imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. It was introduced into the Wehrmacht as an entirely new concept in automatic firepower, dubbed the Einheitsmaschinengewehr, meaning \"universal machine gun\" in German. In itself the MG 34 was an excellent weapon for its time: an air-cooled, recoil-operated machine gun that could run through belts of 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition at a rate of 850 rounds per minute, with lethality at ranges of more than 1,000 meters. The main feature of the MG 34 is that simply by changing its mount, sights and feed mechanism, the operator could radically transform its function: on its standard bipod it was a light machine gun ideal for infantry assaults; on a tripod it could serve as a sustained-fire medium machine gun; mounting on aircraft or vehicles turned it into an air defence weapon, and it also served as the coaxial machine gun on numerous German tanks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "During World War II, the MG 34 was supplemented by a new GPMG, the MG 42, although it remained in combat use. The MG 42 was more efficient and cheaper to manufacture, and more robust, as well as having an extremely high cyclic rate of fire of 1,200 to 1,500 rounds per minute. One of the Einheits Maschinengewehr GPMG roles was to provide low level anti-aircraft coverage. A high cyclic rate of fire is advantageous for use against targets typically exposed to fire for a limited time span, like aircraft or targets minimizing their exposure by quickly moving from cover to cover. It was nicknamed \"Hitler's buzzsaw\" by Allied troops, and alongside the MG 34 it inflicted heavy casualties on Allied soldiers on all European and North African fronts of World War II. Following the war the victorious Allied nations took an interest in the MG 34 and MG 42, influencing many post-war general-purpose machine guns, many still in use today. They lent design elements to the Belgian FN MAG and the American M60, while spawning the Zastava M53, Swiss M51, and Austrian MG 74. The MG 42's qualities of firepower and usability meant that it became the foundation of an entire series of postwar machine guns, including the MG 1 and MG 3 - the latter, as of 2023, is still in production.",
"title": "History"
}
]
| A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for various fully powered cartridges such as the 7.62×51mm NATO, 7.62×54mmR, 7.5×54mm French, 7.5×55mm Swiss and 7.92×57mm Mauser, and be configured for mounting to different stabilizing platforms from bipods and tripods to vehicles, aircraft, boats and fortifications, usually as an infantry support weapon or squad automatic weapon. | 2001-10-04T18:52:23Z | 2023-12-02T17:23:26Z | [
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:General Purpose Machine Guns",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Multiple issues",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General-purpose_machine_gun |
12,665 | Gdynia | Gdynia (Polish: [ˈɡdɨɲa] ; Kashubian: Gdiniô; German: Gdingen [ˈɡdɪŋən], 1939-45: Gotenhafen [ˈɡoːtn̩haːfn̩] ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk. Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto) with around one million inhabitants.
Historically and culturally part of Kashubia and Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia for centuries remained a small fishing village. By the 20th-century it attracted visitors as a seaside resort town. In 1926, Gdynia was granted city rights after which it enjoyed demographic and urban development, with a modernist cityscape. It became a major seaport city of Poland. In 1970, protests in and around Gdynia contributed to the rise of the Solidarity movement in nearby Gdańsk.
The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and ferries travelling to Scandinavia. Gdynia's downtown, designated a historical monument of Poland in 2015, is an example of building an integrated European community and includes Functionalist architectural forms. Its axis is based around 10 Lutego Street and connects the main train station with the Southern Pier. The city is also known for holding the annual Gdynia Film Festival. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked by readers of The News as Poland's best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of "general quality of life". In 2021, the city entered the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and was named UNESCO City of Film.
The area of the later city of Gdynia shared its history with Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania). In prehistoric times, it was the center of Oksywie culture; it was later populated by Slavs with some Baltic Prussian influences. In the late 10th century, the region was united with the emerging state of Poland by its first historic ruler Mieszko I. During the reign of Bolesław II, the region seceded from Poland and became independent, to be reunited with Poland in 1116/1121 by Bolesław III. In 1209, the present-day district of Oksywie was first mentioned (Oxhöft). Following the fragmentation of Poland, the region became part of the Duchy of Pomerania (Eastern), which became separate from Poland in 1227, to be reunited in 1282. The first known mention of the name "Gdynia", as a Pomeranian (Kashubian) fishing village dates back to 1253. The first church on this part of the Baltic Sea coast was built there. In 1309–1310, the Teutonic Order invaded and annexed the region from Poland. In 1380, the owner of the village which became Gdynia, Peter from Rusocin, gave the village to the Cistercian Order. In 1382, Gdynia became property of the Cistercian abbey in Oliwa. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of reincorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland, and the Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish-Teutonic wars, started. It ended in 1466, when the Teutonic Knights recognized the region as part of Poland. Administratively, Gdynia was located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and later of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The present-day neighbourhood of Kolibki was the location of the Kolibki estate, purchased by King John III Sobieski in 1685.
In 1772, Gdynia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. Gdynia, under the Germanized name Gdingen, was included within the newly formed province of West Prussia and was expropriated from the Cistercian Order. In 1789, there were only 21 houses in Gdynia. Around that time Gdynia was so small that it was not marked on many maps of the period: it was about halfway from Oksywie and Mały Kack, now districts of Gdynia. In 1871, the village became part of the German Empire. In the early 20th century Gdynia was not a poor fishing village as it is sometimes described; it had become a popular tourist spot with several guest houses, restaurants, cafés, several brick houses and a small harbour with a pier for small trading ships. The first Kashubian mayor was Jan Radtke. It is estimated that around 1910 the population of Gdynia was 895 people.
Following World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and following the Treaty of Versailles, in 1920, Gdynia was re-integrated with the reborn Polish state. Simultaneously, the nearby city of Gdańsk (Danzig) and surrounding area was declared a free city and put under the League of Nations, though Poland was given economic liberties and requisitioned for matters of foreign representation.
The decision to build a major seaport at Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in winter 1920, in the midst of the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1920). The authorities and seaport workers of the Free City of Danzig felt Poland's economic rights in the city were being misappropriated to help fight the war. German dockworkers went on strike, refusing to unload shipments of military supplies sent from the West to aid the Polish army, and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.
Construction of Gdynia seaport started in 1921 but, because of financial difficulties, it was conducted slowly and with interruptions. It was accelerated after the Sejm (Polish parliament) passed the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act on 23 September 1922. By 1923 a 550-metre pier, 175 metres (574 feet) of a wooden tide breaker, and a small harbour had been constructed. Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter took place on 23 April 1923. The first major seagoing ship, the French Line steamer Kentucky, arrived on 13 August 1923 after being diverted because of a strike at Gdansk.
To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction. By the end of 1925, they had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had ordered the trans-shipment equipment. The works were going more slowly than expected, however. They accelerated only after May 1926, because of an increase in Polish exports by sea, economic prosperity, the outbreak of the German–Polish trade war which reverted most Polish international trade to sea routes, and thanks to the personal engagement of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Polish Minister of Industry and Trade (also responsible for the construction of Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy). By the end of 1930 docks, piers, breakwaters, and many auxiliary and industrial installations were constructed (such as depots, trans-shipment equipment, and a rice processing factory) or started (such as a large cold store).
Trans-shipments rose from 10,000 tons (1924) to 2,923,000 tons (1929). At this time Gdynia was the only transit and special seaport designed for coal exports.
In the years 1931–1939 Gdynia harbour was further extended to become a universal seaport. In 1938 Gdynia was the largest and most modern seaport on the Baltic Sea, as well as the tenth biggest in Europe. The trans-shipments rose to 8.7 million tons, which was 46% of Polish foreign trade. In 1938 the Gdynia shipyard started to build its first full-sea ship, the Olza.
The city was constructed later than the seaport. In 1925 a special committee was inaugurated to build the city; city expansion plans were designed and city rights were granted in 1926, and tax privileges were granted for investors in 1927. The city started to grow significantly after 1928.
A new railway station and the Post Office were completed. The State railways extended their lines, built bridges and also constructed a group of houses for their employees. Within a few years houses were built along some 10 miles (16 km) of road leading northward from the Free City of Danzig to Gdynia and beyond. Public institutions and private employers helped their staff to build houses. In 1933 a plan of development providing for a population of 250,000 was worked out by a special commission appointed by a government committee, in collaboration with the municipal authorities. By 1939 the population had grown to over 120,000.
During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Gdynia was the site of fierce Polish defense. On 13 September 1939, the Germans carried out first arrests of local Poles in the southern part of the city, while the Polish defense was still ongoing in the northern part. On 14 September 1939, the Germans captured the entire city, and then occupied it until 1945. On 15–16 September, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 7,000 Poles, while Polish soldiers still fought in nearby Kępa Oksywska. The German police surrounded the city and carried out mass searches of weapons. Arrested Poles were held and interrogated in churches, cinemas and halls, and then around 3,000 people were released until 18 September. The occupiers established several prisons and camps for Polish people, who were afterwards either deported to concentration camps or executed. Some Poles from Gdynia were executed by the Germans near Starogard Gdański in September 1939. In October and November 1939, the Germans carried out public executions of 52 Poles, including activists, bank directors and priests, in various parts of the city. In November 1939, the occupiers also murdered hundreds of Poles from Gdynia during the massacres in Piaśnica committed nearby as part of the Intelligenzaktion. Among the victims were policemen, officials, civil defenders of Gdynia, judges, court employees, the director and employees of the National Bank of Poland, merchants, priests, school principals, teachers, and students of local high schools. On the night of 10–11 November, the German security police carried out mass arrests of over 1,500 Poles in the Obłuże district, and then murdered 23 young men aged 16–20, in retaliation for breaking windows at the headquarters of the German security police.
On 11 November, a German gendarme shot and killed two Polish boys who were collecting Polish books from the street, which were thrown out of the windows by new German settlers in the Oksywie district. The Germans renamed the city to Gotenhafen after the Goths, an ancient Germanic tribe, who had lived in the area. 10 Poles from Gdynia were also murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.
Some 50,000 Polish citizens were expelled to the General Government (German-occupied central Poland) to make space for new German settlers in accordance with the Lebensraum policy. Local Kashubians who were suspected to support the Polish cause, particularly those with higher education, were also arrested and executed. The German gauleiter Albert Forster considered Kashubians of "low value" and did not support any attempts to create a Kashubian nationality. Despite such circumstances, local Poles, including Kashubians, organized Polish resistance groups, Kashubian Griffin (later Pomeranian Griffin), the exiled "Związek Pomorski" in the United Kingdom, and local units of the Home Army, Service for Poland's Victory and Gray Ranks. Activities included distribution of underground Polish press, smuggling data on German persecution of Poles and Jews to Western Europe, sabotage actions, espionage of the local German industry, and facilitating escapes of endangered Polish resistance members and British and French prisoners of war who fled from German POW camps via the city's port to neutral Sweden. The Gestapo cracked down on the Polish resistance several times, with the Poles either killed or deported to the Stutthof and Ravensbrück concentration camps. In 1943, local Poles managed to save some kidnapped Polish children from the Zamość region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.
The harbour was transformed into a German naval base. The shipyard was expanded in 1940 and became a branch of the Kiel shipyard (Deutsche Werke Kiel A.G.). The city became an important base, due to its being relatively distant from the war theater, and many German large ships—battleships and heavy cruisers—were anchored there. During 1942, Dr Joseph Goebbels authorized relocation of Cap Arcona to Gotenhafen Harbour as a stand-in for RMS Titanic during filming of the German-produced movie Titanic, directed by Herbert Selpin.
The Germans set up an Einsatzgruppen-operated penal camp in the Grabówek district, a transit camp for Allied marine POWs, a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag XX-B POW camp for several hundred Allied POWs at the shipyard, and two subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp, the first located in the Orłowo district in 1941–1942, the second, named Gotenhafen, located at the shipyard in 1944–1945.
The seaport and the shipyard both witnessed several air raids by the Allies from 1943 onwards, but suffered little damage. Gdynia was used during winter 1944–45 to evacuate German troops and refugees trapped by the Red Army. Some of the ships were hit by torpedoes from Soviet submarines in the Baltic Sea on the route west. The ship Wilhelm Gustloff sank, taking about 9,400 people with her – the worst loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history. The seaport area was largely destroyed by withdrawing German troops and millions of encircled refugees in 1945 being bombarded by the Soviet military (90% of the buildings and equipment were destroyed) and the harbour entrance was blocked by the German battleship Gneisenau that had been brought to Gotenhafen for major repairs.
On 28 March 1945, the city was captured by the Soviets and restored to Poland. The Soviets installed a communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1989. The post-war period saw an influx of settlers from Warsaw which was destroyed by Germany, and other parts of the country as well as Poles from the cities of Wilno (now Vilnius) and Lwów (now Lviv) from the Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland. Also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in the city. The port of Gdynia was one of the three Polish ports through which refugees of the Greek Civil War reached Poland.
On December 17, 1970, worker demonstrations took place at Gdynia Shipyard. Workers were fired upon by the police. Janek Wiśniewski was one of 40 killed, and was commemorated in a song by Mieczysław Cholewa, Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni. One of Gdynia's important streets is named after Janek Wiśniewski. The event was also portrayed in Andrzej Wajda's movie Man of Iron.
On 4 December 1999, a storm destroyed a huge crane in a shipyard.
The climate of Gdynia is an oceanic climate owing to its position of the Baltic Sea, which moderates the temperatures, compared to the interior of Poland. The climate is rather cool throughout the year and there is a somewhat uniform precipitation throughout the year. Typical of Northern Europe, there is little sunshine during late autumn, winter and early spring, but plenty during summer. Because of its northerly latitude, Gdynia has 17 hours of daylight in midsummer but only around 7 hours in midwinter. The lowest pressure in Poland was recorded in Gdynia - 960.2 hPa on January 17, 1931.
Gdynia is divided into smaller divisions: dzielnicas and osiedles. Gdynia's dzielnicas include: Babie Doły, Chwarzno-Wiczlino, Chylonia, Cisowa, Dąbrowa, Działki Leśne, Grabówek, Kamienna Góra, Karwiny, Leszczynki, Mały Kack, Obłuże, Oksywie, Orłowo, Pogórze, Pustki Cisowskie-Demptowo, Redłowo, Śródmieście, Wielki Kack, Witomino-Leśniczówka, Witomino-Radiostacja, Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana.
Osiedles: Bernadowo, Brzozowa Góra, Chwarzno, Dąbrówka, Demptowo, Dębowa Góra, Fikakowo, Gołębiewo, Kacze Buki, Kolibki, Kolonia Chwaszczyno, Kolonia Rybacka, Krykulec, Marszewo, Międzytorze, Niemotowo, Osada Kolejowa, Osada Rybacka, Osiedle Bernadowo, Port, Pustki Cisowskie, Tasza, Wiczlino, Wielka Rola, Witomino, Wysoka, Zielenisz.
Gdynia is a relatively modern city. Its architecture includes the 13th century St. Michael the Archangel's Church in Oksywie, the oldest building in Gdynia, and the 17th century neo-Gothic manor house located on Folwarczna Street in Orłowo.
The surrounding hills and the coastline attract many nature lovers. A leisure pier and a cliff-like coastline in Kępa Redłowska, as well as the surrounding Nature Reserve, are also popular locations. In the harbour, there are two anchored museum ships, the destroyer ORP Błyskawica and the tall ship frigate Dar Pomorza. A 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi)-long promenade leads from the marina in the city center, to the beach in Redłowo.
Most of Gdynia can be seen from Kamienna Góra (54 metres (177 feet) asl) or the viewing point near Chwaszczyno. There are also two viewing towers, one at Góra Donas, the other at Kolibki.
In 2015 the Emigration Museum opened in the city. Other museums include the Gdynia Aquarium, Experyment Science Center, Abraham's house, Żeromski's house, Gdynia Automotive Museum, Naval Museum, and Gdynia City Museum.
Gdynia holds many examples of early 20th-century architecture, especially monumentalism and early functionalism, and modernism. Historic Urban Layout of the City Center was drafted by Adam Kuncewicz and Roman Feliński in 1926. The central axis of Gdynia is built around 10 Lutego Street, Kosciuszka Square and the Southern Pier. The structure of the city is designed to emphasize the connection of Gdynia and Poland with the Baltic Sea. Examples of modernist architecture are the buildings of the Bank of Poland and many tenement houses (kamienice). Another good example of modernism is PLO Building situated at 10 Lutego Street.
The architecture of central Gdynia was inspired by the work of European architects such as Erich Mendelssohn and is sometimes compared to the White City of Tel Aviv. The center of Gdynia has become a symbol of modernity, but was included in the list of historical monuments of Poland and is a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Gdynia hosts the Gdynia Film Festival, the main Polish film festival. The International Random Film Festival was hosted in Gdynia in November 2014. Since 2003 Gdynia has been hosting the Open'er Festival, one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Europe. The festival welcomes many foreign hip-hop, rock and electronic music artists every year. In record-high 2018 it was attended by over 140,000 people, who enjoyed the lineup headlined by Bruno Mars, Gorillaz, Arctic Monkeys, and Depeche Mode. Another important summer event in Gdynia is the Viva Beach Party, which is a large two-day techno party made on Gdynia's Public Beach and a summer-welcoming concerts CudaWianki. Gdynia also hosts events for the annual Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival. In the summer of 2014 Gdynia hosted Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
In 2008, Gdynia made it onto the Monopoly Here and Now World Edition board after being voted by fans through the Internet. Gdynia occupies the space traditionally held by Mediterranean Avenue, being the lowest voted city to make it onto the Monopoly Here and Now board, but also the smallest city to make it in the game. All of the other cities are large and widely known ones, the second smallest being Riga. The unexpected success of Gdynia can be attributed to a mobilization of the town's population to vote for it on the Internet.
An abandoned factory district in Gdynia was the scene for the survival series Man vs Wild, season 6, episode 12. The host, Bear Grylls, manages to escape the district after blowing up a door and crawling through miles of sewer.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the supervillain in the James Bond novels, was born in Gdynia on 28 May 1908, according to Thunderball.
Gdynia is sometimes called "Polish Roswell" due to the alleged UFO crash on 21 January 1959.
Sport teams
Notable companies that have their headquarters or regional offices in Gdynia:
Former:
In 2007, 364,202 passengers, 17,025,000 tons of cargo and 614,373 TEU containers passed through the port. Regular car ferry service operates between Gdynia and Karlskrona, Sweden.
Gdynia operates one of only three trolleybus systems in Poland, alongside Lublin and Tychy. Today there are 12 trolleybus lines in Gdynia with a total length of 96 km. The fleet is modern and consists of Solaris Trollino cars. There is also a historic line, connecting city centre with a district of Orłowo operated by three retro trolleybuses. In addition to that, Gdynia operates an extensive network of bus lines, connecting the city with the adjacent suburbs.
The conurbation's main airport, Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport, lays approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south-west of central Gdynia, and has connections to approximately 55 destinations. It is the third largest airport in Poland. A second General Aviation terminal was scheduled to be opened by May 2012, which will increase the airport's capacity to 5mln passengers per year.
Another local airport, (Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport) is situated partly in the village of Kosakowo, just to the north of the city, and partly in Gdynia. This has been a military airport since the World War II, but it has been decided in 2006 that the airport will be used to serve civilians. Work was well in progress and was due to be ready for 2012 when the project collapsed following a February 2014 EU decision regarding Gdynia city funding as constituting unfair competition to Gdańsk airport. In March 2014, the airport management company filed for bankruptcy, this being formally announced in May that year. The fate of some PLN 100 million of public funds from Gdynia remain unaccounted for with documents not being released, despite repeated requests for such from residents to the city president, Wojciech Szczurek.
Trasa Kwiatkowskiego links Port of Gdynia and the city with Obwodnica Trójmiejska, and therefore A1 motorway. National road 6 connects Tricity with Słupsk, Koszalin and Szczecin agglomeration.
The principal station in Gdynia is Gdynia Główna railway station, the busiest railway station in the Tricity and northern Poland and seventh busiest in Poland overall (as of 2021). Gdynia has eleven railway stations. Local train services are provided by the 'Fast Urban Railway,' Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity) operating frequent trains covering the Tricity area including Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. Long-distance trains from Warsaw via Gdańsk terminate at Gdynia, and there are direct trains to Szczecin, Poznań, Katowice, Lublin and other major cities. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route was undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern ETCS signalling system, which was completed in June 2015. In December 2014 new Alstom Pendolino high-speed trains were put into service between Gdynia, Warsaw and Kraków reducing rail travel times to Gdynia by 2 hours.
There are currently 8 universities and institutions of higher education based in Gdynia. Many students from Gdynia also attend universities located in the Tricity.
Gdynia is twinned with:
Former twin towns: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gdynia (Polish: [ˈɡdɨɲa] ; Kashubian: Gdiniô; German: Gdingen [ˈɡdɪŋən], 1939-45: Gotenhafen [ˈɡoːtn̩haːfn̩] ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk. Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto) with around one million inhabitants.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Historically and culturally part of Kashubia and Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia for centuries remained a small fishing village. By the 20th-century it attracted visitors as a seaside resort town. In 1926, Gdynia was granted city rights after which it enjoyed demographic and urban development, with a modernist cityscape. It became a major seaport city of Poland. In 1970, protests in and around Gdynia contributed to the rise of the Solidarity movement in nearby Gdańsk.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and ferries travelling to Scandinavia. Gdynia's downtown, designated a historical monument of Poland in 2015, is an example of building an integrated European community and includes Functionalist architectural forms. Its axis is based around 10 Lutego Street and connects the main train station with the Southern Pier. The city is also known for holding the annual Gdynia Film Festival. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked by readers of The News as Poland's best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of \"general quality of life\". In 2021, the city entered the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and was named UNESCO City of Film.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The area of the later city of Gdynia shared its history with Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania). In prehistoric times, it was the center of Oksywie culture; it was later populated by Slavs with some Baltic Prussian influences. In the late 10th century, the region was united with the emerging state of Poland by its first historic ruler Mieszko I. During the reign of Bolesław II, the region seceded from Poland and became independent, to be reunited with Poland in 1116/1121 by Bolesław III. In 1209, the present-day district of Oksywie was first mentioned (Oxhöft). Following the fragmentation of Poland, the region became part of the Duchy of Pomerania (Eastern), which became separate from Poland in 1227, to be reunited in 1282. The first known mention of the name \"Gdynia\", as a Pomeranian (Kashubian) fishing village dates back to 1253. The first church on this part of the Baltic Sea coast was built there. In 1309–1310, the Teutonic Order invaded and annexed the region from Poland. In 1380, the owner of the village which became Gdynia, Peter from Rusocin, gave the village to the Cistercian Order. In 1382, Gdynia became property of the Cistercian abbey in Oliwa. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of reincorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland, and the Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish-Teutonic wars, started. It ended in 1466, when the Teutonic Knights recognized the region as part of Poland. Administratively, Gdynia was located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and later of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The present-day neighbourhood of Kolibki was the location of the Kolibki estate, purchased by King John III Sobieski in 1685.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In 1772, Gdynia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. Gdynia, under the Germanized name Gdingen, was included within the newly formed province of West Prussia and was expropriated from the Cistercian Order. In 1789, there were only 21 houses in Gdynia. Around that time Gdynia was so small that it was not marked on many maps of the period: it was about halfway from Oksywie and Mały Kack, now districts of Gdynia. In 1871, the village became part of the German Empire. In the early 20th century Gdynia was not a poor fishing village as it is sometimes described; it had become a popular tourist spot with several guest houses, restaurants, cafés, several brick houses and a small harbour with a pier for small trading ships. The first Kashubian mayor was Jan Radtke. It is estimated that around 1910 the population of Gdynia was 895 people.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Following World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and following the Treaty of Versailles, in 1920, Gdynia was re-integrated with the reborn Polish state. Simultaneously, the nearby city of Gdańsk (Danzig) and surrounding area was declared a free city and put under the League of Nations, though Poland was given economic liberties and requisitioned for matters of foreign representation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The decision to build a major seaport at Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in winter 1920, in the midst of the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1920). The authorities and seaport workers of the Free City of Danzig felt Poland's economic rights in the city were being misappropriated to help fight the war. German dockworkers went on strike, refusing to unload shipments of military supplies sent from the West to aid the Polish army, and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Construction of Gdynia seaport started in 1921 but, because of financial difficulties, it was conducted slowly and with interruptions. It was accelerated after the Sejm (Polish parliament) passed the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act on 23 September 1922. By 1923 a 550-metre pier, 175 metres (574 feet) of a wooden tide breaker, and a small harbour had been constructed. Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter took place on 23 April 1923. The first major seagoing ship, the French Line steamer Kentucky, arrived on 13 August 1923 after being diverted because of a strike at Gdansk.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction. By the end of 1925, they had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had ordered the trans-shipment equipment. The works were going more slowly than expected, however. They accelerated only after May 1926, because of an increase in Polish exports by sea, economic prosperity, the outbreak of the German–Polish trade war which reverted most Polish international trade to sea routes, and thanks to the personal engagement of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Polish Minister of Industry and Trade (also responsible for the construction of Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy). By the end of 1930 docks, piers, breakwaters, and many auxiliary and industrial installations were constructed (such as depots, trans-shipment equipment, and a rice processing factory) or started (such as a large cold store).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Trans-shipments rose from 10,000 tons (1924) to 2,923,000 tons (1929). At this time Gdynia was the only transit and special seaport designed for coal exports.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the years 1931–1939 Gdynia harbour was further extended to become a universal seaport. In 1938 Gdynia was the largest and most modern seaport on the Baltic Sea, as well as the tenth biggest in Europe. The trans-shipments rose to 8.7 million tons, which was 46% of Polish foreign trade. In 1938 the Gdynia shipyard started to build its first full-sea ship, the Olza.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The city was constructed later than the seaport. In 1925 a special committee was inaugurated to build the city; city expansion plans were designed and city rights were granted in 1926, and tax privileges were granted for investors in 1927. The city started to grow significantly after 1928.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "A new railway station and the Post Office were completed. The State railways extended their lines, built bridges and also constructed a group of houses for their employees. Within a few years houses were built along some 10 miles (16 km) of road leading northward from the Free City of Danzig to Gdynia and beyond. Public institutions and private employers helped their staff to build houses. In 1933 a plan of development providing for a population of 250,000 was worked out by a special commission appointed by a government committee, in collaboration with the municipal authorities. By 1939 the population had grown to over 120,000.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Gdynia was the site of fierce Polish defense. On 13 September 1939, the Germans carried out first arrests of local Poles in the southern part of the city, while the Polish defense was still ongoing in the northern part. On 14 September 1939, the Germans captured the entire city, and then occupied it until 1945. On 15–16 September, the Germans carried out further mass arrests of 7,000 Poles, while Polish soldiers still fought in nearby Kępa Oksywska. The German police surrounded the city and carried out mass searches of weapons. Arrested Poles were held and interrogated in churches, cinemas and halls, and then around 3,000 people were released until 18 September. The occupiers established several prisons and camps for Polish people, who were afterwards either deported to concentration camps or executed. Some Poles from Gdynia were executed by the Germans near Starogard Gdański in September 1939. In October and November 1939, the Germans carried out public executions of 52 Poles, including activists, bank directors and priests, in various parts of the city. In November 1939, the occupiers also murdered hundreds of Poles from Gdynia during the massacres in Piaśnica committed nearby as part of the Intelligenzaktion. Among the victims were policemen, officials, civil defenders of Gdynia, judges, court employees, the director and employees of the National Bank of Poland, merchants, priests, school principals, teachers, and students of local high schools. On the night of 10–11 November, the German security police carried out mass arrests of over 1,500 Poles in the Obłuże district, and then murdered 23 young men aged 16–20, in retaliation for breaking windows at the headquarters of the German security police.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "On 11 November, a German gendarme shot and killed two Polish boys who were collecting Polish books from the street, which were thrown out of the windows by new German settlers in the Oksywie district. The Germans renamed the city to Gotenhafen after the Goths, an ancient Germanic tribe, who had lived in the area. 10 Poles from Gdynia were also murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Some 50,000 Polish citizens were expelled to the General Government (German-occupied central Poland) to make space for new German settlers in accordance with the Lebensraum policy. Local Kashubians who were suspected to support the Polish cause, particularly those with higher education, were also arrested and executed. The German gauleiter Albert Forster considered Kashubians of \"low value\" and did not support any attempts to create a Kashubian nationality. Despite such circumstances, local Poles, including Kashubians, organized Polish resistance groups, Kashubian Griffin (later Pomeranian Griffin), the exiled \"Związek Pomorski\" in the United Kingdom, and local units of the Home Army, Service for Poland's Victory and Gray Ranks. Activities included distribution of underground Polish press, smuggling data on German persecution of Poles and Jews to Western Europe, sabotage actions, espionage of the local German industry, and facilitating escapes of endangered Polish resistance members and British and French prisoners of war who fled from German POW camps via the city's port to neutral Sweden. The Gestapo cracked down on the Polish resistance several times, with the Poles either killed or deported to the Stutthof and Ravensbrück concentration camps. In 1943, local Poles managed to save some kidnapped Polish children from the Zamość region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The harbour was transformed into a German naval base. The shipyard was expanded in 1940 and became a branch of the Kiel shipyard (Deutsche Werke Kiel A.G.). The city became an important base, due to its being relatively distant from the war theater, and many German large ships—battleships and heavy cruisers—were anchored there. During 1942, Dr Joseph Goebbels authorized relocation of Cap Arcona to Gotenhafen Harbour as a stand-in for RMS Titanic during filming of the German-produced movie Titanic, directed by Herbert Selpin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Germans set up an Einsatzgruppen-operated penal camp in the Grabówek district, a transit camp for Allied marine POWs, a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag XX-B POW camp for several hundred Allied POWs at the shipyard, and two subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp, the first located in the Orłowo district in 1941–1942, the second, named Gotenhafen, located at the shipyard in 1944–1945.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The seaport and the shipyard both witnessed several air raids by the Allies from 1943 onwards, but suffered little damage. Gdynia was used during winter 1944–45 to evacuate German troops and refugees trapped by the Red Army. Some of the ships were hit by torpedoes from Soviet submarines in the Baltic Sea on the route west. The ship Wilhelm Gustloff sank, taking about 9,400 people with her – the worst loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history. The seaport area was largely destroyed by withdrawing German troops and millions of encircled refugees in 1945 being bombarded by the Soviet military (90% of the buildings and equipment were destroyed) and the harbour entrance was blocked by the German battleship Gneisenau that had been brought to Gotenhafen for major repairs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "On 28 March 1945, the city was captured by the Soviets and restored to Poland. The Soviets installed a communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1989. The post-war period saw an influx of settlers from Warsaw which was destroyed by Germany, and other parts of the country as well as Poles from the cities of Wilno (now Vilnius) and Lwów (now Lviv) from the Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland. Also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in the city. The port of Gdynia was one of the three Polish ports through which refugees of the Greek Civil War reached Poland.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "On December 17, 1970, worker demonstrations took place at Gdynia Shipyard. Workers were fired upon by the police. Janek Wiśniewski was one of 40 killed, and was commemorated in a song by Mieczysław Cholewa, Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni. One of Gdynia's important streets is named after Janek Wiśniewski. The event was also portrayed in Andrzej Wajda's movie Man of Iron.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "On 4 December 1999, a storm destroyed a huge crane in a shipyard.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The climate of Gdynia is an oceanic climate owing to its position of the Baltic Sea, which moderates the temperatures, compared to the interior of Poland. The climate is rather cool throughout the year and there is a somewhat uniform precipitation throughout the year. Typical of Northern Europe, there is little sunshine during late autumn, winter and early spring, but plenty during summer. Because of its northerly latitude, Gdynia has 17 hours of daylight in midsummer but only around 7 hours in midwinter. The lowest pressure in Poland was recorded in Gdynia - 960.2 hPa on January 17, 1931.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Gdynia is divided into smaller divisions: dzielnicas and osiedles. Gdynia's dzielnicas include: Babie Doły, Chwarzno-Wiczlino, Chylonia, Cisowa, Dąbrowa, Działki Leśne, Grabówek, Kamienna Góra, Karwiny, Leszczynki, Mały Kack, Obłuże, Oksywie, Orłowo, Pogórze, Pustki Cisowskie-Demptowo, Redłowo, Śródmieście, Wielki Kack, Witomino-Leśniczówka, Witomino-Radiostacja, Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Osiedles: Bernadowo, Brzozowa Góra, Chwarzno, Dąbrówka, Demptowo, Dębowa Góra, Fikakowo, Gołębiewo, Kacze Buki, Kolibki, Kolonia Chwaszczyno, Kolonia Rybacka, Krykulec, Marszewo, Międzytorze, Niemotowo, Osada Kolejowa, Osada Rybacka, Osiedle Bernadowo, Port, Pustki Cisowskie, Tasza, Wiczlino, Wielka Rola, Witomino, Wysoka, Zielenisz.",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Gdynia is a relatively modern city. Its architecture includes the 13th century St. Michael the Archangel's Church in Oksywie, the oldest building in Gdynia, and the 17th century neo-Gothic manor house located on Folwarczna Street in Orłowo.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The surrounding hills and the coastline attract many nature lovers. A leisure pier and a cliff-like coastline in Kępa Redłowska, as well as the surrounding Nature Reserve, are also popular locations. In the harbour, there are two anchored museum ships, the destroyer ORP Błyskawica and the tall ship frigate Dar Pomorza. A 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi)-long promenade leads from the marina in the city center, to the beach in Redłowo.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Most of Gdynia can be seen from Kamienna Góra (54 metres (177 feet) asl) or the viewing point near Chwaszczyno. There are also two viewing towers, one at Góra Donas, the other at Kolibki.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 2015 the Emigration Museum opened in the city. Other museums include the Gdynia Aquarium, Experyment Science Center, Abraham's house, Żeromski's house, Gdynia Automotive Museum, Naval Museum, and Gdynia City Museum.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Gdynia holds many examples of early 20th-century architecture, especially monumentalism and early functionalism, and modernism. Historic Urban Layout of the City Center was drafted by Adam Kuncewicz and Roman Feliński in 1926. The central axis of Gdynia is built around 10 Lutego Street, Kosciuszka Square and the Southern Pier. The structure of the city is designed to emphasize the connection of Gdynia and Poland with the Baltic Sea. Examples of modernist architecture are the buildings of the Bank of Poland and many tenement houses (kamienice). Another good example of modernism is PLO Building situated at 10 Lutego Street.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The architecture of central Gdynia was inspired by the work of European architects such as Erich Mendelssohn and is sometimes compared to the White City of Tel Aviv. The center of Gdynia has become a symbol of modernity, but was included in the list of historical monuments of Poland and is a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List.",
"title": "Cityscape"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Gdynia hosts the Gdynia Film Festival, the main Polish film festival. The International Random Film Festival was hosted in Gdynia in November 2014. Since 2003 Gdynia has been hosting the Open'er Festival, one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Europe. The festival welcomes many foreign hip-hop, rock and electronic music artists every year. In record-high 2018 it was attended by over 140,000 people, who enjoyed the lineup headlined by Bruno Mars, Gorillaz, Arctic Monkeys, and Depeche Mode. Another important summer event in Gdynia is the Viva Beach Party, which is a large two-day techno party made on Gdynia's Public Beach and a summer-welcoming concerts CudaWianki. Gdynia also hosts events for the annual Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival. In the summer of 2014 Gdynia hosted Red Bull Air Race World Championship.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 2008, Gdynia made it onto the Monopoly Here and Now World Edition board after being voted by fans through the Internet. Gdynia occupies the space traditionally held by Mediterranean Avenue, being the lowest voted city to make it onto the Monopoly Here and Now board, but also the smallest city to make it in the game. All of the other cities are large and widely known ones, the second smallest being Riga. The unexpected success of Gdynia can be attributed to a mobilization of the town's population to vote for it on the Internet.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "An abandoned factory district in Gdynia was the scene for the survival series Man vs Wild, season 6, episode 12. The host, Bear Grylls, manages to escape the district after blowing up a door and crawling through miles of sewer.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the supervillain in the James Bond novels, was born in Gdynia on 28 May 1908, according to Thunderball.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Gdynia is sometimes called \"Polish Roswell\" due to the alleged UFO crash on 21 January 1959.",
"title": "Culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Sport teams",
"title": "Sports"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Notable companies that have their headquarters or regional offices in Gdynia:",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Former:",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In 2007, 364,202 passengers, 17,025,000 tons of cargo and 614,373 TEU containers passed through the port. Regular car ferry service operates between Gdynia and Karlskrona, Sweden.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Gdynia operates one of only three trolleybus systems in Poland, alongside Lublin and Tychy. Today there are 12 trolleybus lines in Gdynia with a total length of 96 km. The fleet is modern and consists of Solaris Trollino cars. There is also a historic line, connecting city centre with a district of Orłowo operated by three retro trolleybuses. In addition to that, Gdynia operates an extensive network of bus lines, connecting the city with the adjacent suburbs.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The conurbation's main airport, Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport, lays approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south-west of central Gdynia, and has connections to approximately 55 destinations. It is the third largest airport in Poland. A second General Aviation terminal was scheduled to be opened by May 2012, which will increase the airport's capacity to 5mln passengers per year.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Another local airport, (Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport) is situated partly in the village of Kosakowo, just to the north of the city, and partly in Gdynia. This has been a military airport since the World War II, but it has been decided in 2006 that the airport will be used to serve civilians. Work was well in progress and was due to be ready for 2012 when the project collapsed following a February 2014 EU decision regarding Gdynia city funding as constituting unfair competition to Gdańsk airport. In March 2014, the airport management company filed for bankruptcy, this being formally announced in May that year. The fate of some PLN 100 million of public funds from Gdynia remain unaccounted for with documents not being released, despite repeated requests for such from residents to the city president, Wojciech Szczurek.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Trasa Kwiatkowskiego links Port of Gdynia and the city with Obwodnica Trójmiejska, and therefore A1 motorway. National road 6 connects Tricity with Słupsk, Koszalin and Szczecin agglomeration.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The principal station in Gdynia is Gdynia Główna railway station, the busiest railway station in the Tricity and northern Poland and seventh busiest in Poland overall (as of 2021). Gdynia has eleven railway stations. Local train services are provided by the 'Fast Urban Railway,' Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity) operating frequent trains covering the Tricity area including Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia. Long-distance trains from Warsaw via Gdańsk terminate at Gdynia, and there are direct trains to Szczecin, Poznań, Katowice, Lublin and other major cities. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route was undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of the most modern ETCS signalling system, which was completed in June 2015. In December 2014 new Alstom Pendolino high-speed trains were put into service between Gdynia, Warsaw and Kraków reducing rail travel times to Gdynia by 2 hours.",
"title": "Economy and infrastructure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "There are currently 8 universities and institutions of higher education based in Gdynia. Many students from Gdynia also attend universities located in the Tricity.",
"title": "Education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Gdynia is twinned with:",
"title": "Twin towns – sister cities"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Former twin towns:",
"title": "Twin towns – sister cities"
}
]
| Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk. Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto) with around one million inhabitants. Historically and culturally part of Kashubia and Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia for centuries remained a small fishing village. By the 20th-century it attracted visitors as a seaside resort town. In 1926, Gdynia was granted city rights after which it enjoyed demographic and urban development, with a modernist cityscape. It became a major seaport city of Poland. In 1970, protests in and around Gdynia contributed to the rise of the Solidarity movement in nearby Gdańsk. The port of Gdynia is a regular stopover on the cruising itinerary of luxury passenger ships and ferries travelling to Scandinavia. Gdynia's downtown, designated a historical monument of Poland in 2015, is an example of building an integrated European community and includes Functionalist architectural forms. Its axis is based around 10 Lutego Street and connects the main train station with the Southern Pier. The city is also known for holding the annual Gdynia Film Festival. In 2013, Gdynia was ranked by readers of The News as Poland's best city to live in, and topped the national rankings in the category of "general quality of life". In 2021, the city entered the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and was named UNESCO City of Film. | 2001-11-09T22:22:46Z | 2023-12-29T05:13:09Z | [
"Template:Infobox settlement",
"Template:MV",
"Template:ORP",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Image label begin",
"Template:Failed verification",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Navboxes",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:SS",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:IPA",
"Template:Lang-de",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Wikivoyage",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Flag icon",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:RMS",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Image label",
"Template:Weather box",
"Template:Image label end",
"Template:TEU",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Lang-csb",
"Template:Historical populations",
"Template:Ship"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdynia |
12,666 | Gluon | A gluon (/ˈɡluːɒn/ GLOO-on) is a type of elementary particle that mediates the strong interaction between quarks, acting as the exchange particle for the interaction. Gluons are massless vector bosons, thereby having a spin of 1. Through the strong interaction, gluons bind quarks into groups according to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), forming hadrons such as protons and neutrons.
Gluons carry the color charge of the strong interaction, thereby participating in the strong interaction as well as mediating it. Because gluons carry the color charge, QCD is more difficult to analyze compared to quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the photon carries no electric charge.
The gluon is a vector boson, which means it has a spin of 1. While massive spin-1 particles have three polarization states, massless gauge bosons like the gluon have only two polarization states because gauge invariance requires the field polarization to be transverse to the direction that the gluon is traveling. In quantum field theory, unbroken gauge invariance requires that gauge bosons have zero mass. Experiments limit the gluon's rest mass (if any) to less than a few MeV/c. The gluon has negative intrinsic parity.
Unlike the photon of QED or the three W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, there are eight independent types of gluons in QCD.
However, gluons are subject to the color charge phenomena (of which they have combinations of color and anticolor). Quarks carry three types of color charge; antiquarks carry three types of anticolor. Gluons may be thought of as carrying both color and anticolor. This gives nine possible combinations of color and anticolor in gluons. The following is a list of those combinations (and their schematic names):
These are not the actual color states of observed gluons, but rather effective states. To correctly understand how they are combined, it is necessary to consider the mathematics of color charge in more detail.
It is often said that the stable strongly interacting particles (such as hadrons like the proton and neutron) observed in nature are "colorless", but more precisely they are in a "color singlet" state, which is mathematically analogous to a spin singlet state. Such states allow interaction with other color singlets, but not with other color states; because long-range gluon interactions do not exist, this illustrates that gluons in the singlet state do not exist either.
The color singlet state is:
In other words, if one could measure the color of the state, there would be equal probabilities of it being red–antired, blue–antiblue, or green–antigreen.
There are eight remaining independent color states, which correspond to the "eight types" or "eight colors" of gluons. Because states can be mixed together as discussed above, there are many ways of presenting these states, which are known as the "color octet". One commonly used list is:
These are equivalent to the Gell-Mann matrices. The critical feature of these particular eight states is that they are linearly independent, and also independent of the singlet state, hence 3 − 1 or 2. There is no way to add any combination of these states to produce any other, and it is also impossible to add them to make rr, gg, or bb the forbidden singlet state. There are many other possible choices, but all are mathematically equivalent, at least equally complicated, and give the same physical results.
Formally, QCD is a gauge theory with SU(3) gauge symmetry. Quarks are introduced as spinors in Nf flavors, each in the fundamental representation (triplet, denoted 3) of the color gauge group, SU(3). The gluons are vectors in the adjoint representation (octets, denoted 8) of color SU(3). For a general gauge group, the number of force-carriers (like photons or gluons) is always equal to the dimension of the adjoint representation. For the simple case of SU(N), the dimension of this representation is N − 1.
In terms of group theory, the assertion that there are no color singlet gluons is simply the statement that quantum chromodynamics has an SU(3) rather than a U(3) symmetry. There is no known a priori reason for one group to be preferred over the other, but as discussed above, the experimental evidence supports SU(3). If the group were U(3), the ninth (colorless singlet) gluon would behave like a "second photon" and not like the other eight gluons.
Since gluons themselves carry color charge, they participate in strong interactions. These gluon–gluon interactions constrain color fields to string-like objects called "flux tubes", which exert constant force when stretched. Due to this force, quarks are confined within composite particles called hadrons. This effectively limits the range of the strong interaction to 1×10 meters, roughly the size of a nucleon. Beyond a certain distance, the energy of the flux tube binding two quarks increases linearly. At a large enough distance, it becomes energetically more favorable to pull a quark–antiquark pair out of the vacuum rather than increase the length of the flux tube.
One consequence of the hadron-confinement property of gluons is that they are not directly involved in the nuclear forces between hadrons. The force mediators for these are other hadrons called mesons.
Although in the normal phase of QCD single gluons may not travel freely, it is predicted that there exist hadrons that are formed entirely of gluons — called glueballs. There are also conjectures about other exotic hadrons in which real gluons (as opposed to virtual ones found in ordinary hadrons) would be primary constituents. Beyond the normal phase of QCD (at extreme temperatures and pressures), quark–gluon plasma forms. In such a plasma there are no hadrons; quarks and gluons become free particles.
Quarks and gluons (colored) manifest themselves by fragmenting into more quarks and gluons, which in turn hadronize into normal (colorless) particles, correlated in jets. As revealed in 1978 summer conferences, the PLUTO detector at the electron-positron collider DORIS (DESY) produced the first evidence that the hadronic decays of the very narrow resonance Υ(9.46) could be interpreted as three-jet event topologies produced by three gluons. Later, published analyses by the same experiment confirmed this interpretation and also the spin = 1 nature of the gluon (see also the recollection and PLUTO experiments).
In summer 1979, at higher energies at the electron-positron collider PETRA (DESY), again three-jet topologies were observed, now interpreted as qq gluon bremsstrahlung, now clearly visible, by TASSO, MARK-J and PLUTO experiments (later in 1980 also by JADE). The spin = 1 property of the gluon was confirmed in 1980 by TASSO and PLUTO experiments (see also the review). In 1991 a subsequent experiment at the LEP storage ring at CERN again confirmed this result.
The gluons play an important role in the elementary strong interactions between quarks and gluons, described by QCD and studied particularly at the electron-proton collider HERA at DESY. The number and momentum distribution of the gluons in the proton (gluon density) have been measured by two experiments, H1 and ZEUS, in the years 1996–2007. The gluon contribution to the proton spin has been studied by the HERMES experiment at HERA. The gluon density in the proton (when behaving hadronically) also has been measured.
Color confinement is verified by the failure of free quark searches (searches of fractional charges). Quarks are normally produced in pairs (quark + antiquark) to compensate the quantum color and flavor numbers; however at Fermilab single production of top quarks has been shown. No glueball has been demonstrated.
Deconfinement was claimed in 2000 at CERN SPS in heavy-ion collisions, and it implies a new state of matter: quark–gluon plasma, less interactive than in the nucleus, almost as in a liquid. It was found at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven in the years 2004–2010 by four contemporaneous experiments. A quark–gluon plasma state has been confirmed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by the three experiments ALICE, ATLAS and CMS in 2010.
Jefferson Lab's Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, in Newport News, Virginia, is one of 10 Department of Energy facilities doing research on gluons. The Virginia lab was competing with another facility – Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York – for funds to build a new electron-ion collider. In December 2019 the US Department of Energy selected the Brookhaven National Laboratory to host the electron-ion collider. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A gluon (/ˈɡluːɒn/ GLOO-on) is a type of elementary particle that mediates the strong interaction between quarks, acting as the exchange particle for the interaction. Gluons are massless vector bosons, thereby having a spin of 1. Through the strong interaction, gluons bind quarks into groups according to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), forming hadrons such as protons and neutrons.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gluons carry the color charge of the strong interaction, thereby participating in the strong interaction as well as mediating it. Because gluons carry the color charge, QCD is more difficult to analyze compared to quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the photon carries no electric charge.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The gluon is a vector boson, which means it has a spin of 1. While massive spin-1 particles have three polarization states, massless gauge bosons like the gluon have only two polarization states because gauge invariance requires the field polarization to be transverse to the direction that the gluon is traveling. In quantum field theory, unbroken gauge invariance requires that gauge bosons have zero mass. Experiments limit the gluon's rest mass (if any) to less than a few MeV/c. The gluon has negative intrinsic parity.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Unlike the photon of QED or the three W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, there are eight independent types of gluons in QCD.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "However, gluons are subject to the color charge phenomena (of which they have combinations of color and anticolor). Quarks carry three types of color charge; antiquarks carry three types of anticolor. Gluons may be thought of as carrying both color and anticolor. This gives nine possible combinations of color and anticolor in gluons. The following is a list of those combinations (and their schematic names):",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "These are not the actual color states of observed gluons, but rather effective states. To correctly understand how they are combined, it is necessary to consider the mathematics of color charge in more detail.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "It is often said that the stable strongly interacting particles (such as hadrons like the proton and neutron) observed in nature are \"colorless\", but more precisely they are in a \"color singlet\" state, which is mathematically analogous to a spin singlet state. Such states allow interaction with other color singlets, but not with other color states; because long-range gluon interactions do not exist, this illustrates that gluons in the singlet state do not exist either.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The color singlet state is:",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In other words, if one could measure the color of the state, there would be equal probabilities of it being red–antired, blue–antiblue, or green–antigreen.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "There are eight remaining independent color states, which correspond to the \"eight types\" or \"eight colors\" of gluons. Because states can be mixed together as discussed above, there are many ways of presenting these states, which are known as the \"color octet\". One commonly used list is:",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "These are equivalent to the Gell-Mann matrices. The critical feature of these particular eight states is that they are linearly independent, and also independent of the singlet state, hence 3 − 1 or 2. There is no way to add any combination of these states to produce any other, and it is also impossible to add them to make rr, gg, or bb the forbidden singlet state. There are many other possible choices, but all are mathematically equivalent, at least equally complicated, and give the same physical results.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Formally, QCD is a gauge theory with SU(3) gauge symmetry. Quarks are introduced as spinors in Nf flavors, each in the fundamental representation (triplet, denoted 3) of the color gauge group, SU(3). The gluons are vectors in the adjoint representation (octets, denoted 8) of color SU(3). For a general gauge group, the number of force-carriers (like photons or gluons) is always equal to the dimension of the adjoint representation. For the simple case of SU(N), the dimension of this representation is N − 1.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In terms of group theory, the assertion that there are no color singlet gluons is simply the statement that quantum chromodynamics has an SU(3) rather than a U(3) symmetry. There is no known a priori reason for one group to be preferred over the other, but as discussed above, the experimental evidence supports SU(3). If the group were U(3), the ninth (colorless singlet) gluon would behave like a \"second photon\" and not like the other eight gluons.",
"title": "Counting gluons"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Since gluons themselves carry color charge, they participate in strong interactions. These gluon–gluon interactions constrain color fields to string-like objects called \"flux tubes\", which exert constant force when stretched. Due to this force, quarks are confined within composite particles called hadrons. This effectively limits the range of the strong interaction to 1×10 meters, roughly the size of a nucleon. Beyond a certain distance, the energy of the flux tube binding two quarks increases linearly. At a large enough distance, it becomes energetically more favorable to pull a quark–antiquark pair out of the vacuum rather than increase the length of the flux tube.",
"title": "Confinement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "One consequence of the hadron-confinement property of gluons is that they are not directly involved in the nuclear forces between hadrons. The force mediators for these are other hadrons called mesons.",
"title": "Confinement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Although in the normal phase of QCD single gluons may not travel freely, it is predicted that there exist hadrons that are formed entirely of gluons — called glueballs. There are also conjectures about other exotic hadrons in which real gluons (as opposed to virtual ones found in ordinary hadrons) would be primary constituents. Beyond the normal phase of QCD (at extreme temperatures and pressures), quark–gluon plasma forms. In such a plasma there are no hadrons; quarks and gluons become free particles.",
"title": "Confinement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Quarks and gluons (colored) manifest themselves by fragmenting into more quarks and gluons, which in turn hadronize into normal (colorless) particles, correlated in jets. As revealed in 1978 summer conferences, the PLUTO detector at the electron-positron collider DORIS (DESY) produced the first evidence that the hadronic decays of the very narrow resonance Υ(9.46) could be interpreted as three-jet event topologies produced by three gluons. Later, published analyses by the same experiment confirmed this interpretation and also the spin = 1 nature of the gluon (see also the recollection and PLUTO experiments).",
"title": "Experimental observations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In summer 1979, at higher energies at the electron-positron collider PETRA (DESY), again three-jet topologies were observed, now interpreted as qq gluon bremsstrahlung, now clearly visible, by TASSO, MARK-J and PLUTO experiments (later in 1980 also by JADE). The spin = 1 property of the gluon was confirmed in 1980 by TASSO and PLUTO experiments (see also the review). In 1991 a subsequent experiment at the LEP storage ring at CERN again confirmed this result.",
"title": "Experimental observations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The gluons play an important role in the elementary strong interactions between quarks and gluons, described by QCD and studied particularly at the electron-proton collider HERA at DESY. The number and momentum distribution of the gluons in the proton (gluon density) have been measured by two experiments, H1 and ZEUS, in the years 1996–2007. The gluon contribution to the proton spin has been studied by the HERMES experiment at HERA. The gluon density in the proton (when behaving hadronically) also has been measured.",
"title": "Experimental observations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Color confinement is verified by the failure of free quark searches (searches of fractional charges). Quarks are normally produced in pairs (quark + antiquark) to compensate the quantum color and flavor numbers; however at Fermilab single production of top quarks has been shown. No glueball has been demonstrated.",
"title": "Experimental observations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Deconfinement was claimed in 2000 at CERN SPS in heavy-ion collisions, and it implies a new state of matter: quark–gluon plasma, less interactive than in the nucleus, almost as in a liquid. It was found at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven in the years 2004–2010 by four contemporaneous experiments. A quark–gluon plasma state has been confirmed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by the three experiments ALICE, ATLAS and CMS in 2010.",
"title": "Experimental observations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Jefferson Lab's Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, in Newport News, Virginia, is one of 10 Department of Energy facilities doing research on gluons. The Virginia lab was competing with another facility – Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York – for funds to build a new electron-ion collider. In December 2019 the US Department of Energy selected the Brookhaven National Laboratory to host the electron-ion collider.",
"title": "Experimental observations"
}
]
| A gluon is a type of elementary particle that mediates the strong interaction between quarks, acting as the exchange particle for the interaction. Gluons are massless vector bosons, thereby having a spin of 1. Through the strong interaction, gluons bind quarks into groups according to quantum chromodynamics (QCD), forming hadrons such as protons and neutrons. Gluons carry the color charge of the strong interaction, thereby participating in the strong interaction as well as mediating it. Because gluons carry the color charge, QCD is more difficult to analyze compared to quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the photon carries no electric charge. | 2001-10-01T22:03:57Z | 2023-12-10T21:34:28Z | [
"Template:Standard model of particle physics",
"Template:Respell",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Infobox Particle",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cite press release",
"Template:Overline",
"Template:Val",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Particles",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluon |
12,667 | Book of Genesis | The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις, Génesis; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēʾšīṯ, lit. 'In [the] beginning'; Latin: Liber Genesis) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit ('In the beginning'). Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people.
Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy; however, modern scholars, especially from the 19th century onward, place the books' authorship in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, hundreds of years after Moses is supposed to have lived. Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence, most mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical.
It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for humans, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God. The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command, Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace (described as Ur of the Chaldeans and whose identification with Sumerian Ur is tentative in modern scholarship) into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to "Israel", and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all humankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).
In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land.
The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek Γένεσις, meaning 'origin'; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēʾšīṯ, 'In [the] beginning'.
For much of the 20th century, most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. Known as the documentary hypothesis, each source was held to tell the same basic story, with the sources later joined together by various editors. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a revolution in this line of thought, leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or "non-Priestly") material (the Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis).
Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify separate sources. In Genesis, these include three different accounts of a patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.
This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century concluded that the Yahwist source was a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work a product of the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author was Ezra). However, more recent thinking is that the Yahwist source dates to from either just before or during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, and that the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after. The almost complete absence of all the characters and incidents mentioned in primeval history from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority of scholars to conclude that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in the 3rd century BC. By comparing Dead Sea level indications in chapter 14 of Genesis Amos Frumkin and Yoel Elitzur suggest the composition dating between 1500 and 1200 BC.
As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial, is that of Persian imperial authorisation. This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins". However, the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.
Genesis is an example of a work in the "antiquities" genre, as the Romans knew it, a popular genre telling of the appearance of humans and their ancestors and heroes, with elaborate genealogies and chronologies fleshed out with stories and anecdotes. The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts. Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the "law of conservation": everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated. This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.
Describing the work of the biblical authors, John Van Seters wrote that lacking many historical traditions and none from the distant past, "They had to use myths and legends for earlier periods. In order to make sense out of the variety of different and often conflicting versions of stories, and to relate the stories to each other, they fitted them into a genealogical chronology."
There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.
Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning "these are the generations", with the first use of the phrase referring to the "generations of heaven and earth" and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the "sons of Noah", Shem, etc., down to Jacob. The toledot formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, delineating its sections and shaping its structure, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject:
It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on the subject matter, a "primeval history" (chapters 1–11) and a "patriarchal history" (chapters 12–50). While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The "primeval history" has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after; the "ancestral history" is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)
The Genesis creation narrative comprises two different stories; the first two chapters roughly correspond to these. In the first, Elohim, the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh. In the second, God, now referred to as "Yahweh Elohim" (rendered as "the LORD God" in English translations), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, and places them in the Garden of Eden.
In the third chapter, God instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They promise not to, but a talking serpent, portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, convinces Eve to eat the fruit against God's wishes, and she convinces Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses both of them—Adam was cursed with getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the "fall of man" into sin. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain works in the garden, and Abel works with meat; they both offer offerings to God one day, and God does not accept Cain's offering but does accept Abel's. This causes Cain to resent Abel, and Cain ends up murdering him. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel's place.
After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God wants to wipe out humanity for their wickedness. However, Noah is the only good human; so first, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees humankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion. Then, a generation line from Shem to Abram is described.
Abram, a man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a promise to Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates". Abram's name is changed to 'Abraham' and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah (meaning 'princess'), and God says that all males should be circumcised as a sign of his promise to Abraham. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife (to bear a child). Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.
God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests but fails to get God to agree not to destroy the cities (his reasoning being that everybody there is evil, except for Abraham's nephew Lot). Angels save Abraham's nephew Lot (who was living there at the same time) and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction, (even though God commanded not to) and turns into a pillar of salt for going against his word. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.
Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her (as she is really Abraham's wife) and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son and tells her she should name him Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant (promise). Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.
Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, "the Angel of the Lord" restrains him, promising him again innumerable descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself worthy, Rebekah becomes Isaac's betrothed. Keturah, Abraham's other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah).
Isaac's wife Rebekah gives birth to the twins Esau (meaning 'velvet'), father of the Edomites, and Jacob (meaning 'supplanter' or 'follower'). Esau was a couple of seconds older as he had come out of the womb first, and was going to become the heir; however, through carelessness, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. His mother, Rebekah, ensures Jacob rightly gains his father's blessing as the firstborn son and inheritor. At 77 years of age, Jacob leaves his parents and later seeks a wife and meets Rachel at a well. He goes to her father, his uncle, where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob's name is changed to Israel after his wrestle with an angel, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.
Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, has sex with Dinah and asks his father to get Dinah for him as his wife, according to Chapter 34. Jacob agrees to the marriage but requires that all the males of Hamor's tribe be circumcised, including Hamor and Shechem. After this was performed and all the men were still weak, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi murdered all the males. Jacob complained that their act would mean retribution by others, namely the Canaanites and Perizzites. Jacob and his tribe took all the Hivite women and children as well as livestock and other property for themselves.
Joseph, Jacob's favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Joseph endures many trials including being innocently sentenced to jail but he stays faithful to God. After several years, he prospers there after the pharaoh of Egypt asks him to interpret a dream he had about an upcoming famine, which Joseph does through God. He is then made second in command of Egypt by the grateful pharaoh, and later on, he is reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him and plead for food as the famine had reached Canaan as well. After much manipulation to see if they still hate him, Joseph reveals himself, forgives them for their actions, and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers before his death that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them.
In 1978, David Clines published The Theme of the Pentateuch. Considered influential as one of the first authors to take up the question of the overarching theme of the Pentateuch, Clines' conclusion was that the overall theme is "the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfillment—of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs". (By calling the fulfilment "partial", Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people of Israel are still outside Canaan.)
The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded). Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations. (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source, the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future. God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. ("Faith" in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means an agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of a belief.)
The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land. The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother—Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel—is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son—in Jacob's case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfilment, until through Joseph "all the world" attains salvation from famine, and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.
Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources. The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature. One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God's decision not to remain alienated from humankind: God creates the world and humans, humans rebel, and God "elects" (chooses) Abraham.
To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist), the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive "sign". The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses).
By totaling the spans of time in the genealogies of Genesis, religious authorities have calculated what they consider to be the age of the world since creation. This Anno Mundi system of counting years is the basis of the Hebrew calendar and Byzantine calendar. Counts differ somewhat, but they generally place the age of the earth at about six thousand years.
During the Protestant Reformation, rivalry between Catholic and Protestant Christians led to a closer study of the Bible and a competition to take its words more seriously. Thus, scholars in Europe from the 16th to the 19th century treated the book of Genesis as factual. As evidence in the fields of paleontology, geology and other sciences was uncovered, scholars tried to fit these discoveries into the Genesis creation account. For example, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer in the 18th century believed that fossils were the remains of creatures killed during the flood. This literal understanding of Genesis fell out of favor with scholars during the Victorian crisis of faith as evidence mounted that the earth was far older than six thousand years.
It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. The full name, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ, Parashat ha-Shavua, is popularly abbreviated to parashah (also parshah /pɑːrʃə/ or parsha), and is also known as a Sidra (or Sedra /sɛdrə/).
The parashah is a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 weekly parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year.
The first 12 of the 54 come from the Book of Genesis, and they are: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Book of Genesis (from Greek Γένεσις, Génesis; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēʾšīṯ, lit. 'In [the] beginning'; Latin: Liber Genesis) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit ('In the beginning'). Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy; however, modern scholars, especially from the 19th century onward, place the books' authorship in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, hundreds of years after Moses is supposed to have lived. Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence, most mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for humans, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God. The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command, Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace (described as Ur of the Chaldeans and whose identification with Sumerian Ur is tentative in modern scholarship) into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to \"Israel\", and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all humankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek Γένεσις, meaning 'origin'; Biblical Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, romanized: Bərēʾšīṯ, 'In [the] beginning'.",
"title": "Title"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "For much of the 20th century, most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. Known as the documentary hypothesis, each source was held to tell the same basic story, with the sources later joined together by various editors. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a revolution in this line of thought, leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or \"non-Priestly\") material (the Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis).",
"title": "Composition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify separate sources. In Genesis, these include three different accounts of a patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.",
"title": "Composition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century concluded that the Yahwist source was a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work a product of the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author was Ezra). However, more recent thinking is that the Yahwist source dates to from either just before or during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, and that the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after. The almost complete absence of all the characters and incidents mentioned in primeval history from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority of scholars to conclude that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in the 3rd century BC. By comparing Dead Sea level indications in chapter 14 of Genesis Amos Frumkin and Yoel Elitzur suggest the composition dating between 1500 and 1200 BC.",
"title": "Composition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial, is that of Persian imperial authorisation. This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the \"elders\" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had \"given\" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own \"history of origins\". However, the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.",
"title": "Composition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Genesis is an example of a work in the \"antiquities\" genre, as the Romans knew it, a popular genre telling of the appearance of humans and their ancestors and heroes, with elaborate genealogies and chronologies fleshed out with stories and anecdotes. The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts. Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the \"law of conservation\": everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated. This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.",
"title": "Genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Describing the work of the biblical authors, John Van Seters wrote that lacking many historical traditions and none from the distant past, \"They had to use myths and legends for earlier periods. In order to make sense out of the variety of different and often conflicting versions of stories, and to relate the stories to each other, they fitted them into a genealogical chronology.\"",
"title": "Genre"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.",
"title": "Textual witnesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning \"these are the generations\", with the first use of the phrase referring to the \"generations of heaven and earth\" and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the \"sons of Noah\", Shem, etc., down to Jacob. The toledot formula, occurring eleven times in the book of Genesis, delineating its sections and shaping its structure, serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject:",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on the subject matter, a \"primeval history\" (chapters 1–11) and a \"patriarchal history\" (chapters 12–50). While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The \"primeval history\" has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after; the \"ancestral history\" is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)",
"title": "Structure"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The Genesis creation narrative comprises two different stories; the first two chapters roughly correspond to these. In the first, Elohim, the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh. In the second, God, now referred to as \"Yahweh Elohim\" (rendered as \"the LORD God\" in English translations), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, and places them in the Garden of Eden.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the third chapter, God instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They promise not to, but a talking serpent, portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, convinces Eve to eat the fruit against God's wishes, and she convinces Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses both of them—Adam was cursed with getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the \"fall of man\" into sin. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain works in the garden, and Abel works with meat; they both offer offerings to God one day, and God does not accept Cain's offering but does accept Abel's. This causes Cain to resent Abel, and Cain ends up murdering him. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel's place.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God wants to wipe out humanity for their wickedness. However, Noah is the only good human; so first, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees humankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion. Then, a generation line from Shem to Abram is described.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Abram, a man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a promise to Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land \"from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates\". Abram's name is changed to 'Abraham' and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah (meaning 'princess'), and God says that all males should be circumcised as a sign of his promise to Abraham. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife (to bear a child). Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests but fails to get God to agree not to destroy the cities (his reasoning being that everybody there is evil, except for Abraham's nephew Lot). Angels save Abraham's nephew Lot (who was living there at the same time) and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction, (even though God commanded not to) and turns into a pillar of salt for going against his word. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her (as she is really Abraham's wife) and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son and tells her she should name him Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant (promise). Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, \"the Angel of the Lord\" restrains him, promising him again innumerable descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself worthy, Rebekah becomes Isaac's betrothed. Keturah, Abraham's other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah).",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Isaac's wife Rebekah gives birth to the twins Esau (meaning 'velvet'), father of the Edomites, and Jacob (meaning 'supplanter' or 'follower'). Esau was a couple of seconds older as he had come out of the womb first, and was going to become the heir; however, through carelessness, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. His mother, Rebekah, ensures Jacob rightly gains his father's blessing as the firstborn son and inheritor. At 77 years of age, Jacob leaves his parents and later seeks a wife and meets Rachel at a well. He goes to her father, his uncle, where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob's name is changed to Israel after his wrestle with an angel, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, has sex with Dinah and asks his father to get Dinah for him as his wife, according to Chapter 34. Jacob agrees to the marriage but requires that all the males of Hamor's tribe be circumcised, including Hamor and Shechem. After this was performed and all the men were still weak, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi murdered all the males. Jacob complained that their act would mean retribution by others, namely the Canaanites and Perizzites. Jacob and his tribe took all the Hivite women and children as well as livestock and other property for themselves.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Joseph, Jacob's favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Joseph endures many trials including being innocently sentenced to jail but he stays faithful to God. After several years, he prospers there after the pharaoh of Egypt asks him to interpret a dream he had about an upcoming famine, which Joseph does through God. He is then made second in command of Egypt by the grateful pharaoh, and later on, he is reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him and plead for food as the famine had reached Canaan as well. After much manipulation to see if they still hate him, Joseph reveals himself, forgives them for their actions, and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers before his death that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them.",
"title": "Summary"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 1978, David Clines published The Theme of the Pentateuch. Considered influential as one of the first authors to take up the question of the overarching theme of the Pentateuch, Clines' conclusion was that the overall theme is \"the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfillment—of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs\". (By calling the fulfilment \"partial\", Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people of Israel are still outside Canaan.)",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded). Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations. (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source, the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future. God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. (\"Faith\" in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means an agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of a belief.)",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land. The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother—Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel—is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son—in Jacob's case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfilment, until through Joseph \"all the world\" attains salvation from famine, and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources. The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature. One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God's decision not to remain alienated from humankind: God creates the world and humans, humans rebel, and God \"elects\" (chooses) Abraham.",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist), the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive \"sign\". The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses).",
"title": "Themes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "By totaling the spans of time in the genealogies of Genesis, religious authorities have calculated what they consider to be the age of the world since creation. This Anno Mundi system of counting years is the basis of the Hebrew calendar and Byzantine calendar. Counts differ somewhat, but they generally place the age of the earth at about six thousand years.",
"title": "Cultural impact"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "During the Protestant Reformation, rivalry between Catholic and Protestant Christians led to a closer study of the Bible and a competition to take its words more seriously. Thus, scholars in Europe from the 16th to the 19th century treated the book of Genesis as factual. As evidence in the fields of paleontology, geology and other sciences was uncovered, scholars tried to fit these discoveries into the Genesis creation account. For example, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer in the 18th century believed that fossils were the remains of creatures killed during the flood. This literal understanding of Genesis fell out of favor with scholars during the Victorian crisis of faith as evidence mounted that the earth was far older than six thousand years.",
"title": "Cultural impact"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. The full name, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ, Parashat ha-Shavua, is popularly abbreviated to parashah (also parshah /pɑːrʃə/ or parsha), and is also known as a Sidra (or Sedra /sɛdrə/).",
"title": "Judaism's weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The parashah is a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 weekly parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year.",
"title": "Judaism's weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The first 12 of the 54 come from the Book of Genesis, and they are:",
"title": "Judaism's weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis"
}
]
| The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit. Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people. Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy; however, modern scholars, especially from the 19th century onward, place the books' authorship in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, hundreds of years after Moses is supposed to have lived. Based on scientific interpretation of archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence, most mainstream Bible scholars consider Genesis to be primarily mythological rather than historical. It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history and the ancestral history. The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for humans, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God. The ancestral history tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command, Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his birthplace into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to "Israel", and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus (departure). The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all humankind to a special relationship with one people alone. In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land. | 2001-10-02T15:59:08Z | 2023-12-26T13:06:29Z | [
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Transl",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Noah's Ark",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:S-hou",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:Lang-la",
"Template:Genesis 1",
"Template:Books of the Bible",
"Template:LORD",
"Template:Lang-grc",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Librivox book",
"Template:Adam and Eve",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Tanakh OT",
"Template:See",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Lang-he",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Wikiversity",
"Template:See also",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Isbn",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:S-start",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:Book of Genesis",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Cain and Abel",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Wikisource",
"Template:Lang-hbo"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis |
12,669 | GM | GM or Gm may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "GM or Gm may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| GM or Gm may refer to: | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-08-05T06:10:08Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Canned search",
"Template:Lookfrom",
"Template:Srt",
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM |
12,673 | Galois group | In mathematics, in the area of abstract algebra known as Galois theory, the Galois group of a certain type of field extension is a specific group associated with the field extension. The study of field extensions and their relationship to the polynomials that give rise to them via Galois groups is called Galois theory, so named in honor of Évariste Galois who first discovered them.
For a more elementary discussion of Galois groups in terms of permutation groups, see the article on Galois theory.
Suppose that E {\displaystyle E} is an extension of the field F {\displaystyle F} (written as E / F {\displaystyle E/F} and read "E over F "). An automorphism of E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is defined to be an automorphism of E {\displaystyle E} that fixes F {\displaystyle F} pointwise. In other words, an automorphism of E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is an isomorphism α : E → E {\displaystyle \alpha :E\to E} such that α ( x ) = x {\displaystyle \alpha (x)=x} for each x ∈ F {\displaystyle x\in F} . The set of all automorphisms of E / F {\displaystyle E/F} forms a group with the operation of function composition. This group is sometimes denoted by Aut ( E / F ) . {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (E/F).}
If E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is a Galois extension, then Aut ( E / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (E/F)} is called the Galois group of E / F {\displaystyle E/F} , and is usually denoted by Gal ( E / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} .
If E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is not a Galois extension, then the Galois group of E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is sometimes defined as Aut ( K / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (K/F)} , where K {\displaystyle K} is the Galois closure of E {\displaystyle E} .
Another definition of the Galois group comes from the Galois group of a polynomial f ∈ F [ x ] {\displaystyle f\in F[x]} . If there is a field K / F {\displaystyle K/F} such that f {\displaystyle f} factors as a product of linear polynomials
over the field K {\displaystyle K} , then the Galois group of the polynomial f {\displaystyle f} is defined as the Galois group of K / F {\displaystyle K/F} where K {\displaystyle K} is minimal among all such fields.
One of the important structure theorems from Galois theory comes from the fundamental theorem of Galois theory. This states that given a finite Galois extension K / k {\displaystyle K/k} , there is a bijection between the set of subfields k ⊂ E ⊂ K {\displaystyle k\subset E\subset K} and the subgroups H ⊂ G . {\displaystyle H\subset G.} Then, E {\displaystyle E} is given by the set of invariants of K {\displaystyle K} under the action of H {\displaystyle H} , so
Moreover, if H {\displaystyle H} is a normal subgroup then G / H ≅ Gal ( E / k ) {\displaystyle G/H\cong \operatorname {Gal} (E/k)} . And conversely, if E / k {\displaystyle E/k} is a normal field extension, then the associated subgroup in Gal ( K / k ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (K/k)} is a normal group.
Suppose K 1 , K 2 {\displaystyle K_{1},K_{2}} are Galois extensions of k {\displaystyle k} with Galois groups G 1 , G 2 . {\displaystyle G_{1},G_{2}.} The field K 1 K 2 {\displaystyle K_{1}K_{2}} with Galois group G = Gal ( K 1 K 2 / k ) {\displaystyle G=\operatorname {Gal} (K_{1}K_{2}/k)} has an injection G → G 1 × G 2 {\displaystyle G\to G_{1}\times G_{2}} which is an isomorphism whenever K 1 ∩ K 2 = k {\displaystyle K_{1}\cap K_{2}=k} .
As a corollary, this can be inducted finitely many times. Given Galois extensions K 1 , … , K n / k {\displaystyle K_{1},\ldots ,K_{n}/k} where K i + 1 ∩ ( K 1 ⋯ K i ) = k , {\displaystyle K_{i+1}\cap (K_{1}\cdots K_{i})=k,} then there is an isomorphism of the corresponding Galois groups:
In the following examples F {\displaystyle F} is a field, and C , R , Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ,\mathbb {R} ,\mathbb {Q} } are the fields of complex, real, and rational numbers, respectively. The notation F(a) indicates the field extension obtained by adjoining an element a to the field F.
One of the basic propositions required for completely determining the Galois groups of a finite field extension is the following: Given a polynomial f ( x ) ∈ F [ x ] {\displaystyle f(x)\in F[x]} , let E / F {\displaystyle E/F} be its splitting field extension. Then the order of the Galois group is equal to the degree of the field extension; that is,
A useful tool for determining the Galois group of a polynomial comes from Eisenstein's criterion. If a polynomial f ∈ F [ x ] {\displaystyle f\in F[x]} factors into irreducible polynomials f = f 1 ⋯ f k {\displaystyle f=f_{1}\cdots f_{k}} the Galois group of f {\displaystyle f} can be determined using the Galois groups of each f i {\displaystyle f_{i}} since the Galois group of f {\displaystyle f} contains each of the Galois groups of the f i . {\displaystyle f_{i}.}
Gal ( F / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (F/F)} is the trivial group that has a single element, namely the identity automorphism.
Another example of a Galois group which is trivial is Aut ( R / Q ) . {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (\mathbb {R} /\mathbb {Q} ).} Indeed, it can be shown that any automorphism of R {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} } must preserve the ordering of the real numbers and hence must be the identity.
Consider the field K = Q ( 2 3 ) . {\displaystyle K=\mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt[{3}]{2}}).} The group Aut ( K / Q ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (K/\mathbb {Q} )} contains only the identity automorphism. This is because K {\displaystyle K} is not a normal extension, since the other two cube roots of 2 {\displaystyle 2} ,
are missing from the extension—in other words K is not a splitting field.
The Galois group Gal ( C / R ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (\mathbb {C} /\mathbb {R} )} has two elements, the identity automorphism and the complex conjugation automorphism.
The degree two field extension Q ( 2 ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt {2}})/\mathbb {Q} } has the Galois group Gal ( Q ( 2 ) / Q ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (\mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt {2}})/\mathbb {Q} )} with two elements, the identity automorphism and the automorphism σ {\displaystyle \sigma } which exchanges 2 {\displaystyle {\sqrt {2}}} and − 2 {\displaystyle -{\sqrt {2}}} . This example generalizes for a prime number p ∈ N . {\displaystyle p\in \mathbb {N} .}
Using the lattice structure of Galois groups, for non-equal prime numbers p 1 , … , p k {\displaystyle p_{1},\ldots ,p_{k}} the Galois group of Q ( p 1 , … , p k ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} \left({\sqrt {p_{1}}},\ldots ,{\sqrt {p_{k}}}\right)/\mathbb {Q} } is
Another useful class of examples comes from the splitting fields of cyclotomic polynomials. These are polynomials Φ n {\displaystyle \Phi _{n}} defined as
whose degree is ϕ ( n ) {\displaystyle \phi (n)} , Euler's totient function at n {\displaystyle n} . Then, the splitting field over Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} } is Q ( ζ n ) {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} (\zeta _{n})} and has automorphisms σ a {\displaystyle \sigma _{a}} sending ζ n ↦ ζ n a {\displaystyle \zeta _{n}\mapsto \zeta _{n}^{a}} for 1 ≤ a < n {\displaystyle 1\leq a<n} relatively prime to n {\displaystyle n} . Since the degree of the field is equal to the degree of the polynomial, these automorphisms generate the Galois group. If n = p 1 a 1 ⋯ p k a k , {\displaystyle n=p_{1}^{a_{1}}\cdots p_{k}^{a_{k}},} then
If n {\displaystyle n} is a prime p {\displaystyle p} , then a corollary of this is
In fact, any finite abelian group can be found as the Galois group of some subfield of a cyclotomic field extension by the Kronecker–Weber theorem.
Another useful class of examples of Galois groups with finite abelian groups comes from finite fields. If q is a prime power, and if F = F q {\displaystyle F=\mathbb {F} _{q}} and E = F q n {\displaystyle E=\mathbb {F} _{q^{n}}} denote the Galois fields of order q {\displaystyle q} and q n {\displaystyle q^{n}} respectively, then Gal ( E / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} is cyclic of order n and generated by the Frobenius homomorphism.
The field extension Q ( 2 , 3 ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt {2}},{\sqrt {3}})/\mathbb {Q} } is an example of a degree 4 {\displaystyle 4} field extension. This has two automorphisms σ , τ {\displaystyle \sigma ,\tau } where σ ( 2 ) = − 2 {\displaystyle \sigma ({\sqrt {2}})=-{\sqrt {2}}} and τ ( 3 ) = − 3 . {\displaystyle \tau ({\sqrt {3}})=-{\sqrt {3}}.} Since these two generators define a group of order 4 {\displaystyle 4} , the Klein four-group, they determine the entire Galois group.
Another example is given from the splitting field E / Q {\displaystyle E/\mathbb {Q} } of the polynomial
Note because ( x − 1 ) f ( x ) = x 5 − 1 , {\displaystyle (x-1)f(x)=x^{5}-1,} the roots of f ( x ) {\displaystyle f(x)} are exp ( 2 k π i 5 ) . {\displaystyle \exp \left({\tfrac {2k\pi i}{5}}\right).} There are automorphisms
generating a group of order 4 {\displaystyle 4} . Since σ 2 {\displaystyle \sigma _{2}} generates this group, the Galois group is isomorphic to Z / 4 Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} /4\mathbb {Z} } .
Consider now L = Q ( 2 3 , ω ) , {\displaystyle L=\mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt[{3}]{2}},\omega ),} where ω {\displaystyle \omega } is a primitive cube root of unity. The group Gal ( L / Q ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (L/\mathbb {Q} )} is isomorphic to S3, the dihedral group of order 6, and L is in fact the splitting field of x 3 − 2 {\displaystyle x^{3}-2} over Q . {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} .}
The Quaternion group can be found as the Galois group of a field extension of Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} } . For example, the field extension
has the prescribed Galois group.
If f {\displaystyle f} is an irreducible polynomial of prime degree p {\displaystyle p} with rational coefficients and exactly two non-real roots, then the Galois group of f {\displaystyle f} is the full symmetric group S p . {\displaystyle S_{p}.}
For example, f ( x ) = x 5 − 4 x + 2 ∈ Q [ x ] {\displaystyle f(x)=x^{5}-4x+2\in \mathbb {Q} [x]} is irreducible from Eisenstein's criterion. Plotting the graph of f {\displaystyle f} with graphing software or paper shows it has three real roots, hence two complex roots, showing its Galois group is S 5 {\displaystyle S_{5}} .
Given a global field extension K / k {\displaystyle K/k} (such as Q ( 3 5 , ζ 5 ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt[{5}]{3}},\zeta _{5})/\mathbb {Q} } ) and equivalence classes of valuations w {\displaystyle w} on K {\displaystyle K} (such as the p {\displaystyle p} -adic valuation) and v {\displaystyle v} on k {\displaystyle k} such that their completions give a Galois field extension
K w / k v {\displaystyle K_{w}/k_{v}}
of local fields, there is an induced action of the Galois group G = Gal ( K / k ) {\displaystyle G=\operatorname {Gal} (K/k)} on the set of equivalence classes of valuations such that the completions of the fields are compatible. This means if s ∈ G {\displaystyle s\in G} then there is an induced isomorphism of local fields
s w : K w → K s w {\displaystyle s_{w}:K_{w}\to K_{sw}}
Since we have taken the hypothesis that w {\displaystyle w} lies over v {\displaystyle v} (i.e. there is a Galois field extension K w / k v {\displaystyle K_{w}/k_{v}} ), the field morphism s w {\displaystyle s_{w}} is in fact an isomorphism of k v {\displaystyle k_{v}} -algebras. If we take the isotropy subgroup of G {\displaystyle G} for the valuation class w {\displaystyle w}
G w = { s ∈ G : s w = w } {\displaystyle G_{w}=\{s\in G:sw=w\}}
then there is a surjection of the global Galois group to the local Galois group such that there is an isomorphism between the local Galois group and the isotropy subgroup. Diagrammatically, this means
Gal ( K / v ) ↠ Gal ( K w / k v ) ↓ ↓ G ↠ G w {\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}\operatorname {Gal} (K/v)&\twoheadrightarrow &\operatorname {Gal} (K_{w}/k_{v})\\\downarrow &&\downarrow \\G&\twoheadrightarrow &G_{w}\end{matrix}}}
where the vertical arrows are isomorphisms. This gives a technique for constructing Galois groups of local fields using global Galois groups.
A basic example of a field extension with an infinite group of automorphisms is Aut ( C / Q ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (\mathbb {C} /\mathbb {Q} )} , since it contains every algebraic field extension E / Q {\displaystyle E/\mathbb {Q} } . For example, the field extensions Q ( a ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt {a}})/\mathbb {Q} } for a square-free element a ∈ Q {\displaystyle a\in \mathbb {Q} } each have a unique degree 2 {\displaystyle 2} automorphism, inducing an automorphism in Aut ( C / Q ) . {\displaystyle \operatorname {Aut} (\mathbb {C} /\mathbb {Q} ).}
One of the most studied classes of infinite Galois group is the absolute Galois group, which is an infinite, profinite group defined as the inverse limit of all finite Galois extensions E / F {\displaystyle E/F} for a fixed field. The inverse limit is denoted
where F ¯ {\displaystyle {\overline {F}}} is the separable closure of the field F {\displaystyle F} . Note this group is a topological group. Some basic examples include Gal ( Q ¯ / Q ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} ({\overline {\mathbb {Q} }}/\mathbb {Q} )} and
Another readily computable example comes from the field extension Q ( 2 , 3 , 5 , … ) / Q {\displaystyle \mathbb {Q} ({\sqrt {2}},{\sqrt {3}},{\sqrt {5}},\ldots )/\mathbb {Q} } containing the square root of every positive prime. It has Galois group
which can be deduced from the profinite limit
and using the computation of the Galois groups.
The significance of an extension being Galois is that it obeys the fundamental theorem of Galois theory: the closed (with respect to the Krull topology) subgroups of the Galois group correspond to the intermediate fields of the field extension.
If E / F {\displaystyle E/F} is a Galois extension, then Gal ( E / F ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} can be given a topology, called the Krull topology, that makes it into a profinite group. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In mathematics, in the area of abstract algebra known as Galois theory, the Galois group of a certain type of field extension is a specific group associated with the field extension. The study of field extensions and their relationship to the polynomials that give rise to them via Galois groups is called Galois theory, so named in honor of Évariste Galois who first discovered them.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "For a more elementary discussion of Galois groups in terms of permutation groups, see the article on Galois theory.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Suppose that E {\\displaystyle E} is an extension of the field F {\\displaystyle F} (written as E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} and read \"E over F \"). An automorphism of E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is defined to be an automorphism of E {\\displaystyle E} that fixes F {\\displaystyle F} pointwise. In other words, an automorphism of E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is an isomorphism α : E → E {\\displaystyle \\alpha :E\\to E} such that α ( x ) = x {\\displaystyle \\alpha (x)=x} for each x ∈ F {\\displaystyle x\\in F} . The set of all automorphisms of E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} forms a group with the operation of function composition. This group is sometimes denoted by Aut ( E / F ) . {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (E/F).}",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "If E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is a Galois extension, then Aut ( E / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (E/F)} is called the Galois group of E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} , and is usually denoted by Gal ( E / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} .",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "If E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is not a Galois extension, then the Galois group of E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is sometimes defined as Aut ( K / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (K/F)} , where K {\\displaystyle K} is the Galois closure of E {\\displaystyle E} .",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Another definition of the Galois group comes from the Galois group of a polynomial f ∈ F [ x ] {\\displaystyle f\\in F[x]} . If there is a field K / F {\\displaystyle K/F} such that f {\\displaystyle f} factors as a product of linear polynomials",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "over the field K {\\displaystyle K} , then the Galois group of the polynomial f {\\displaystyle f} is defined as the Galois group of K / F {\\displaystyle K/F} where K {\\displaystyle K} is minimal among all such fields.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "One of the important structure theorems from Galois theory comes from the fundamental theorem of Galois theory. This states that given a finite Galois extension K / k {\\displaystyle K/k} , there is a bijection between the set of subfields k ⊂ E ⊂ K {\\displaystyle k\\subset E\\subset K} and the subgroups H ⊂ G . {\\displaystyle H\\subset G.} Then, E {\\displaystyle E} is given by the set of invariants of K {\\displaystyle K} under the action of H {\\displaystyle H} , so",
"title": "Structure of Galois groups"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Moreover, if H {\\displaystyle H} is a normal subgroup then G / H ≅ Gal ( E / k ) {\\displaystyle G/H\\cong \\operatorname {Gal} (E/k)} . And conversely, if E / k {\\displaystyle E/k} is a normal field extension, then the associated subgroup in Gal ( K / k ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (K/k)} is a normal group.",
"title": "Structure of Galois groups"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Suppose K 1 , K 2 {\\displaystyle K_{1},K_{2}} are Galois extensions of k {\\displaystyle k} with Galois groups G 1 , G 2 . {\\displaystyle G_{1},G_{2}.} The field K 1 K 2 {\\displaystyle K_{1}K_{2}} with Galois group G = Gal ( K 1 K 2 / k ) {\\displaystyle G=\\operatorname {Gal} (K_{1}K_{2}/k)} has an injection G → G 1 × G 2 {\\displaystyle G\\to G_{1}\\times G_{2}} which is an isomorphism whenever K 1 ∩ K 2 = k {\\displaystyle K_{1}\\cap K_{2}=k} .",
"title": "Structure of Galois groups"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "As a corollary, this can be inducted finitely many times. Given Galois extensions K 1 , … , K n / k {\\displaystyle K_{1},\\ldots ,K_{n}/k} where K i + 1 ∩ ( K 1 ⋯ K i ) = k , {\\displaystyle K_{i+1}\\cap (K_{1}\\cdots K_{i})=k,} then there is an isomorphism of the corresponding Galois groups:",
"title": "Structure of Galois groups"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In the following examples F {\\displaystyle F} is a field, and C , R , Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {C} ,\\mathbb {R} ,\\mathbb {Q} } are the fields of complex, real, and rational numbers, respectively. The notation F(a) indicates the field extension obtained by adjoining an element a to the field F.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "One of the basic propositions required for completely determining the Galois groups of a finite field extension is the following: Given a polynomial f ( x ) ∈ F [ x ] {\\displaystyle f(x)\\in F[x]} , let E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} be its splitting field extension. Then the order of the Galois group is equal to the degree of the field extension; that is,",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "A useful tool for determining the Galois group of a polynomial comes from Eisenstein's criterion. If a polynomial f ∈ F [ x ] {\\displaystyle f\\in F[x]} factors into irreducible polynomials f = f 1 ⋯ f k {\\displaystyle f=f_{1}\\cdots f_{k}} the Galois group of f {\\displaystyle f} can be determined using the Galois groups of each f i {\\displaystyle f_{i}} since the Galois group of f {\\displaystyle f} contains each of the Galois groups of the f i . {\\displaystyle f_{i}.}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Gal ( F / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (F/F)} is the trivial group that has a single element, namely the identity automorphism.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Another example of a Galois group which is trivial is Aut ( R / Q ) . {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (\\mathbb {R} /\\mathbb {Q} ).} Indeed, it can be shown that any automorphism of R {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {R} } must preserve the ordering of the real numbers and hence must be the identity.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Consider the field K = Q ( 2 3 ) . {\\displaystyle K=\\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt[{3}]{2}}).} The group Aut ( K / Q ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (K/\\mathbb {Q} )} contains only the identity automorphism. This is because K {\\displaystyle K} is not a normal extension, since the other two cube roots of 2 {\\displaystyle 2} ,",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "are missing from the extension—in other words K is not a splitting field.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The Galois group Gal ( C / R ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (\\mathbb {C} /\\mathbb {R} )} has two elements, the identity automorphism and the complex conjugation automorphism.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The degree two field extension Q ( 2 ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt {2}})/\\mathbb {Q} } has the Galois group Gal ( Q ( 2 ) / Q ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (\\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt {2}})/\\mathbb {Q} )} with two elements, the identity automorphism and the automorphism σ {\\displaystyle \\sigma } which exchanges 2 {\\displaystyle {\\sqrt {2}}} and − 2 {\\displaystyle -{\\sqrt {2}}} . This example generalizes for a prime number p ∈ N . {\\displaystyle p\\in \\mathbb {N} .}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Using the lattice structure of Galois groups, for non-equal prime numbers p 1 , … , p k {\\displaystyle p_{1},\\ldots ,p_{k}} the Galois group of Q ( p 1 , … , p k ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} \\left({\\sqrt {p_{1}}},\\ldots ,{\\sqrt {p_{k}}}\\right)/\\mathbb {Q} } is",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Another useful class of examples comes from the splitting fields of cyclotomic polynomials. These are polynomials Φ n {\\displaystyle \\Phi _{n}} defined as",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "whose degree is ϕ ( n ) {\\displaystyle \\phi (n)} , Euler's totient function at n {\\displaystyle n} . Then, the splitting field over Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} } is Q ( ζ n ) {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} (\\zeta _{n})} and has automorphisms σ a {\\displaystyle \\sigma _{a}} sending ζ n ↦ ζ n a {\\displaystyle \\zeta _{n}\\mapsto \\zeta _{n}^{a}} for 1 ≤ a < n {\\displaystyle 1\\leq a<n} relatively prime to n {\\displaystyle n} . Since the degree of the field is equal to the degree of the polynomial, these automorphisms generate the Galois group. If n = p 1 a 1 ⋯ p k a k , {\\displaystyle n=p_{1}^{a_{1}}\\cdots p_{k}^{a_{k}},} then",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "If n {\\displaystyle n} is a prime p {\\displaystyle p} , then a corollary of this is",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In fact, any finite abelian group can be found as the Galois group of some subfield of a cyclotomic field extension by the Kronecker–Weber theorem.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Another useful class of examples of Galois groups with finite abelian groups comes from finite fields. If q is a prime power, and if F = F q {\\displaystyle F=\\mathbb {F} _{q}} and E = F q n {\\displaystyle E=\\mathbb {F} _{q^{n}}} denote the Galois fields of order q {\\displaystyle q} and q n {\\displaystyle q^{n}} respectively, then Gal ( E / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} is cyclic of order n and generated by the Frobenius homomorphism.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The field extension Q ( 2 , 3 ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt {2}},{\\sqrt {3}})/\\mathbb {Q} } is an example of a degree 4 {\\displaystyle 4} field extension. This has two automorphisms σ , τ {\\displaystyle \\sigma ,\\tau } where σ ( 2 ) = − 2 {\\displaystyle \\sigma ({\\sqrt {2}})=-{\\sqrt {2}}} and τ ( 3 ) = − 3 . {\\displaystyle \\tau ({\\sqrt {3}})=-{\\sqrt {3}}.} Since these two generators define a group of order 4 {\\displaystyle 4} , the Klein four-group, they determine the entire Galois group.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Another example is given from the splitting field E / Q {\\displaystyle E/\\mathbb {Q} } of the polynomial",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Note because ( x − 1 ) f ( x ) = x 5 − 1 , {\\displaystyle (x-1)f(x)=x^{5}-1,} the roots of f ( x ) {\\displaystyle f(x)} are exp ( 2 k π i 5 ) . {\\displaystyle \\exp \\left({\\tfrac {2k\\pi i}{5}}\\right).} There are automorphisms",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "generating a group of order 4 {\\displaystyle 4} . Since σ 2 {\\displaystyle \\sigma _{2}} generates this group, the Galois group is isomorphic to Z / 4 Z {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Z} /4\\mathbb {Z} } .",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Consider now L = Q ( 2 3 , ω ) , {\\displaystyle L=\\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt[{3}]{2}},\\omega ),} where ω {\\displaystyle \\omega } is a primitive cube root of unity. The group Gal ( L / Q ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (L/\\mathbb {Q} )} is isomorphic to S3, the dihedral group of order 6, and L is in fact the splitting field of x 3 − 2 {\\displaystyle x^{3}-2} over Q . {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} .}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The Quaternion group can be found as the Galois group of a field extension of Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} } . For example, the field extension",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "has the prescribed Galois group.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "If f {\\displaystyle f} is an irreducible polynomial of prime degree p {\\displaystyle p} with rational coefficients and exactly two non-real roots, then the Galois group of f {\\displaystyle f} is the full symmetric group S p . {\\displaystyle S_{p}.}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "For example, f ( x ) = x 5 − 4 x + 2 ∈ Q [ x ] {\\displaystyle f(x)=x^{5}-4x+2\\in \\mathbb {Q} [x]} is irreducible from Eisenstein's criterion. Plotting the graph of f {\\displaystyle f} with graphing software or paper shows it has three real roots, hence two complex roots, showing its Galois group is S 5 {\\displaystyle S_{5}} .",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Given a global field extension K / k {\\displaystyle K/k} (such as Q ( 3 5 , ζ 5 ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt[{5}]{3}},\\zeta _{5})/\\mathbb {Q} } ) and equivalence classes of valuations w {\\displaystyle w} on K {\\displaystyle K} (such as the p {\\displaystyle p} -adic valuation) and v {\\displaystyle v} on k {\\displaystyle k} such that their completions give a Galois field extension",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "K w / k v {\\displaystyle K_{w}/k_{v}}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "of local fields, there is an induced action of the Galois group G = Gal ( K / k ) {\\displaystyle G=\\operatorname {Gal} (K/k)} on the set of equivalence classes of valuations such that the completions of the fields are compatible. This means if s ∈ G {\\displaystyle s\\in G} then there is an induced isomorphism of local fields",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "s w : K w → K s w {\\displaystyle s_{w}:K_{w}\\to K_{sw}}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Since we have taken the hypothesis that w {\\displaystyle w} lies over v {\\displaystyle v} (i.e. there is a Galois field extension K w / k v {\\displaystyle K_{w}/k_{v}} ), the field morphism s w {\\displaystyle s_{w}} is in fact an isomorphism of k v {\\displaystyle k_{v}} -algebras. If we take the isotropy subgroup of G {\\displaystyle G} for the valuation class w {\\displaystyle w}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "G w = { s ∈ G : s w = w } {\\displaystyle G_{w}=\\{s\\in G:sw=w\\}}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "then there is a surjection of the global Galois group to the local Galois group such that there is an isomorphism between the local Galois group and the isotropy subgroup. Diagrammatically, this means",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Gal ( K / v ) ↠ Gal ( K w / k v ) ↓ ↓ G ↠ G w {\\displaystyle {\\begin{matrix}\\operatorname {Gal} (K/v)&\\twoheadrightarrow &\\operatorname {Gal} (K_{w}/k_{v})\\\\\\downarrow &&\\downarrow \\\\G&\\twoheadrightarrow &G_{w}\\end{matrix}}}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "where the vertical arrows are isomorphisms. This gives a technique for constructing Galois groups of local fields using global Galois groups.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "A basic example of a field extension with an infinite group of automorphisms is Aut ( C / Q ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (\\mathbb {C} /\\mathbb {Q} )} , since it contains every algebraic field extension E / Q {\\displaystyle E/\\mathbb {Q} } . For example, the field extensions Q ( a ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt {a}})/\\mathbb {Q} } for a square-free element a ∈ Q {\\displaystyle a\\in \\mathbb {Q} } each have a unique degree 2 {\\displaystyle 2} automorphism, inducing an automorphism in Aut ( C / Q ) . {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Aut} (\\mathbb {C} /\\mathbb {Q} ).}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "One of the most studied classes of infinite Galois group is the absolute Galois group, which is an infinite, profinite group defined as the inverse limit of all finite Galois extensions E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} for a fixed field. The inverse limit is denoted",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "where F ¯ {\\displaystyle {\\overline {F}}} is the separable closure of the field F {\\displaystyle F} . Note this group is a topological group. Some basic examples include Gal ( Q ¯ / Q ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} ({\\overline {\\mathbb {Q} }}/\\mathbb {Q} )} and",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Another readily computable example comes from the field extension Q ( 2 , 3 , 5 , … ) / Q {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Q} ({\\sqrt {2}},{\\sqrt {3}},{\\sqrt {5}},\\ldots )/\\mathbb {Q} } containing the square root of every positive prime. It has Galois group",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "which can be deduced from the profinite limit",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "and using the computation of the Galois groups.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The significance of an extension being Galois is that it obeys the fundamental theorem of Galois theory: the closed (with respect to the Krull topology) subgroups of the Galois group correspond to the intermediate fields of the field extension.",
"title": "Properties"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "If E / F {\\displaystyle E/F} is a Galois extension, then Gal ( E / F ) {\\displaystyle \\operatorname {Gal} (E/F)} can be given a topology, called the Krull topology, that makes it into a profinite group.",
"title": "Properties"
}
]
| In mathematics, in the area of abstract algebra known as Galois theory, the Galois group of a certain type of field extension is a specific group associated with the field extension. The study of field extensions and their relationship to the polynomials that give rise to them via Galois groups is called Galois theory, so named in honor of Évariste Galois who first discovered them. For a more elementary discussion of Galois groups in terms of permutation groups, see the article on Galois theory. | 2023-06-28T19:19:28Z | [
"Template:Lang Algebra",
"Template:Springer",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Math",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:MathPages",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:Harvnb"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galois_group |
|
12,674 | German Empire | The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic.
The empire was founded on 18 January 1871, when the south German states, except for Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on 16 April, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. Berlin remained its capital, and Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia, became Chancellor, the head of government. As these events occurred, the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies, such as Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Hesse, were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War. The German Empire consisted of 25 states, each with its own nobility, four constituent kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory, and Prussian dominance was also constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser).
After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had a population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban. The success of German industrialization manifested itself in two ways in the early 20th century; the German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. The dominance of the German Empire in the natural sciences, especially in physics and chemistry, was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became the industrial, technological, and scientific giant of Europe, and by 1913, Germany was the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world. Germany also became a great power, building the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. Starting very small in 1871, in a decade, the navy became second only to Britain's Royal Navy.
From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest-serving Chancellor was marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms, the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf and systematic repression of Polish people marked his period in the office. Despite his hatred of liberalism and socialism – he called liberals and socialists "enemies of the Reich" – social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern European welfare state.
Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his earlier personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover territory that was not yet conquered by Europeans in the Scramble for Africa, it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed the Herero and Namaqua genocide.
After the removal of Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II in 1890, the empire embarked on Weltpolitik ("world politics") – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated. This period was marked by increased oppression of Polish people and various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary, followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It also retained strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally allied with Germany.
In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of 1914 failed, and the war on the Western Front became a stalemate. The Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food and supplements. However, Imperial Germany had success on the Eastern Front; it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war. In October 1918, after the failed Spring Offensive, the German armies were in retreat, allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had surrendered. The empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with the abdication of Wilhelm II, which left the post-war federal republic to govern a devastated populace. The Treaty of Versailles imposed post-war reparation costs of 132 billion gold marks (around US$269 billion or €240 billion in 2019, or roughly US$32 billion in 1921), as well as limiting the army to 100,000 men and disallowing conscription, armored vehicles, submarines, aircraft, and more than six battleships. The consequential economic devastation, later exacerbated by the Great Depression, as well as humiliation and outrage experienced by the German population are considered leading factors in the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.
The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris.
The liberal Revolutions of 1848 were crushed after the relations between the educated, well-off middle-class liberals and the urban artisans broke down; Otto von Bismarck's pragmatic Realpolitik, which appealed to peasants as well as the aristocracy, took its place. Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion of Prussia's main German rival, Austria, from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. The Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871 sparked a growing pan-German ideal and contributed to the formation of the German state.
The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of the Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and Prussia and its allies on the other. The war resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by a North German Confederation, comprising the 22 states north of the river Main. The patriotic fervor generated by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 overwhelmed the remaining opposition to a unified Germany (aside from Austria) in the four states south of the Main, and during November 1870, they joined the North German Confederation by treaty.
On 10 December 1870, the North German Confederation Reichstag renamed the Confederation the "German Empire" and gave the title of German Emperor to William I, the King of Prussia, as Bundespräsidium of the Confederation. The new constitution (Constitution of the German Confederation) and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During the siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William was proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
The second German Constitution, adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, was substantially based upon Bismarck's North German Constitution. The political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage. However, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas. As a result, by the time of the great expansion of German cities in the 1890s and 1900s, rural areas were grossly over-represented.
The legislation also required the consent of the Bundesrat, the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or Kaiser, who was assisted by a Chancellor responsible only to him. The emperor was given extensive powers by the constitution. He alone appointed and dismissed the chancellor (so in practice, the emperor ruled the empire through the chancellor), was supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and final arbiter of all foreign affairs, and could also disband the Reichstag to call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the State Secretaries (top bureaucratic officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. The Reichstag had the power to pass, amend, or reject bills and to initiate legislation. However, as mentioned above, in practice, the real power was vested in the emperor, who exercised it through his chancellor.
Although nominally a federal empire and league of equals, in practice, the empire was dominated by the largest and most powerful state, Prussia. It stretched across the northern two-thirds of the new Reich and contained three-fifths of the country's population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, the House of Hohenzollern. With the exception of 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of Prussia. With 17 out of 58 votes in the Bundesrat, Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control.
The other states retained their own governments but had only limited aspects of sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for the empire as a whole. Coins through one mark were also minted in the name of the empire, while higher-valued pieces were issued by the states. However, these larger gold and silver issues were virtually commemorative coins and had limited circulation.
While the states issued their own decorations and some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. Those of the larger states, such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, were coordinated along Prussian principles and would, in wartime, be controlled by the federal government.
The evolution of the German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy, which became a united nation-state a decade earlier. Some key elements of the German Empire's authoritarian political structure were also the basis for conservative modernization in Imperial Japan under Emperor Meiji and the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under the tsars in the Russian Empire.
One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed elite, the Junkers, resulting from the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban areas.
Although authoritarian in many respects, the empire had some democratic features. Besides universal suffrage, it permitted the development of political parties. Bismarck intended to create a constitutional façade that would mask the continuation of authoritarian policies. However, in the process, he created a system with a serious flaw. There was a significant disparity between the Prussian and German electoral systems. Prussia used a highly restrictive three-class voting system in which the richest third of the population could choose 85% of the legislature, all but assuring a conservative majority. The king and (with two exceptions) the prime minister of Prussia was also the emperor and chancellor of the empire – meaning that the same rulers had to seek majorities from legislatures elected from completely different franchises. Universal suffrage was significantly diluted by gross over-representation of rural areas from the 1890s onward. By the turn of the century, the urban-rural population balance was completely reversed from 1871; more than two-thirds of the empire's people lived in cities and towns.
Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the Kaiserreich. Less preoccupied with continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out a relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time.
Bismarck's "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to the throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:
granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism.
Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871. He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.
Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian Eric Hobsbawm concludes that he "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers". This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying, "The great questions of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood."
Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. As the French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, which would trap Germany between the two in a war (as would ultimately happen in 1914). Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Russians and thereby formed an alliance with them and Austria-Hungary, the Dreikaiserbund (League of Three Emperors), in 1881. The alliance was further cemented by a separate non-aggression pact with Russia called Reinsurance Treaty, which was signed in 1887. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that "the most brilliant victories would not avail against the Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbor.
Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France because they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from a German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen to Georg Herbert Münster, ambassador to France, who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war and were desperate for peace at all costs.
Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighboring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of the Berlin–Baghdad railway, financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Gulf, but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.
Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power. Bismarck's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed the chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France.
Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848. Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquired German New Guinea. By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific (Jiaozhou Bay and Tianjin in China, the Marianas, the Caroline Islands, Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa, where the Herero Wars in what is now Namibia in 1906–1907 resulted in the Herero and Namaqua genocide.
By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world behind the United States and the British Empire, which were also its main economic rivals. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41 million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68 million.
For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant Krupp, whose first factory was built in Essen. By 1902, the factory alone became "A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometers of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometers of underground cable, and 46 overhead."
Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building the welfare state. German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme.
Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in the domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second-largest exporting nation after Britain.
Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918). Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, ICE engines and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The German cartel system (known as Konzerne), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.
Germany overtook British steel production in 1893 and pig iron production in 1903. The German steel and pig iron production continued its rapid expansion: Between 1911 and 1913, the German steel and pig iron output reached one quarter of total global production.
German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden.
By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for synthetic dyes. The three major firms BASF, Bayer and Hoechst produced several hundred different dyes, along with the five smaller firms. Imperial Germany built up the world's largest chemical industry, the production of German chemical industry was 60% higher than that of the United States. In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such as pharmaceuticals, photographic film, agricultural chemicals and electrochemicals. Top-level decision-making was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies "the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises". There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.
By the start of World War I (1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for the synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies.
Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centers of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France. The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from 21,000 km (13,000 mi) in 1871 to 63,000 km (39,000 mi) by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States. The German rail network was followed by Austria-Hungary (43,280 km; 26,890 mi), France (40,770 km; 25,330 mi), the United Kingdom (32,623 km; 20,271 mi), Italy (18,873 km; 11,727 mi) and Spain (15,088 km; 9,375 mi).
The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of Kleindeutschland (Smaller Germany) over the Großdeutschland concept. This meant that Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically. The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter World War I in 1914.
Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871 was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his departure from office in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again.
After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of the Vatican under Pope Pius IX, and working-class radicalism, represented by the emerging Social Democratic Party.
Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, the Centre Party, which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when the Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics in Silesia. A powerful intellectual force of the time was anti-Catholicism, led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation of papal infallibility in 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.
The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.
Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to the seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to a government body controlled by Protestants.
Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance, the Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and the Centre Party. The "Old Catholic Church", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In the elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support.
Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modern European welfare state. He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to a degree, still exist in Germany today.
Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist. Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade.
As it was throughout Europe at the time, antisemitism was endemic in Germany during the period. Before Napoleon's decrees ended the ghettos in Confederation of the Rhine, it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in German nationalism. In the popular mind Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On the other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed. But after the Treaty of Versailles, and Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, antisemitism in Germany would increase.
One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called "Germanisation". These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of homeschooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially the Poles.
The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly against the significant Polish minority of the empire, gained by Prussia in the partitions of Poland. Poles were treated as an ethnic minority even where they made up the majority, as in the Province of Posen, where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced. Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.
Bismarck's efforts also initiated the levelling of the enormous differences between the German states, which had been independent in their evolution for centuries, especially with legislation. The completely different legal histories and judicial systems posed enormous complications, especially for national trade. While a common trade code had already been introduced by the Confederation in 1861 (which was adapted for the Empire and, with great modifications, is still in effect today), there was little similarity in laws otherwise.
In 1871, a common criminal code [de] was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system by the courts constitution act [de], code of civil procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) and code of criminal procedure (Strafprozessordnung). In 1873 the constitution was amended to allow the Empire to replace the various and greatly differing Civil Codes of the states (If they existed at all; for example, parts of Germany formerly occupied by Napoleon's France had adopted the French Civil Code, while in Prussia the Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht of 1794 was still in effect). In 1881, a first commission was established to produce a common Civil Code for all of the Empire, an enormous effort that would produce the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), possibly one of the most impressive legal works in the world; it was eventually put into effect on 1 January 1900. All of these codifications are, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.
On 9 March 1888, Wilhelm I died shortly before his 91st birthday, leaving his son Frederick III as the new emperor. Frederick was a liberal and an admirer of the British constitution, while his links to Britain strengthened further with his marriage to Princess Victoria, eldest child of Queen Victoria. With his ascent to the throne, many hoped that Frederick's reign would lead to a liberalization of the Reich and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal of Robert von Puttkamer, the highly conservative Prussian interior minister, on 8 June was a sign of the expected direction and a blow to Bismarck's administration.
By the time of his accession, however, Frederick had developed incurable laryngeal cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1887. He died on the 99th day of his rule, on 15 June 1888. His son Wilhelm II became emperor.
Wilhelm II wanted to reassert his ruling prerogatives at a time when other monarchs in Europe were being transformed into constitutional figureheads. This decision led the ambitious Kaiser into conflict with Bismarck. The old chancellor had hoped to guide Wilhelm as he had guided his grandfather, but the emperor wanted to be the master in his own house and had many sycophants telling him that Frederick the Great would not have been great with a Bismarck at his side. A key difference between Wilhelm II and Bismarck was their approaches to handling political crises, especially in 1889, when German coal miners went on strike in Upper Silesia. Bismarck demanded that the German Army be sent in to crush the strike, but Wilhelm II rejected this authoritarian measure, responding "I do not wish to stain my reign with the blood of my subjects." Instead of condoning repression, Wilhelm had the government negotiate with a delegation from the coal miners, which brought the strike to an end without violence. The fractious relationship ended in March 1890, after Wilhelm II and Bismarck quarrelled, and the chancellor resigned days later. Bismarck's last few years had seen power slip from his hands as he grew older, more irritable, more authoritarian, and less focused.
With Bismarck's departure, Wilhelm II became the dominant ruler of Germany. Unlike his grandfather, Wilhelm I, who had been largely content to leave government affairs to the chancellor, Wilhelm II wanted to be fully informed and actively involved in running Germany, not an ornamental figurehead, although most Germans found his claims of divine right to rule amusing. Wilhelm allowed politician Walther Rathenau to tutor him in European economics and industrial and financial realities in Europe.
As Hull (2004) notes, Bismarckian foreign policy "was too sedate for the reckless Kaiser". Wilhelm became internationally notorious for his aggressive stance on foreign policy and his strategic blunders (such as the Tangier Crisis), which pushed the German Empire into growing political isolation and eventually helped to cause World War I.
Under Wilhelm II, Germany no longer had long-ruling strong chancellors like Bismarck. The new chancellors had difficulty in performing their roles, especially the additional role as Prime Minister of Prussia assigned to them in the German Constitution. The reforms of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, which liberalized trade and so reduced unemployment, were supported by the Kaiser and most Germans except for Prussian landowners, who feared loss of land and power and launched several campaigns against the reforms.
While Prussian aristocrats challenged the demands of a united German state, in the 1890s several organizations were set up to challenge the authoritarian conservative Prussian militarism which was being imposed on the country. Educators opposed to the German state-run schools, which emphasized military education, set up their own independent liberal schools, which encouraged individuality and freedom. However nearly all the schools in Imperial Germany had a very high standard and kept abreast with modern developments in knowledge.
Artists began experimental art in opposition to Kaiser Wilhelm's support for traditional art, to which Wilhelm responded "art which transgresses the laws and limits laid down by me can no longer be called art". It was largely thanks to Wilhelm's influence that most printed material in Germany used blackletter instead of the Roman type used in the rest of Western Europe. At the same time, a new generation of cultural creators emerged.
From the 1890s onwards, the most effective opposition to the monarchy came from the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), whose radicals advocated Marxism. The threat of the SPD to the German monarchy and industrialists caused the state both to crack down on the party's supporters and to implement its own programme of social reform to soothe discontent. Germany's large industries provided significant social welfare programmes and good care to their employees, as long as they were not identified as socialists or trade-union members. The larger industrial firms provided pensions, sickness benefits and even housing to their employees.
Having learned from the failure of Bismarck's Kulturkampf, Wilhelm II maintained good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and concentrated on opposing socialism. This policy failed when the Social Democrats won a third of the votes in the 1912 elections to the Reichstag, and became the largest political party in Germany. The government remained in the hands of a succession of conservative coalitions supported by right-wing liberals or Catholic clerics and heavily dependent on the Kaiser's favour. The rising militarism under Wilhelm II caused many Germans to emigrate to the U.S. and the British colonies to escape mandatory military service.
During World War I, the Kaiser increasingly devolved his powers to the leaders of the German High Command, particularly future President of Germany, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff. Hindenburg took over the role of commander–in–chief from the Kaiser, while Ludendorff became de facto general chief of staff. By 1916, Germany was effectively a military dictatorship run by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, with the Kaiser reduced to a mere figurehead.
Wilhelm II wanted Germany to have her "place in the sun", like Britain, which he constantly wished to emulate or rival. With German traders and merchants already active worldwide, he encouraged colonial efforts in Africa and the Pacific ("new imperialism"), causing the German Empire to vie with other European powers for remaining "unclaimed" territories. With the encouragement or at least the acquiescence of Britain, which at this stage saw Germany as a counterweight to her old rival France, Germany acquired German Southwest Africa (modern Namibia), German Kamerun (modern Cameroon), Togoland (modern Togo) and German East Africa (modern Rwanda, Burundi, and the mainland part of current Tanzania). Islands were gained in the Pacific through purchase and treaties and also a 99-year lease for the territory of Jiaozhou in northeast China. But of these German colonies only Togoland and German Samoa (after 1908) became self-sufficient and profitable; all the others required subsidies from the Berlin treasury for building infrastructure, school systems, hospitals and other institutions.
Bismarck had originally dismissed the agitation for colonies with contempt; he favoured a Eurocentric foreign policy, as the treaty arrangements made during his tenure in office show. As a latecomer to colonization, Germany repeatedly came into conflict with the established colonial powers and also with the United States, which opposed German attempts at colonial expansion in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. Native insurrections in German territories received prominent coverage in other countries, especially in Britain; the established powers had dealt with such uprisings decades earlier, often brutally, and had secured firm control of their colonies by then. The Boxer Rising in China, which the Chinese government eventually sponsored, began in the Shandong province, in part because Germany, as colonizer at Jiaozhou, was an untested power and had only been active there for two years. Seven western nations, including the United States, and Japan mounted a joint relief force to rescue westerners caught up in the rebellion. During the departure ceremonies for the German contingent, Wilhelm II urged them to behave like the Hun invaders of continental Europe – an unfortunate remark that would later be resurrected by British propagandists to paint Germans as barbarians during World War I and World War II. On two occasions, a French-German conflict over the fate of Morocco seemed inevitable.
Upon acquiring Southwest Africa, German settlers were encouraged to cultivate land held by the Herero and Nama. Herero and Nama tribal lands were used for a variety of exploitative goals (much as the British did before in Rhodesia), including farming, ranching, and mining for minerals and diamonds. In 1904, the Herero and the Nama revolted against the colonists in Southwest Africa, killing farm families, their laborers and servants. In response to the attacks, troops were dispatched to quell the uprising which then resulted in the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. In total, some 65,000 Herero (80% of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population) perished. The commander of the punitive expedition, General Lothar von Trotha, was eventually relieved and reprimanded for his usurpation of orders and the cruelties he inflicted. These occurrences were sometimes referred to as "the first genocide of the 20th century" and officially condemned by the United Nations in 1985. In 2004 a formal apology by a government minister of the Federal Republic of Germany followed.
Bismarck and Wilhelm II after him sought closer economic ties with the Ottoman Empire. Under Wilhelm II, with the financial backing of the Deutsche Bank, the Baghdad Railway was begun in 1900, although by 1914 it was still 500 km (310 mi) short of its destination in Baghdad. In an interview with Wilhelm in 1899, Cecil Rhodes had tried "to convince the Kaiser that the future of the German empire abroad lay in the Middle East" and not in Africa; with a grand Middle-Eastern empire, Germany could afford to allow Britain the unhindered completion of the Cape-to-Cairo railway that Rhodes favoured. Britain initially supported the Baghdad Railway; but by 1911 British statesmen came to fear it might be extended to Basra on the Persian Gulf, threatening Britain's naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Accordingly, they asked to have construction halted, to which Germany and the Ottoman Empire acquiesced.
In South America, Germany's primary interest was in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay and viewed the countries of northern South America – Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela – as a buffer to protect its interest from the growing influence of the United States. Policymakers in Germany analysed the possibility of establishing bases in Margarita Island and showed interest in the Galápagos Islands but soon abandoned any such designs given that far-flung bases in northern South America would be very vulnerable. Germany attempted to promote Chile, a country that was heavily influenced by Germany, into a regional counterweight to the United States. Germany and Britain managed through Chile to have Ecuador deny the United States a naval base in the Galápagos Islands.
Claims that German communities in South America acted as extensions of the German Empire were ubiquituous by 1900 but it has never been proved that these communities acted in such way to any significant degree. German political, cultural and scientific influence was particularly intense in Chile in the decades before World War I, and the prestige of Germany and German things in Chile remained high after the war but did not recover to its pre-war levels.
Berlin was deeply suspicious of a supposed conspiracy of its enemies: that year-by-year in the early 20th century it was systematically encircled by enemies. There was a growing fear that the supposed enemy coalition of Russia, France and Britain was getting stronger militarily every year, especially Russia. The longer Berlin waited the less likely it would prevail in a war. According to American historian Gordon A. Craig, it was after the set-back in Morocco in 1905 that the fear of encirclement began to be a potent factor in German politics." Few outside observers agreed with the notion of Germany as a victim of deliberate encirclement. English historian G. M. Trevelyan expressed the British viewpoint:
The encirclement, such as it was, was of Germany's own making. She had encircled herself by alienating France over Alsace-Lorraine, Russia by her support of Austria-Hungary's anti—Slav policy in the Balkans, England by building her rival fleet. She had created with Austria-Hungary a military bloc in the heart of Europe so powerful and yet so restless that her neighbors on each side had no choice but either to become her vassals or to stand together for protection....They used their central position to create fear in all sides, in order to gain their diplomatic ends. And then they complained that on all sides they had been encircled.
Wilhelm II, under pressure from his new advisors after Bismarck left, committed a fatal error when he decided to allow the "Reinsurance Treaty" that Bismarck had negotiated with Tsarist Russia to lapse. It allowed Russia to make a new alliance with France. Germany was left with no firm ally but Austria-Hungary, and her support for action in annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 further soured relations with Russia. Berlin missed the opportunity to secure an alliance with Britain in the 1890s when it was involved in colonial rivalries with France, and he alienated British statesmen further by openly supporting the Boers in the South African War and building a navy to rival Britain's. By 1911, Wilhelm had completely picked apart the careful power balance established by Bismarck and Britain turned to France in the Entente Cordiale. Germany's only other ally besides Austria was the Kingdom of Italy, but it remained an ally only pro forma. When war came, Italy saw more benefit in an alliance with Britain, France, and Russia, which, in the secret Treaty of London in 1915 promised it the frontier districts of Austria and also colonial concessions. Germany did acquire a second ally in 1914 when the Ottoman Empire entered the war on its side, but in the long run, supporting the Ottoman war effort only drained away German resources from the main fronts.
Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, the Kaiser offered Emperor Franz Joseph full support for Austro-Hungarian plans to invade the Kingdom of Serbia, which Austria-Hungary blamed for the assassination. This unconditional support for Austria-Hungary was called a "blank cheque" by historians, including German Fritz Fischer. Subsequent interpretation – for example at the Versailles Peace Conference – was that this "blank cheque" licensed Austro-Hungarian aggression regardless of the diplomatic consequences, and thus Germany bore responsibility for starting the war, or at least provoking a wider conflict.
Germany began the war by targeting its chief rival, France. Germany saw the French Republic as its principal danger on the European continent as it could mobilize much faster than Russia and bordered Germany's industrial core in the Rhineland. Unlike Britain and Russia, the French entered the war mainly for revenge against Germany, in particular for France's loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871. The German high command knew that France would muster its forces to go into Alsace-Lorraine. Aside from the very unofficial Septemberprogramm, the Germans never stated a clear list of goals that they wanted out of the war.
Germany did not want to risk lengthy battles along the Franco-German border and instead adopted the Schlieffen Plan, a military strategy designed to cripple France by invading Belgium and Luxembourg, sweeping down to encircle and crush both Paris and the French forces along the Franco-German border in a quick victory. After defeating France, Germany would turn to attack Russia. The plan required violating the official neutrality of Belgium and Luxembourg, which Britain had guaranteed by treaty. However, the Germans had calculated that Britain would enter the war regardless of whether they had formal justification to do so. At first the attack was successful: the German Army swept down from Belgium and Luxembourg and advanced on Paris, at the nearby river Marne. However, the evolution of weapons over the last century heavily favored defense over offense, especially thanks to the machine gun, so that it took proportionally more offensive force to overcome a defensive position. This resulted in the German lines on the offense contracting to keep up the offensive timetable while correspondingly the French lines were extending. In addition, some German units that were originally slotted for the German far-right were transferred to the Eastern Front in reaction to Russia mobilizing far faster than anticipated. The combined effect had the German right flank sweeping down in front of Paris instead of behind it exposing the German Right flank to the extending French lines and attack from strategic French reserves stationed in Paris. Attacking the exposed German right flank, the French Army and the British Army put up a strong resistance to the defense of Paris at the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in the German Army retreating to defensive positions along the river Aisne. A subsequent Race to the Sea resulted in a long-held stalemate between the German Army and the Allies in dug-in trench warfare positions from Alsace to Flanders.
German attempts to break through failed at the two battles of Ypres (1st/2nd) with huge casualties. A series of allied offensives in 1915 against German positions in Artois and Champagne resulted in huge allied casualties and little territorial change. German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn decided to exploit the defensive advantages that had shown themselves in the 1915 Allied offensives by attempting to goad France into attacking strong defensive positions near the ancient city of Verdun. Verdun had been one of the last cities to hold out against the German Army in 1870, and Falkenhayn predicted that as a matter of national pride the French would do anything to ensure that it was not taken. He expected that he could take strong defensive positions in the hills overlooking Verdun on the east bank of the river Meuse to threaten the city and the French would launch desperate attacks against these positions. He predicted that French losses would be greater than those of the Germans and that continued French commitment of troops to Verdun would "bleed the French Army white." In February 1916, the Battle of Verdun began, with the French positions under constant shelling and poison gas attack and taking large casualties under the assault of overwhelmingly large German forces. However, Falkenhayn's prediction of a greater ratio of French killed proved to be wrong as both sides took heavy casualties. Falkenhayn was replaced by Erich Ludendorff, and with no success in sight, the German Army pulled out of Verdun in December 1916 and the battle ended.
While the Western Front was a stalemate for the German Army, the Eastern Front eventually proved to be a great success. Despite initial setbacks due to the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russian army, which resulted in a Russian invasion of East Prussia and Austrian Galicia, the badly organised and supplied Russian Army faltered and the German and Austro-Hungarian armies thereafter steadily advanced eastward. The Germans benefited from political instability in Russia and its population's desire to end the war. In 1917 the German government allowed Russia's communist Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin to travel through Germany from Switzerland into Russia. Germany believed that if Lenin could create further political unrest, Russia would no longer be able to continue its war with Germany, allowing the German Army to focus on the Western Front.
In March 1917, the Tsar was ousted from the Russian throne, and in November a Bolshevik government came to power under the leadership of Lenin. Facing political opposition, he decided to end Russia's campaign against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria to redirect Bolshevik energy to eliminating internal dissent. In March 1918, by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Bolshevik government gave Germany and the Ottoman Empire enormous territorial and economic concessions in exchange for an end to war on the Eastern Front. All of present-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was given over to the German occupation authority Ober Ost, along with Belarus and Ukraine. Thus Germany had at last achieved its long-wanted dominance of "Mitteleuropa" (Central Europe) and could now focus fully on defeating the Allies on the Western Front. In practice, however, the forces that were needed to garrison and secure the new territories were a drain on the German war effort.
Germany quickly lost almost all its colonies. However, in German East Africa, a guerrilla campaign was waged by the colonial army leader there, General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. Using Germans and native Askaris, Lettow-Vorbeck launched multiple guerrilla raids against British forces in Kenya and Rhodesia. He also invaded Portuguese Mozambique to gain his forces supplies and to pick up more Askari recruits. His force was still active at war's end.
The defeat of Russia in 1917 enabled Germany to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over the Allies. By retraining the soldiers in new infiltration tactics, the Germans expected to unfreeze the battlefield and win a decisive victory before the army of the United States, which had now entered the war on the side of the Allies, arrived in strength. In what was known as the "kaiserschlacht", Germany converged their troops and delivered multiple blows that pushed back the allies. However, the repeated German offensives in the spring of 1918 all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped and the Germans lacked the reserves needed to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by the Russian Revolution and were less willing to continue fighting. The war effort sparked civil unrest in Germany, while the troops, who had been constantly in the field without relief, grew exhausted and lost all hope of victory. In the summer of 1918, the British Army was at its peak strength with as many as 4.5 million men on the western front and 4,000 tanks for the Hundred Days Offensive, the Americans arriving at the rate of 10,000 a day, Germany's allies facing collapse and the German Empire's manpower exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offensives destroyed the German army.
The concept of "total war" meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Allied naval blockade, German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. First food prices were controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.
Towards the end of the war, conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. The causes included the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, combined with the overburdened railway system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the "turnip winter", because the people had to survive on a vegetable more commonly reserved for livestock, as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the soldiers' rations. The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink.
The population of Germany was already suffering from outbreaks of disease due to malnutrition due to Allied blockade preventing food imports. Spanish flu arrived in Germany with returning troops. Around 287,000 people died of Spanish flu in Germany between 1918 and 1920 with 50,000 deaths in Berlin alone.
Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the more radical Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), which demanded an end to the war. The entry of the U.S. into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-run balance of power even more in favour of the Allies.
The end of October 1918, in Kiel, in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of which workers' and soldiers' councils were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.
Bulgaria signed the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September 1918. The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeated Austria-Hungary in the battle of Vittorio Veneto, which forced Austria-Hungary to sign the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Allies advancing toward Germany on the Western Front, Austria-Hungary falling apart from multiple ethnic tensions, its other allies out of the war and pressure from the German high command, the Kaiser and all German ruling kings, dukes, and princes abdicated, and German nobility was abolished. On 9 November, the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic. The new government led by the German Social Democrats called for and received an armistice on 11 November. It was succeeded by the Weimar Republic. Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as the Freikorps, the Organisation Consul, and the Communists.
The Empire was a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
The Federal Council (Bundesrat) held sovereignty over the Empire and served as its highest authority. The Bundesrat was a legislative body that possessed the right of legislative initiative (Article VII Nr. 1) and, because all laws required its consent, could effectively veto any bill coming from the Reichstag (Article V). The Bundesrat was able to set guidelines and make organisational changes within the executive branch, act as supreme arbitrator in administrative disputes between states, and serve as constitutional court for states that did not have a constitutional court (Article LXXVI). It was composed of representatives who were appointed by and reported to the state governments.
The Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was a legislative body elected by universal male suffrage that effectively served as parliament. It had the right to propose bills and, with the concurrence of the Bundesrat, approve the state budget annually and the military budget for periods of seven years until 1893, then after that for five years. All laws required the Reichstag's approval to pass. After the constitutional reforms of October 1918, the Reich chancellor, through a change to Article XV, become dependent on the confidence of the Reichstag rather than the emperor.
The emperor (Kaiser) was head of state of the Empire – he was not a ruler. He appointed the chancellor, usually the person able to command the confidence of the Reichstag. The chancellor, in consultation with the emperor, determined the government's broad policy guidelines and presented them to the Reichstag. On the advice of the chancellor, the emperor appointed the ministers and – at least formally – all other imperial officers. All acts of the emperor except for military directives required the countersignature of the chancellor (Article XVII). The emperor was also responsible for signing bills into law, declaring war (which required the consent of the Bundesrat), negotiating peace, making treaties, and calling and adjourning sessions of the Bundesrat and the Reichstag (Articles XI and XII). The emperor was commander-in-chief of the Empire's Army (Article LXIII) and Navy (Article LIII); when exercising his military authority he had plenary power.
The chancellor was head of government and chaired the Bundesrat and the Imperial Government, led the lawmaking process and countersigned all acts of the emperor (except for military directives).
Before unification, German territory (excluding Austria and Switzerland) was made up of 27 constituent states. These states consisted of kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, free Hanseatic cities and one imperial territory. The free cities had a republican form of government on the state level, even though the Empire at large was constituted as a monarchy, and so were most of the states. Prussia was the largest of the constituent states, covering two-thirds of the empire's territory.
Several of these states had gained sovereignty following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and had been de facto sovereign from the mid-1600s onward. Others were created as sovereign states after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Territories were not necessarily contiguous—many existed in several parts, as a result of historical acquisitions, or, in several cases, divisions of the ruling families. Some of the initially existing states, in particular Hanover, were abolished and annexed by Prussia as a result of the war of 1866.
Each component of the German Empire sent representatives to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and, via single-member districts, the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). Relations between the Imperial centre and the Empire's components were somewhat fluid and were developed on an ongoing basis. The extent to which the German Emperor could, for example, intervene on occasions of disputed or unclear succession was much debated on occasion—for example in the inheritance crisis of the Lippe-Detmold.
Unusually for a federation and/or a nation-state, the German states maintained limited autonomy over foreign affairs and continued to exchange ambassadors and other diplomats (both with each other and directly with foreign nations) for the Empire's entire existence. Shortly after the Empire was proclaimed, Bismarck implemented a convention in which his sovereign would only send and receive envoys to and from other German states as the King of Prussia, while envoys from Berlin sent to foreign nations always received credentials from the monarch in his capacity as German Emperor. In this way, the Prussian foreign ministry was largely tasked with managing relations with the other German states while the Imperial foreign ministry managed Germany's external relations.
About 92% of the population spoke German as their first language. The only minority language with a significant number of speakers (5.4%) was Polish (a figure that rises to over 6% when including the related Kashubian and Masurian languages).
The non-German Germanic languages (0.5%), like Danish, Dutch and Frisian, were located in the north and northwest of the empire, near the borders with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Low German was spoken throughout northern Germany and, though linguistically as distinct from High German (Hochdeutsch) as from Dutch and English, was considered "German", hence also its name. Danish and Frisian were spoken predominantly in the north of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein and Dutch in the western border areas of Prussia (Hanover, Westphalia, and the Rhine Province).
Polish and other West Slavic languages (6.28%) were spoken chiefly in the east.
A few (0.5%) spoke French, the vast majority of these in the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen where francophones formed 11.6% of the total population.
In the 1860s, Russia removed privileges for German emigrants and placed pressure on German immigrants to assimilate. The majority of German emigrants left Russia after the turn of the century. Some of these ethnic Germans immigrated to Germany.
Generally, religious demographics of the early modern period hardly changed. Still, there were almost entirely Catholic areas (Lower and Upper Bavaria, northern Westphalia, Upper Silesia, etc.) and almost entirely Protestant areas (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Saxony, etc.). Confessional prejudices, especially towards mixed marriages, were still common. Bit by bit, through internal migration, religious blending was more and more common. In eastern territories, confession was almost uniquely perceived to be connected to one's ethnicity and the equation "Protestant = German, Catholic = Polish" was held to be valid. In areas affected by immigration in the Ruhr area and Westphalia, as well as in some large cities, religious landscape changed substantially. This was especially true in largely Catholic areas of Westphalia, which changed through Protestant immigration from the eastern provinces.
Politically, the confessional division of Germany had considerable consequences. In Catholic areas, the Centre Party had a big electorate. On the other hand, Social Democrats and Free Trade Unions usually received hardly any votes in the Catholic areas of the Ruhr. This began to change with the secularization arising in the last decades of the German Empire.
In Germany's overseas colonial empire, millions of subjects practiced various indigenous religions in addition to Christianity. Over two million Muslims also lived under German colonial rule, primarily in German East Africa.
The defeat and aftermath of the First World War and the penalties imposed by the Treaty of Versailles shaped the positive memory of the Empire, especially among Germans who distrusted and despised the Weimar Republic. Conservatives, liberals, socialists, nationalists, Catholics and Protestants all had their own interpretations, which led to a fractious political and social climate in Germany in the aftermath of the empire's collapse.
Under Bismarck, a united German state had finally been achieved, but it remained a Prussian-dominated state and did not include German Austria as Pan-German nationalists had desired. The influence of Prussian militarism, the Empire's colonial efforts and its vigorous, competitive industrial prowess all gained it the dislike and envy of other nations. The German Empire enacted a number of progressive reforms, such as Europe's first social welfare system and freedom of press. There was also a modern system for electing the federal parliament, the Reichstag, in which every adult man had one vote. This enabled the Social Democrats and the Catholic Centre Party to play considerable roles in the empire's political life despite the continued hostility of Prussian aristocrats.
The era of the German Empire is well remembered in Germany as one of great cultural and intellectual vigour. Thomas Mann published his novel Buddenbrooks in 1901. Theodor Mommsen received the Nobel prize for literature a year later for his Roman history. Painters like the groups Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke made a significant contribution to modern art. The AEG turbine factory in Berlin by Peter Behrens from 1909 was a milestone in classic modern architecture and an outstanding example of emerging functionalism. The social, economic, and scientific successes of this Gründerzeit, or founding epoch, have sometimes led the Wilhelmine era to be regarded as a golden age.
In the field of economics, the "Kaiserzeit" laid the foundation of Germany's status as one of the world's leading economic powers. The iron and coal industries of the Ruhr, the Saar and Upper Silesia especially contributed to that process. The first motorcar was built by Karl Benz in 1886. The enormous growth of industrial production and industrial potential also led to a rapid urbanisation of Germany, which turned the Germans into a nation of city dwellers. More than 5 million people left Germany for the United States during the 19th century.
Many historians have emphasized the central importance of a German Sonderweg or "special path" (or "exceptionalism") as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century. According to the historiography by Kocka (1988), the process of nation-building from above had very grievous long-term implications. In terms of parliamentary democracy, Parliament was kept weak, the parties were fragmented, and there was a high level of mutual distrust. The Nazis built on the illiberal, anti-pluralist elements of Weimar's political culture. The Junker elites (the large landowners in the east) and senior civil servants used their great power and influence well into the twentieth century to frustrate any movement toward democracy. They played an especially negative role in the crisis of 1930–1933. Bismarck's emphasis on military force amplified the voice of the officer corps, which combined advanced modernisation of military technology with reactionary politics. The rising upper-middle-class elites, in the business, financial and professional worlds, tended to accept the values of the old traditional elites. The German Empire was for Hans-Ulrich Wehler a strange mixture of highly successful capitalist industrialisation and socio-economic modernisation on the one hand, and of surviving pre-industrial institutions, power relations and traditional cultures on the other. Wehler argues that it produced a high degree of internal tension, which led on the one hand to the suppression of socialists, Catholics and reformers, and on the other hand to a highly aggressive foreign policy. For these reasons Fritz Fischer and his students emphasised Germany's primary guilt for causing the First World War.
Hans-Ulrich Wehler, a leader of the Bielefeld School of social history, places the origins of Germany's path to disaster in the 1860s–1870s, when economic modernisation took place, but political modernisation did not happen and the old Prussian rural elite remained in firm control of the army, diplomacy and the civil service. Traditional, aristocratic, premodern society battled an emerging capitalist, bourgeois, modernising society. Recognising the importance of modernising forces in industry and the economy and in the cultural realm, Wehler argues that reactionary traditionalism dominated the political hierarchy of power in Germany, as well as social mentalities and in class relations (Klassenhabitus). The catastrophic German politics between 1914 and 1945 are interpreted in terms of a delayed modernisation of its political structures. At the core of Wehler's interpretation is his treatment of "the middle class" and "revolution", each of which was instrumental in shaping the 20th century. Wehler's examination of Nazi rule is shaped by his concept of "charismatic domination", which focuses heavily on Hitler.
The historiographical concept of a German Sonderweg has had a turbulent history. 19th-century scholars who emphasised a separate German path to modernity saw it as a positive factor that differentiated Germany from the "western path" typified by Great Britain. They stressed the strong bureaucratic state, reforms initiated by Bismarck and other strong leaders, the Prussian service ethos, the high culture of philosophy and music, and Germany's pioneering of a social welfare state. In the 1950s, historians in West Germany argued that the Sonderweg led Germany to the disaster of 1933–1945. The special circumstances of German historical structures and experiences, were interpreted as preconditions that, while not directly causing National Socialism, did hamper the development of a liberal democracy and facilitate the rise of fascism. The Sonderweg paradigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the "long 19th century", the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West. After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to the Sonderweg. While some historians have abandoned the Sonderweg thesis, they have not provided a generally accepted alternative interpretation.
The Empire of Germany had three armed forces:
In addition to present-day Germany, large parts of what comprised the German Empire now belong to several other modern European countries.
Informational notes
Citations
Historiography
Primary sources | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The empire was founded on 18 January 1871, when the south German states, except for Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on 16 April, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. Berlin remained its capital, and Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia, became Chancellor, the head of government. As these events occurred, the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies, such as Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Hesse, were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War. The German Empire consisted of 25 states, each with its own nobility, four constituent kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory, and Prussian dominance was also constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had a population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban. The success of German industrialization manifested itself in two ways in the early 20th century; the German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. The dominance of the German Empire in the natural sciences, especially in physics and chemistry, was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became the industrial, technological, and scientific giant of Europe, and by 1913, Germany was the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world. Germany also became a great power, building the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. Starting very small in 1871, in a decade, the navy became second only to Britain's Royal Navy.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest-serving Chancellor was marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms, the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf and systematic repression of Polish people marked his period in the office. Despite his hatred of liberalism and socialism – he called liberals and socialists \"enemies of the Reich\" – social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern European welfare state.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his earlier personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover territory that was not yet conquered by Europeans in the Scramble for Africa, it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed the Herero and Namaqua genocide.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "After the removal of Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II in 1890, the empire embarked on Weltpolitik (\"world politics\") – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated. This period was marked by increased oppression of Polish people and various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary, followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It also retained strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally allied with Germany.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of 1914 failed, and the war on the Western Front became a stalemate. The Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food and supplements. However, Imperial Germany had success on the Eastern Front; it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war. In October 1918, after the failed Spring Offensive, the German armies were in retreat, allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had surrendered. The empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with the abdication of Wilhelm II, which left the post-war federal republic to govern a devastated populace. The Treaty of Versailles imposed post-war reparation costs of 132 billion gold marks (around US$269 billion or €240 billion in 2019, or roughly US$32 billion in 1921), as well as limiting the army to 100,000 men and disallowing conscription, armored vehicles, submarines, aircraft, and more than six battleships. The consequential economic devastation, later exacerbated by the Great Depression, as well as humiliation and outrage experienced by the German population are considered leading factors in the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The liberal Revolutions of 1848 were crushed after the relations between the educated, well-off middle-class liberals and the urban artisans broke down; Otto von Bismarck's pragmatic Realpolitik, which appealed to peasants as well as the aristocracy, took its place. Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion of Prussia's main German rival, Austria, from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. The Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871 sparked a growing pan-German ideal and contributed to the formation of the German state.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of the Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and Prussia and its allies on the other. The war resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by a North German Confederation, comprising the 22 states north of the river Main. The patriotic fervor generated by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 overwhelmed the remaining opposition to a unified Germany (aside from Austria) in the four states south of the Main, and during November 1870, they joined the North German Confederation by treaty.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "On 10 December 1870, the North German Confederation Reichstag renamed the Confederation the \"German Empire\" and gave the title of German Emperor to William I, the King of Prussia, as Bundespräsidium of the Confederation. The new constitution (Constitution of the German Confederation) and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During the siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William was proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The second German Constitution, adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, was substantially based upon Bismarck's North German Constitution. The political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage. However, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas. As a result, by the time of the great expansion of German cities in the 1890s and 1900s, rural areas were grossly over-represented.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The legislation also required the consent of the Bundesrat, the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or Kaiser, who was assisted by a Chancellor responsible only to him. The emperor was given extensive powers by the constitution. He alone appointed and dismissed the chancellor (so in practice, the emperor ruled the empire through the chancellor), was supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and final arbiter of all foreign affairs, and could also disband the Reichstag to call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the State Secretaries (top bureaucratic officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. The Reichstag had the power to pass, amend, or reject bills and to initiate legislation. However, as mentioned above, in practice, the real power was vested in the emperor, who exercised it through his chancellor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Although nominally a federal empire and league of equals, in practice, the empire was dominated by the largest and most powerful state, Prussia. It stretched across the northern two-thirds of the new Reich and contained three-fifths of the country's population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, the House of Hohenzollern. With the exception of 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of Prussia. With 17 out of 58 votes in the Bundesrat, Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The other states retained their own governments but had only limited aspects of sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for the empire as a whole. Coins through one mark were also minted in the name of the empire, while higher-valued pieces were issued by the states. However, these larger gold and silver issues were virtually commemorative coins and had limited circulation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "While the states issued their own decorations and some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. Those of the larger states, such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, were coordinated along Prussian principles and would, in wartime, be controlled by the federal government.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The evolution of the German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy, which became a united nation-state a decade earlier. Some key elements of the German Empire's authoritarian political structure were also the basis for conservative modernization in Imperial Japan under Emperor Meiji and the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under the tsars in the Russian Empire.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed elite, the Junkers, resulting from the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban areas.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Although authoritarian in many respects, the empire had some democratic features. Besides universal suffrage, it permitted the development of political parties. Bismarck intended to create a constitutional façade that would mask the continuation of authoritarian policies. However, in the process, he created a system with a serious flaw. There was a significant disparity between the Prussian and German electoral systems. Prussia used a highly restrictive three-class voting system in which the richest third of the population could choose 85% of the legislature, all but assuring a conservative majority. The king and (with two exceptions) the prime minister of Prussia was also the emperor and chancellor of the empire – meaning that the same rulers had to seek majorities from legislatures elected from completely different franchises. Universal suffrage was significantly diluted by gross over-representation of rural areas from the 1890s onward. By the turn of the century, the urban-rural population balance was completely reversed from 1871; more than two-thirds of the empire's people lived in cities and towns.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the Kaiserreich. Less preoccupied with continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out a relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Bismarck's \"revolutionary conservatism\" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to the throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871. He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian Eric Hobsbawm concludes that he \"remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers\". This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying, \"The great questions of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. As the French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, which would trap Germany between the two in a war (as would ultimately happen in 1914). Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Russians and thereby formed an alliance with them and Austria-Hungary, the Dreikaiserbund (League of Three Emperors), in 1881. The alliance was further cemented by a separate non-aggression pact with Russia called Reinsurance Treaty, which was signed in 1887. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that \"the most brilliant victories would not avail against the Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend\", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France because they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from a German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen to Georg Herbert Münster, ambassador to France, who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war and were desperate for peace at all costs.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighboring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of the Berlin–Baghdad railway, financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Gulf, but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power. Bismarck's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed the chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848. Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquired German New Guinea. By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific (Jiaozhou Bay and Tianjin in China, the Marianas, the Caroline Islands, Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa, where the Herero Wars in what is now Namibia in 1906–1907 resulted in the Herero and Namaqua genocide.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world behind the United States and the British Empire, which were also its main economic rivals. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41 million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68 million.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant Krupp, whose first factory was built in Essen. By 1902, the factory alone became \"A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometers of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometers of underground cable, and 46 overhead.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building the welfare state. German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in the domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second-largest exporting nation after Britain.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918). Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, ICE engines and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The German cartel system (known as Konzerne), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Germany overtook British steel production in 1893 and pig iron production in 1903. The German steel and pig iron production continued its rapid expansion: Between 1911 and 1913, the German steel and pig iron output reached one quarter of total global production.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for synthetic dyes. The three major firms BASF, Bayer and Hoechst produced several hundred different dyes, along with the five smaller firms. Imperial Germany built up the world's largest chemical industry, the production of German chemical industry was 60% higher than that of the United States. In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such as pharmaceuticals, photographic film, agricultural chemicals and electrochemicals. Top-level decision-making was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies \"the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises\". There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "By the start of World War I (1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for the synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centers of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France. The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from 21,000 km (13,000 mi) in 1871 to 63,000 km (39,000 mi) by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States. The German rail network was followed by Austria-Hungary (43,280 km; 26,890 mi), France (40,770 km; 25,330 mi), the United Kingdom (32,623 km; 20,271 mi), Italy (18,873 km; 11,727 mi) and Spain (15,088 km; 9,375 mi).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of Kleindeutschland (Smaller Germany) over the Großdeutschland concept. This meant that Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically. The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter World War I in 1914.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871 was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his departure from office in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of the Vatican under Pope Pius IX, and working-class radicalism, represented by the emerging Social Democratic Party.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, the Centre Party, which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when the Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics in Silesia. A powerful intellectual force of the time was anti-Catholicism, led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation of papal infallibility in 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to the seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to a government body controlled by Protestants.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance, the Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and the Centre Party. The \"Old Catholic Church\", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In the elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modern European welfare state. He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to a degree, still exist in Germany today.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist. Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "As it was throughout Europe at the time, antisemitism was endemic in Germany during the period. Before Napoleon's decrees ended the ghettos in Confederation of the Rhine, it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in German nationalism. In the popular mind Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On the other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed. But after the Treaty of Versailles, and Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, antisemitism in Germany would increase.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called \"Germanisation\". These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of homeschooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially the Poles.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly against the significant Polish minority of the empire, gained by Prussia in the partitions of Poland. Poles were treated as an ethnic minority even where they made up the majority, as in the Province of Posen, where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced. Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Bismarck's efforts also initiated the levelling of the enormous differences between the German states, which had been independent in their evolution for centuries, especially with legislation. The completely different legal histories and judicial systems posed enormous complications, especially for national trade. While a common trade code had already been introduced by the Confederation in 1861 (which was adapted for the Empire and, with great modifications, is still in effect today), there was little similarity in laws otherwise.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In 1871, a common criminal code [de] was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system by the courts constitution act [de], code of civil procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) and code of criminal procedure (Strafprozessordnung). In 1873 the constitution was amended to allow the Empire to replace the various and greatly differing Civil Codes of the states (If they existed at all; for example, parts of Germany formerly occupied by Napoleon's France had adopted the French Civil Code, while in Prussia the Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht of 1794 was still in effect). In 1881, a first commission was established to produce a common Civil Code for all of the Empire, an enormous effort that would produce the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), possibly one of the most impressive legal works in the world; it was eventually put into effect on 1 January 1900. All of these codifications are, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "On 9 March 1888, Wilhelm I died shortly before his 91st birthday, leaving his son Frederick III as the new emperor. Frederick was a liberal and an admirer of the British constitution, while his links to Britain strengthened further with his marriage to Princess Victoria, eldest child of Queen Victoria. With his ascent to the throne, many hoped that Frederick's reign would lead to a liberalization of the Reich and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal of Robert von Puttkamer, the highly conservative Prussian interior minister, on 8 June was a sign of the expected direction and a blow to Bismarck's administration.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "By the time of his accession, however, Frederick had developed incurable laryngeal cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1887. He died on the 99th day of his rule, on 15 June 1888. His son Wilhelm II became emperor.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Wilhelm II wanted to reassert his ruling prerogatives at a time when other monarchs in Europe were being transformed into constitutional figureheads. This decision led the ambitious Kaiser into conflict with Bismarck. The old chancellor had hoped to guide Wilhelm as he had guided his grandfather, but the emperor wanted to be the master in his own house and had many sycophants telling him that Frederick the Great would not have been great with a Bismarck at his side. A key difference between Wilhelm II and Bismarck was their approaches to handling political crises, especially in 1889, when German coal miners went on strike in Upper Silesia. Bismarck demanded that the German Army be sent in to crush the strike, but Wilhelm II rejected this authoritarian measure, responding \"I do not wish to stain my reign with the blood of my subjects.\" Instead of condoning repression, Wilhelm had the government negotiate with a delegation from the coal miners, which brought the strike to an end without violence. The fractious relationship ended in March 1890, after Wilhelm II and Bismarck quarrelled, and the chancellor resigned days later. Bismarck's last few years had seen power slip from his hands as he grew older, more irritable, more authoritarian, and less focused.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "With Bismarck's departure, Wilhelm II became the dominant ruler of Germany. Unlike his grandfather, Wilhelm I, who had been largely content to leave government affairs to the chancellor, Wilhelm II wanted to be fully informed and actively involved in running Germany, not an ornamental figurehead, although most Germans found his claims of divine right to rule amusing. Wilhelm allowed politician Walther Rathenau to tutor him in European economics and industrial and financial realities in Europe.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "As Hull (2004) notes, Bismarckian foreign policy \"was too sedate for the reckless Kaiser\". Wilhelm became internationally notorious for his aggressive stance on foreign policy and his strategic blunders (such as the Tangier Crisis), which pushed the German Empire into growing political isolation and eventually helped to cause World War I.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Under Wilhelm II, Germany no longer had long-ruling strong chancellors like Bismarck. The new chancellors had difficulty in performing their roles, especially the additional role as Prime Minister of Prussia assigned to them in the German Constitution. The reforms of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, which liberalized trade and so reduced unemployment, were supported by the Kaiser and most Germans except for Prussian landowners, who feared loss of land and power and launched several campaigns against the reforms.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "While Prussian aristocrats challenged the demands of a united German state, in the 1890s several organizations were set up to challenge the authoritarian conservative Prussian militarism which was being imposed on the country. Educators opposed to the German state-run schools, which emphasized military education, set up their own independent liberal schools, which encouraged individuality and freedom. However nearly all the schools in Imperial Germany had a very high standard and kept abreast with modern developments in knowledge.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Artists began experimental art in opposition to Kaiser Wilhelm's support for traditional art, to which Wilhelm responded \"art which transgresses the laws and limits laid down by me can no longer be called art\". It was largely thanks to Wilhelm's influence that most printed material in Germany used blackletter instead of the Roman type used in the rest of Western Europe. At the same time, a new generation of cultural creators emerged.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "From the 1890s onwards, the most effective opposition to the monarchy came from the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), whose radicals advocated Marxism. The threat of the SPD to the German monarchy and industrialists caused the state both to crack down on the party's supporters and to implement its own programme of social reform to soothe discontent. Germany's large industries provided significant social welfare programmes and good care to their employees, as long as they were not identified as socialists or trade-union members. The larger industrial firms provided pensions, sickness benefits and even housing to their employees.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Having learned from the failure of Bismarck's Kulturkampf, Wilhelm II maintained good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and concentrated on opposing socialism. This policy failed when the Social Democrats won a third of the votes in the 1912 elections to the Reichstag, and became the largest political party in Germany. The government remained in the hands of a succession of conservative coalitions supported by right-wing liberals or Catholic clerics and heavily dependent on the Kaiser's favour. The rising militarism under Wilhelm II caused many Germans to emigrate to the U.S. and the British colonies to escape mandatory military service.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "During World War I, the Kaiser increasingly devolved his powers to the leaders of the German High Command, particularly future President of Germany, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff. Hindenburg took over the role of commander–in–chief from the Kaiser, while Ludendorff became de facto general chief of staff. By 1916, Germany was effectively a military dictatorship run by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, with the Kaiser reduced to a mere figurehead.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Wilhelm II wanted Germany to have her \"place in the sun\", like Britain, which he constantly wished to emulate or rival. With German traders and merchants already active worldwide, he encouraged colonial efforts in Africa and the Pacific (\"new imperialism\"), causing the German Empire to vie with other European powers for remaining \"unclaimed\" territories. With the encouragement or at least the acquiescence of Britain, which at this stage saw Germany as a counterweight to her old rival France, Germany acquired German Southwest Africa (modern Namibia), German Kamerun (modern Cameroon), Togoland (modern Togo) and German East Africa (modern Rwanda, Burundi, and the mainland part of current Tanzania). Islands were gained in the Pacific through purchase and treaties and also a 99-year lease for the territory of Jiaozhou in northeast China. But of these German colonies only Togoland and German Samoa (after 1908) became self-sufficient and profitable; all the others required subsidies from the Berlin treasury for building infrastructure, school systems, hospitals and other institutions.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Bismarck had originally dismissed the agitation for colonies with contempt; he favoured a Eurocentric foreign policy, as the treaty arrangements made during his tenure in office show. As a latecomer to colonization, Germany repeatedly came into conflict with the established colonial powers and also with the United States, which opposed German attempts at colonial expansion in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. Native insurrections in German territories received prominent coverage in other countries, especially in Britain; the established powers had dealt with such uprisings decades earlier, often brutally, and had secured firm control of their colonies by then. The Boxer Rising in China, which the Chinese government eventually sponsored, began in the Shandong province, in part because Germany, as colonizer at Jiaozhou, was an untested power and had only been active there for two years. Seven western nations, including the United States, and Japan mounted a joint relief force to rescue westerners caught up in the rebellion. During the departure ceremonies for the German contingent, Wilhelm II urged them to behave like the Hun invaders of continental Europe – an unfortunate remark that would later be resurrected by British propagandists to paint Germans as barbarians during World War I and World War II. On two occasions, a French-German conflict over the fate of Morocco seemed inevitable.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Upon acquiring Southwest Africa, German settlers were encouraged to cultivate land held by the Herero and Nama. Herero and Nama tribal lands were used for a variety of exploitative goals (much as the British did before in Rhodesia), including farming, ranching, and mining for minerals and diamonds. In 1904, the Herero and the Nama revolted against the colonists in Southwest Africa, killing farm families, their laborers and servants. In response to the attacks, troops were dispatched to quell the uprising which then resulted in the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. In total, some 65,000 Herero (80% of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population) perished. The commander of the punitive expedition, General Lothar von Trotha, was eventually relieved and reprimanded for his usurpation of orders and the cruelties he inflicted. These occurrences were sometimes referred to as \"the first genocide of the 20th century\" and officially condemned by the United Nations in 1985. In 2004 a formal apology by a government minister of the Federal Republic of Germany followed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Bismarck and Wilhelm II after him sought closer economic ties with the Ottoman Empire. Under Wilhelm II, with the financial backing of the Deutsche Bank, the Baghdad Railway was begun in 1900, although by 1914 it was still 500 km (310 mi) short of its destination in Baghdad. In an interview with Wilhelm in 1899, Cecil Rhodes had tried \"to convince the Kaiser that the future of the German empire abroad lay in the Middle East\" and not in Africa; with a grand Middle-Eastern empire, Germany could afford to allow Britain the unhindered completion of the Cape-to-Cairo railway that Rhodes favoured. Britain initially supported the Baghdad Railway; but by 1911 British statesmen came to fear it might be extended to Basra on the Persian Gulf, threatening Britain's naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Accordingly, they asked to have construction halted, to which Germany and the Ottoman Empire acquiesced.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In South America, Germany's primary interest was in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay and viewed the countries of northern South America – Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela – as a buffer to protect its interest from the growing influence of the United States. Policymakers in Germany analysed the possibility of establishing bases in Margarita Island and showed interest in the Galápagos Islands but soon abandoned any such designs given that far-flung bases in northern South America would be very vulnerable. Germany attempted to promote Chile, a country that was heavily influenced by Germany, into a regional counterweight to the United States. Germany and Britain managed through Chile to have Ecuador deny the United States a naval base in the Galápagos Islands.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Claims that German communities in South America acted as extensions of the German Empire were ubiquituous by 1900 but it has never been proved that these communities acted in such way to any significant degree. German political, cultural and scientific influence was particularly intense in Chile in the decades before World War I, and the prestige of Germany and German things in Chile remained high after the war but did not recover to its pre-war levels.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Berlin was deeply suspicious of a supposed conspiracy of its enemies: that year-by-year in the early 20th century it was systematically encircled by enemies. There was a growing fear that the supposed enemy coalition of Russia, France and Britain was getting stronger militarily every year, especially Russia. The longer Berlin waited the less likely it would prevail in a war. According to American historian Gordon A. Craig, it was after the set-back in Morocco in 1905 that the fear of encirclement began to be a potent factor in German politics.\" Few outside observers agreed with the notion of Germany as a victim of deliberate encirclement. English historian G. M. Trevelyan expressed the British viewpoint:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The encirclement, such as it was, was of Germany's own making. She had encircled herself by alienating France over Alsace-Lorraine, Russia by her support of Austria-Hungary's anti—Slav policy in the Balkans, England by building her rival fleet. She had created with Austria-Hungary a military bloc in the heart of Europe so powerful and yet so restless that her neighbors on each side had no choice but either to become her vassals or to stand together for protection....They used their central position to create fear in all sides, in order to gain their diplomatic ends. And then they complained that on all sides they had been encircled.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Wilhelm II, under pressure from his new advisors after Bismarck left, committed a fatal error when he decided to allow the \"Reinsurance Treaty\" that Bismarck had negotiated with Tsarist Russia to lapse. It allowed Russia to make a new alliance with France. Germany was left with no firm ally but Austria-Hungary, and her support for action in annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 further soured relations with Russia. Berlin missed the opportunity to secure an alliance with Britain in the 1890s when it was involved in colonial rivalries with France, and he alienated British statesmen further by openly supporting the Boers in the South African War and building a navy to rival Britain's. By 1911, Wilhelm had completely picked apart the careful power balance established by Bismarck and Britain turned to France in the Entente Cordiale. Germany's only other ally besides Austria was the Kingdom of Italy, but it remained an ally only pro forma. When war came, Italy saw more benefit in an alliance with Britain, France, and Russia, which, in the secret Treaty of London in 1915 promised it the frontier districts of Austria and also colonial concessions. Germany did acquire a second ally in 1914 when the Ottoman Empire entered the war on its side, but in the long run, supporting the Ottoman war effort only drained away German resources from the main fronts.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, the Kaiser offered Emperor Franz Joseph full support for Austro-Hungarian plans to invade the Kingdom of Serbia, which Austria-Hungary blamed for the assassination. This unconditional support for Austria-Hungary was called a \"blank cheque\" by historians, including German Fritz Fischer. Subsequent interpretation – for example at the Versailles Peace Conference – was that this \"blank cheque\" licensed Austro-Hungarian aggression regardless of the diplomatic consequences, and thus Germany bore responsibility for starting the war, or at least provoking a wider conflict.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Germany began the war by targeting its chief rival, France. Germany saw the French Republic as its principal danger on the European continent as it could mobilize much faster than Russia and bordered Germany's industrial core in the Rhineland. Unlike Britain and Russia, the French entered the war mainly for revenge against Germany, in particular for France's loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871. The German high command knew that France would muster its forces to go into Alsace-Lorraine. Aside from the very unofficial Septemberprogramm, the Germans never stated a clear list of goals that they wanted out of the war.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Germany did not want to risk lengthy battles along the Franco-German border and instead adopted the Schlieffen Plan, a military strategy designed to cripple France by invading Belgium and Luxembourg, sweeping down to encircle and crush both Paris and the French forces along the Franco-German border in a quick victory. After defeating France, Germany would turn to attack Russia. The plan required violating the official neutrality of Belgium and Luxembourg, which Britain had guaranteed by treaty. However, the Germans had calculated that Britain would enter the war regardless of whether they had formal justification to do so. At first the attack was successful: the German Army swept down from Belgium and Luxembourg and advanced on Paris, at the nearby river Marne. However, the evolution of weapons over the last century heavily favored defense over offense, especially thanks to the machine gun, so that it took proportionally more offensive force to overcome a defensive position. This resulted in the German lines on the offense contracting to keep up the offensive timetable while correspondingly the French lines were extending. In addition, some German units that were originally slotted for the German far-right were transferred to the Eastern Front in reaction to Russia mobilizing far faster than anticipated. The combined effect had the German right flank sweeping down in front of Paris instead of behind it exposing the German Right flank to the extending French lines and attack from strategic French reserves stationed in Paris. Attacking the exposed German right flank, the French Army and the British Army put up a strong resistance to the defense of Paris at the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in the German Army retreating to defensive positions along the river Aisne. A subsequent Race to the Sea resulted in a long-held stalemate between the German Army and the Allies in dug-in trench warfare positions from Alsace to Flanders.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "German attempts to break through failed at the two battles of Ypres (1st/2nd) with huge casualties. A series of allied offensives in 1915 against German positions in Artois and Champagne resulted in huge allied casualties and little territorial change. German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn decided to exploit the defensive advantages that had shown themselves in the 1915 Allied offensives by attempting to goad France into attacking strong defensive positions near the ancient city of Verdun. Verdun had been one of the last cities to hold out against the German Army in 1870, and Falkenhayn predicted that as a matter of national pride the French would do anything to ensure that it was not taken. He expected that he could take strong defensive positions in the hills overlooking Verdun on the east bank of the river Meuse to threaten the city and the French would launch desperate attacks against these positions. He predicted that French losses would be greater than those of the Germans and that continued French commitment of troops to Verdun would \"bleed the French Army white.\" In February 1916, the Battle of Verdun began, with the French positions under constant shelling and poison gas attack and taking large casualties under the assault of overwhelmingly large German forces. However, Falkenhayn's prediction of a greater ratio of French killed proved to be wrong as both sides took heavy casualties. Falkenhayn was replaced by Erich Ludendorff, and with no success in sight, the German Army pulled out of Verdun in December 1916 and the battle ended.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "While the Western Front was a stalemate for the German Army, the Eastern Front eventually proved to be a great success. Despite initial setbacks due to the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russian army, which resulted in a Russian invasion of East Prussia and Austrian Galicia, the badly organised and supplied Russian Army faltered and the German and Austro-Hungarian armies thereafter steadily advanced eastward. The Germans benefited from political instability in Russia and its population's desire to end the war. In 1917 the German government allowed Russia's communist Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin to travel through Germany from Switzerland into Russia. Germany believed that if Lenin could create further political unrest, Russia would no longer be able to continue its war with Germany, allowing the German Army to focus on the Western Front.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "In March 1917, the Tsar was ousted from the Russian throne, and in November a Bolshevik government came to power under the leadership of Lenin. Facing political opposition, he decided to end Russia's campaign against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria to redirect Bolshevik energy to eliminating internal dissent. In March 1918, by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Bolshevik government gave Germany and the Ottoman Empire enormous territorial and economic concessions in exchange for an end to war on the Eastern Front. All of present-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was given over to the German occupation authority Ober Ost, along with Belarus and Ukraine. Thus Germany had at last achieved its long-wanted dominance of \"Mitteleuropa\" (Central Europe) and could now focus fully on defeating the Allies on the Western Front. In practice, however, the forces that were needed to garrison and secure the new territories were a drain on the German war effort.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Germany quickly lost almost all its colonies. However, in German East Africa, a guerrilla campaign was waged by the colonial army leader there, General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. Using Germans and native Askaris, Lettow-Vorbeck launched multiple guerrilla raids against British forces in Kenya and Rhodesia. He also invaded Portuguese Mozambique to gain his forces supplies and to pick up more Askari recruits. His force was still active at war's end.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The defeat of Russia in 1917 enabled Germany to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over the Allies. By retraining the soldiers in new infiltration tactics, the Germans expected to unfreeze the battlefield and win a decisive victory before the army of the United States, which had now entered the war on the side of the Allies, arrived in strength. In what was known as the \"kaiserschlacht\", Germany converged their troops and delivered multiple blows that pushed back the allies. However, the repeated German offensives in the spring of 1918 all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped and the Germans lacked the reserves needed to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by the Russian Revolution and were less willing to continue fighting. The war effort sparked civil unrest in Germany, while the troops, who had been constantly in the field without relief, grew exhausted and lost all hope of victory. In the summer of 1918, the British Army was at its peak strength with as many as 4.5 million men on the western front and 4,000 tanks for the Hundred Days Offensive, the Americans arriving at the rate of 10,000 a day, Germany's allies facing collapse and the German Empire's manpower exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offensives destroyed the German army.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "The concept of \"total war\" meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Allied naval blockade, German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. First food prices were controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Towards the end of the war, conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. The causes included the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, combined with the overburdened railway system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the \"turnip winter\", because the people had to survive on a vegetable more commonly reserved for livestock, as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the soldiers' rations. The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "The population of Germany was already suffering from outbreaks of disease due to malnutrition due to Allied blockade preventing food imports. Spanish flu arrived in Germany with returning troops. Around 287,000 people died of Spanish flu in Germany between 1918 and 1920 with 50,000 deaths in Berlin alone.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the more radical Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), which demanded an end to the war. The entry of the U.S. into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-run balance of power even more in favour of the Allies.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "The end of October 1918, in Kiel, in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of which workers' and soldiers' councils were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Bulgaria signed the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September 1918. The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeated Austria-Hungary in the battle of Vittorio Veneto, which forced Austria-Hungary to sign the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Allies advancing toward Germany on the Western Front, Austria-Hungary falling apart from multiple ethnic tensions, its other allies out of the war and pressure from the German high command, the Kaiser and all German ruling kings, dukes, and princes abdicated, and German nobility was abolished. On 9 November, the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic. The new government led by the German Social Democrats called for and received an armistice on 11 November. It was succeeded by the Weimar Republic. Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as the Freikorps, the Organisation Consul, and the Communists.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "The Empire was a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.",
"title": "Constitution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "The Federal Council (Bundesrat) held sovereignty over the Empire and served as its highest authority. The Bundesrat was a legislative body that possessed the right of legislative initiative (Article VII Nr. 1) and, because all laws required its consent, could effectively veto any bill coming from the Reichstag (Article V). The Bundesrat was able to set guidelines and make organisational changes within the executive branch, act as supreme arbitrator in administrative disputes between states, and serve as constitutional court for states that did not have a constitutional court (Article LXXVI). It was composed of representatives who were appointed by and reported to the state governments.",
"title": "Constitution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "The Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was a legislative body elected by universal male suffrage that effectively served as parliament. It had the right to propose bills and, with the concurrence of the Bundesrat, approve the state budget annually and the military budget for periods of seven years until 1893, then after that for five years. All laws required the Reichstag's approval to pass. After the constitutional reforms of October 1918, the Reich chancellor, through a change to Article XV, become dependent on the confidence of the Reichstag rather than the emperor.",
"title": "Constitution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "The emperor (Kaiser) was head of state of the Empire – he was not a ruler. He appointed the chancellor, usually the person able to command the confidence of the Reichstag. The chancellor, in consultation with the emperor, determined the government's broad policy guidelines and presented them to the Reichstag. On the advice of the chancellor, the emperor appointed the ministers and – at least formally – all other imperial officers. All acts of the emperor except for military directives required the countersignature of the chancellor (Article XVII). The emperor was also responsible for signing bills into law, declaring war (which required the consent of the Bundesrat), negotiating peace, making treaties, and calling and adjourning sessions of the Bundesrat and the Reichstag (Articles XI and XII). The emperor was commander-in-chief of the Empire's Army (Article LXIII) and Navy (Article LIII); when exercising his military authority he had plenary power.",
"title": "Constitution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "The chancellor was head of government and chaired the Bundesrat and the Imperial Government, led the lawmaking process and countersigned all acts of the emperor (except for military directives).",
"title": "Constitution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Before unification, German territory (excluding Austria and Switzerland) was made up of 27 constituent states. These states consisted of kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, free Hanseatic cities and one imperial territory. The free cities had a republican form of government on the state level, even though the Empire at large was constituted as a monarchy, and so were most of the states. Prussia was the largest of the constituent states, covering two-thirds of the empire's territory.",
"title": "Constituent states"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Several of these states had gained sovereignty following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and had been de facto sovereign from the mid-1600s onward. Others were created as sovereign states after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Territories were not necessarily contiguous—many existed in several parts, as a result of historical acquisitions, or, in several cases, divisions of the ruling families. Some of the initially existing states, in particular Hanover, were abolished and annexed by Prussia as a result of the war of 1866.",
"title": "Constituent states"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "Each component of the German Empire sent representatives to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and, via single-member districts, the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). Relations between the Imperial centre and the Empire's components were somewhat fluid and were developed on an ongoing basis. The extent to which the German Emperor could, for example, intervene on occasions of disputed or unclear succession was much debated on occasion—for example in the inheritance crisis of the Lippe-Detmold.",
"title": "Constituent states"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Unusually for a federation and/or a nation-state, the German states maintained limited autonomy over foreign affairs and continued to exchange ambassadors and other diplomats (both with each other and directly with foreign nations) for the Empire's entire existence. Shortly after the Empire was proclaimed, Bismarck implemented a convention in which his sovereign would only send and receive envoys to and from other German states as the King of Prussia, while envoys from Berlin sent to foreign nations always received credentials from the monarch in his capacity as German Emperor. In this way, the Prussian foreign ministry was largely tasked with managing relations with the other German states while the Imperial foreign ministry managed Germany's external relations.",
"title": "Constituent states"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "About 92% of the population spoke German as their first language. The only minority language with a significant number of speakers (5.4%) was Polish (a figure that rises to over 6% when including the related Kashubian and Masurian languages).",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "The non-German Germanic languages (0.5%), like Danish, Dutch and Frisian, were located in the north and northwest of the empire, near the borders with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Low German was spoken throughout northern Germany and, though linguistically as distinct from High German (Hochdeutsch) as from Dutch and English, was considered \"German\", hence also its name. Danish and Frisian were spoken predominantly in the north of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein and Dutch in the western border areas of Prussia (Hanover, Westphalia, and the Rhine Province).",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "Polish and other West Slavic languages (6.28%) were spoken chiefly in the east.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "A few (0.5%) spoke French, the vast majority of these in the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen where francophones formed 11.6% of the total population.",
"title": "Demographics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "In the 1860s, Russia removed privileges for German emigrants and placed pressure on German immigrants to assimilate. The majority of German emigrants left Russia after the turn of the century. Some of these ethnic Germans immigrated to Germany.",
"title": "Immigration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Generally, religious demographics of the early modern period hardly changed. Still, there were almost entirely Catholic areas (Lower and Upper Bavaria, northern Westphalia, Upper Silesia, etc.) and almost entirely Protestant areas (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Saxony, etc.). Confessional prejudices, especially towards mixed marriages, were still common. Bit by bit, through internal migration, religious blending was more and more common. In eastern territories, confession was almost uniquely perceived to be connected to one's ethnicity and the equation \"Protestant = German, Catholic = Polish\" was held to be valid. In areas affected by immigration in the Ruhr area and Westphalia, as well as in some large cities, religious landscape changed substantially. This was especially true in largely Catholic areas of Westphalia, which changed through Protestant immigration from the eastern provinces.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Politically, the confessional division of Germany had considerable consequences. In Catholic areas, the Centre Party had a big electorate. On the other hand, Social Democrats and Free Trade Unions usually received hardly any votes in the Catholic areas of the Ruhr. This began to change with the secularization arising in the last decades of the German Empire.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "In Germany's overseas colonial empire, millions of subjects practiced various indigenous religions in addition to Christianity. Over two million Muslims also lived under German colonial rule, primarily in German East Africa.",
"title": "Religion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "The defeat and aftermath of the First World War and the penalties imposed by the Treaty of Versailles shaped the positive memory of the Empire, especially among Germans who distrusted and despised the Weimar Republic. Conservatives, liberals, socialists, nationalists, Catholics and Protestants all had their own interpretations, which led to a fractious political and social climate in Germany in the aftermath of the empire's collapse.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "Under Bismarck, a united German state had finally been achieved, but it remained a Prussian-dominated state and did not include German Austria as Pan-German nationalists had desired. The influence of Prussian militarism, the Empire's colonial efforts and its vigorous, competitive industrial prowess all gained it the dislike and envy of other nations. The German Empire enacted a number of progressive reforms, such as Europe's first social welfare system and freedom of press. There was also a modern system for electing the federal parliament, the Reichstag, in which every adult man had one vote. This enabled the Social Democrats and the Catholic Centre Party to play considerable roles in the empire's political life despite the continued hostility of Prussian aristocrats.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "The era of the German Empire is well remembered in Germany as one of great cultural and intellectual vigour. Thomas Mann published his novel Buddenbrooks in 1901. Theodor Mommsen received the Nobel prize for literature a year later for his Roman history. Painters like the groups Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke made a significant contribution to modern art. The AEG turbine factory in Berlin by Peter Behrens from 1909 was a milestone in classic modern architecture and an outstanding example of emerging functionalism. The social, economic, and scientific successes of this Gründerzeit, or founding epoch, have sometimes led the Wilhelmine era to be regarded as a golden age.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "In the field of economics, the \"Kaiserzeit\" laid the foundation of Germany's status as one of the world's leading economic powers. The iron and coal industries of the Ruhr, the Saar and Upper Silesia especially contributed to that process. The first motorcar was built by Karl Benz in 1886. The enormous growth of industrial production and industrial potential also led to a rapid urbanisation of Germany, which turned the Germans into a nation of city dwellers. More than 5 million people left Germany for the United States during the 19th century.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Many historians have emphasized the central importance of a German Sonderweg or \"special path\" (or \"exceptionalism\") as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century. According to the historiography by Kocka (1988), the process of nation-building from above had very grievous long-term implications. In terms of parliamentary democracy, Parliament was kept weak, the parties were fragmented, and there was a high level of mutual distrust. The Nazis built on the illiberal, anti-pluralist elements of Weimar's political culture. The Junker elites (the large landowners in the east) and senior civil servants used their great power and influence well into the twentieth century to frustrate any movement toward democracy. They played an especially negative role in the crisis of 1930–1933. Bismarck's emphasis on military force amplified the voice of the officer corps, which combined advanced modernisation of military technology with reactionary politics. The rising upper-middle-class elites, in the business, financial and professional worlds, tended to accept the values of the old traditional elites. The German Empire was for Hans-Ulrich Wehler a strange mixture of highly successful capitalist industrialisation and socio-economic modernisation on the one hand, and of surviving pre-industrial institutions, power relations and traditional cultures on the other. Wehler argues that it produced a high degree of internal tension, which led on the one hand to the suppression of socialists, Catholics and reformers, and on the other hand to a highly aggressive foreign policy. For these reasons Fritz Fischer and his students emphasised Germany's primary guilt for causing the First World War.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "Hans-Ulrich Wehler, a leader of the Bielefeld School of social history, places the origins of Germany's path to disaster in the 1860s–1870s, when economic modernisation took place, but political modernisation did not happen and the old Prussian rural elite remained in firm control of the army, diplomacy and the civil service. Traditional, aristocratic, premodern society battled an emerging capitalist, bourgeois, modernising society. Recognising the importance of modernising forces in industry and the economy and in the cultural realm, Wehler argues that reactionary traditionalism dominated the political hierarchy of power in Germany, as well as social mentalities and in class relations (Klassenhabitus). The catastrophic German politics between 1914 and 1945 are interpreted in terms of a delayed modernisation of its political structures. At the core of Wehler's interpretation is his treatment of \"the middle class\" and \"revolution\", each of which was instrumental in shaping the 20th century. Wehler's examination of Nazi rule is shaped by his concept of \"charismatic domination\", which focuses heavily on Hitler.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "The historiographical concept of a German Sonderweg has had a turbulent history. 19th-century scholars who emphasised a separate German path to modernity saw it as a positive factor that differentiated Germany from the \"western path\" typified by Great Britain. They stressed the strong bureaucratic state, reforms initiated by Bismarck and other strong leaders, the Prussian service ethos, the high culture of philosophy and music, and Germany's pioneering of a social welfare state. In the 1950s, historians in West Germany argued that the Sonderweg led Germany to the disaster of 1933–1945. The special circumstances of German historical structures and experiences, were interpreted as preconditions that, while not directly causing National Socialism, did hamper the development of a liberal democracy and facilitate the rise of fascism. The Sonderweg paradigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the \"long 19th century\", the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West. After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to the Sonderweg. While some historians have abandoned the Sonderweg thesis, they have not provided a generally accepted alternative interpretation.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "The Empire of Germany had three armed forces:",
"title": "Military"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In addition to present-day Germany, large parts of what comprised the German Empire now belong to several other modern European countries.",
"title": "Territorial legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "Informational notes",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "Citations",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Historiography",
"title": "Further reading"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Primary sources",
"title": "Further reading"
}
]
| The German Empire, also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic. The empire was founded on 18 January 1871, when the south German states, except for Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on 16 April, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. Berlin remained its capital, and Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia, became Chancellor, the head of government. As these events occurred, the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies, such as Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Hesse, were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War. The German Empire consisted of 25 states, each with its own nobility, four constituent kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory, and Prussian dominance was also constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor. After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had a population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban. The success of German industrialization manifested itself in two ways in the early 20th century; the German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts. The dominance of the German Empire in the natural sciences, especially in physics and chemistry, was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became the industrial, technological, and scientific giant of Europe, and by 1913, Germany was the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world. Germany also became a great power, building the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. Starting very small in 1871, in a decade, the navy became second only to Britain's Royal Navy. From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest-serving Chancellor was marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms, the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf and systematic repression of Polish people marked his period in the office. Despite his hatred of liberalism and socialism – he called liberals and socialists "enemies of the Reich" – social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern European welfare state. Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his earlier personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover territory that was not yet conquered by Europeans in the Scramble for Africa, it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed the Herero and Namaqua genocide. After the removal of Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II in 1890, the empire embarked on Weltpolitik – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated. This period was marked by increased oppression of Polish people and various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary, followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It also retained strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally allied with Germany. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of 1914 failed, and the war on the Western Front became a stalemate. The Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food and supplements. However, Imperial Germany had success on the Eastern Front; it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war. In October 1918, after the failed Spring Offensive, the German armies were in retreat, allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had surrendered. The empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with the abdication of Wilhelm II, which left the post-war federal republic to govern a devastated populace. The Treaty of Versailles imposed post-war reparation costs of 132 billion gold marks, as well as limiting the army to 100,000 men and disallowing conscription, armored vehicles, submarines, aircraft, and more than six battleships. The consequential economic devastation, later exacerbated by the Great Depression, as well as humiliation and outrage experienced by the German population are considered leading factors in the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. | 2001-10-02T09:19:31Z | 2024-01-01T00:29:19Z | [
"Template:Request quotation",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Incomplete short citation",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:\\",
"Template:Former Monarchies",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:World War I",
"Template:States of the German Empire",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Legend",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Empires",
"Template:POV statement",
"Template:Cite EB1911",
"Template:About",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Doi",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:Germany topics",
"Template:Infobox country",
"Template:History of Germany",
"Template:\" '",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Lang-de",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite wikisource",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:JSTOR",
"Template:German Empire States",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:According to whom",
"Template:Sfnp",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Ill",
"Template:Spaced ndash",
"Template:Cvt"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Empire |
12,677 | Gallienus | Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (/ˌɡæliˈɛnəs/; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won numerous military victories against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century.
Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor in September 253 and had the Roman Senate elevate Gallienus to the rank of Augustus. Valerian divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259.
The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Lucius Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was assassinated, stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius, as part of a conspiracy.
The exact birth date of Gallienus is unknown. The 6th-century Greek chronicler John Malalas and the Epitome de Caesaribus report that he was about 50 years old at the time of his death, meaning he was born around 218. He was the son of Emperor Valerian and Mariniana, who may have been of senatorial rank, possibly the daughter of Egnatius Victor Marinianus, and his brother was Valerianus Minor. Inscriptions on coins connect him with Falerii in Etruria, which may have been his birthplace; it has yielded many inscriptions relating to his mother's family, the Egnatii. Gallienus married Cornelia Salonina about ten years before his accession to the throne. She was the mother of three princes: Valerian II, who died in 258; Saloninus, who was named co-emperor but was murdered in 260 by the army of general Postumus; and Marinianus, who was killed in 268, shortly after his father was assassinated.
When Valerian was proclaimed emperor in September 253, he asked the Senate to ratify the elevation of Gallienus to Augustus. He was also designated consul ordinarius for 254. As Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius Verus had done a century earlier, Gallienus and his father divided the Empire. Valerian left for the East to stem the Persian threat, and Gallienus remained in Italy to repel the Germanic tribes on the Rhine and Danube. Division of the empire had become necessary due to its sheer size and the numerous threats it faced, and it facilitated negotiations with enemies who demanded to communicate directly with the emperor.
Gallienus spent most of his time in the provinces of the Rhine area (Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, Raetia, and Noricum), though he almost certainly visited the Danube area and Illyricum in the years from 253 to 258. According to Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, he was particularly energetic and successful in preventing invaders from attacking the German provinces and Gaul, despite the weakness caused by Valerian's march on Italy against Aemilianus in 253. According to numismatic evidence, he seems to have won many victories there, and a victory in Roman Dacia might also be dated to that period. Even the hostile Latin tradition attributes success to him at this time.
In 255 or 257, Gallienus was made consul again, suggesting that he briefly visited Rome on those occasions, although no record survives. During his Danube sojourn (Drinkwater suggests in 255 or 256), he proclaimed his elder son Valerian II Caesar and thus official heir to himself and Valerian I; the boy probably joined Gallienus on campaign at that time, and when Gallienus moved west to the Rhine provinces in 257, he remained behind on the Danube as the personification of Imperial authority.
Sometime between 258 and 260 (the exact date is unclear), while Valerian was distracted with the ongoing invasion of Shapur I in the East, and Gallienus was preoccupied with his problems in the West, Ingenuus, governor of at least one of the Pannonian provinces, took advantage and declared himself emperor. Valerian II had apparently died on the Danube, most likely in 258. Ingenuus may have been responsible for Valerian II's death. Alternatively, the defeat and capture of Valerian at the battle of Edessa may have been the trigger for the subsequent revolts of Ingenuus, Regalianus, and Postumus. In any case, Gallienus reacted with great speed. He left his son Saloninus as Caesar at Cologne, under the supervision of Albanus (or Silvanus) and the military leadership of Postumus. He then hastily crossed the Balkans, taking with him the new cavalry corps (comitatus) under the command of Aureolus and defeated Ingenuus at Mursa or Sirmium. Ingenuus was killed by his own guards or committed suicide by drowning himself after the fall of his capital, Sirmium.
A major invasion by the Alemanni and other Germanic tribes occurred between 258 and 260 (it is hard to fix the precise date of these events), probably due to the vacuum left by the withdrawal of troops supporting Gallienus in the campaign against Ingenuus. Franks broke through the lower Rhine, invading Gaul, some reaching as far as southern Spain, sacking Tarraco (modern Tarragona). The Alemanni invaded, probably through Agri Decumates (an area between the upper Rhine and the upper Danube), likely followed by the Juthungi. After devastating Germania Superior and Raetia (parts of southern France and Switzerland), they entered Italy, the first invasion of the Italian peninsula, aside from its most remote northern regions, since Hannibal 500 years before. When invaders reached the outskirts of Rome, they were repelled by an improvised army assembled by the Senate, consisting of local troops (probably praetorian guards) and the strongest of the civilian population. On their retreat through northern Italy, they were intercepted and defeated in the battle of Mediolanum (near present-day Milan) by Gallienus' army, which had advanced from Gaul, or from the Balkans after dealing with the Franks. The battle of Mediolanum was decisive, and the Alemanni did not bother the empire for the next ten years. The Juthungi managed to cross the Alps with their valuables and captives from Italy. A historian in the 19th century suggested that the initiative of the Senate gave rise to jealousy and suspicion by Gallienus, thus contributing to his exclusion of senators from military commands.
Around the same time, Regalianus, who held some command in the Balkans, was proclaimed emperor. The reasons for this are unclear, and the Historia Augusta (almost the sole resource for these events) does not provide a credible story. It is possible the seizure can be attributed to the discontent of the civilian and military provincials, who felt the defense of the province was being neglected.
Regalianus held power for some six months and issued coins bearing his image. After some success against the Sarmatians, his revolt ended when the Roxolani invaded Pannonia and killed Regalianus in taking the city of Sirmium. There is a suggestion that Gallienus invited the Roxolani to attack Regalianus, but other historians dismiss the accusation. It is also suggested that the invasion was finally checked by Gallienus near Verona and that he directed the restoration of the province, probably in person.
In the East, Valerian was confronted with serious troubles. Bands of "Scythai" began a naval raid of Pontus, in the northern part of Asia Minor. After ravaging the province, they moved south into Cappadocia. A Roman army from Antioch, under Valerian, tried to intercept them but failed. According to Zosimus, this army was infected by a plague that gravely weakened it. In that condition, this army had to repel a new invasion of the province of Mesopotamia by Shapur I, ruler of the Sassanid Empire. The invasion occurred probably in the early spring of 260. The Roman army was defeated at the Battle of Edessa, and Valerian was taken prisoner. Shapur's army raided Cilicia and Cappadocia (in present-day Turkey), sacking, as Shapur's inscriptions claim, 36 cities.
It took a rally by an officer named Callistus (Balista), a fiscal official named Fulvius Macrianus, the remnants of the Roman army in the east, and Odenathus and his Palmyrene horsemen to turn the tide against Shapur. The Sassanids were driven back, but Macrianus proclaimed his two sons Quietus and Macrianus (sometimes misspelled Macrinus) as emperors. Coins struck for them in major cities of the East indicate acknowledgement of the usurpation. The two Macriani left Quietus, Ballista, and, presumably, Odenathus to deal with the Persians while they invaded Europe with an army of 30,000 men, according to the Historia Augusta. At first they met no opposition.
The Pannonian legions joined the invaders, being resentful of the absence of Gallienus. He sent his successful commander Aureolus against the rebels, however, and the decisive battle was fought in the spring or early summer of 261, most likely in Illyricum, although Zonaras locates it in Pannonia. In any case, the army of the usurpers was defeated and surrendered, and their two leaders were killed.
In the aftermath of the battle, the rebellion of Postumus had already started, so Gallienus had no time to deal with the rest of the usurpers, namely Balista and Quietus. He came to an agreement with Odenathus, who had just returned from his victorious Persian expedition. Odenathus received the title of dux Romanorum and besieged the usurpers, who were based at Emesa. Eventually, the people of Emesa killed Quietus, and Odenathus arrested and executed Balista about November 261.
After the defeat at Edessa, Gallienus lost control over the provinces of Britain, Spain, parts of Germania, and a large part of Gaul when another general, Postumus, declared his own realm (usually known today as the Gallic Empire). The revolt partially coincided with that of Macrianus in the East. Gallienus had installed his son Saloninus and his guardian, Silvanus, in Cologne in 258. Postumus, a general in command of troops on the banks of the Rhine, defeated some raiders and took possession of their spoils. Instead of returning it to the original owners, he preferred to distribute it amongst his soldiers. When news of this reached Silvanus, he demanded the spoils be sent to him. Postumus made a show of submission, but his soldiers mutinied and proclaimed him emperor. Under his command, they besieged Cologne, and after some weeks the defenders of the city opened the gates and handed Saloninus and Silvanus to Postumus, who had them killed. The dating of these events was long uncertain, but an inscription discovered in 1992 at Augsburg indicates that Postumus had been proclaimed emperor by September 260. Postumus claimed the consulship for himself and one of his associates, Honoratianus, but according to D.S. Potter, he never tried to unseat Gallienus or invade Italy.
Upon receiving news of the murder of his son, Gallienus began gathering forces to face Postumus. The invasion of the Macriani forced him to dispatch Aureolus with a large force to oppose them, however, leaving him with insufficient troops to battle Postumus. After some initial defeats, the army of Aureolus, having defeated the Macriani, rejoined him, and Postumus was expelled. Aureolus was entrusted with the pursuit and deliberately allowed Postumus to escape and gather new forces. Gallienus returned in 263 or 265 and surrounded Postumus in an unnamed Gallic city. During the siege, Gallienus was severely wounded by an arrow and had to flee. The standstill persisted until his later death, and the Gallic Empire remained independent until 274.
In 262, the mint in Alexandria started to again issue coins for Gallienus, demonstrating that Egypt had returned to his control after suppressing the revolt of the Macriani. In spring of 262, the city was wrenched by civil unrest as a result of a new revolt. The rebel this time was the prefect of Egypt, Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, who had already given support to the revolt of the Macriani. The correspondence of bishop Dionysius of Alexandria provides a commentary on the background of invasion, civil war, plague, and famine that characterized this age.
Knowing he could not afford to lose control of the vital Egyptian granaries, Gallienus sent his general Theodotus against Aemilianus, probably by a naval expedition. The decisive battle probably took place near Thebes, and the result was a clear defeat of Aemilianus. In the aftermath, Gallienus became Consul three more times in 262, 264, and 266.
In the years 267–269, Goths and other barbarians invaded the empire in great numbers. Sources are extremely confused on the dating of these invasions, the participants, and their targets. Modern historians are not even able to discern with certainty whether there were two or more of these invasions or a single prolonged one. It seems that, at first, a major naval expedition was led by the Heruli starting from north of the Black Sea and leading to the ravaging of many cities of Greece (among them, Athens and Sparta). Then another, even more numerous army of invaders started a second naval invasion of the empire. The Romans defeated the barbarians on sea first. Gallienus' army then won a battle in Thrace, and the emperor pursued the invaders. According to some historians, he was the leader of the army who won the great Battle of Naissus, while the majority believes that the victory must be attributed to his successor, Claudius II.
In 268, at some time before or soon after the battle of Naissus, the authority of Gallienus was challenged by Aureolus, commander of the cavalry stationed in Mediolanum (Milan), who was supposed to keep an eye on Postumus. Instead, he acted as deputy to Postumus until the very last days of his revolt, when he seems to have claimed the throne for himself. The decisive battle took place at what is now Pontirolo Nuovo near Milan; Aureolus was clearly defeated and driven back to Milan. Gallienus laid siege to the city but was murdered during the siege. There are differing accounts of the murder, but the sources agree that most of Gallienus' officials wanted him dead. According to the Historia Augusta, an unreliable source compiled long after the events it describes, a conspiracy was led by the commander of the guard Aurelius Heraclianus and Lucius Aurelius Marcianus. Marcianus's role in the conspiracy is not confirmed by any other ancient source.
Cecropius, commander of the Dalmatians, spread the word that the forces of Aureolus were leaving the city, and Gallienus left his tent without his bodyguard, only to be struck down by Cecropius. One version has Claudius selected as emperor by the conspirators, another chosen by Gallienus on his death bed; the Historia Augusta was concerned to substantiate the descent of the Constantinian dynasty from Claudius, and this may explain its accounts, which do not involve Claudius in the murder. The other sources (Zosimus i.40 and Zonaras xii.25) report that the conspiracy was organized by Heraclianus, Claudius, and Aurelian.
According to Aurelius Victor and Zonaras, on hearing the news that Gallienus was dead, the Senate in Rome ordered the execution of his family (including his brother Valerianus and son Marinianus) and their supporters, just before receiving a message from Claudius to spare their lives and deify his predecessor. The tomb of Gallienus is thought to be located to the south of Rome, at the IXth mile of the Via Appia.
Gallienus was not treated favorably by ancient historians. The biased and largely fictional account of that reign in the Historia Augusta describes him as a lover of luxury, who dressed in purple, sprinkled gold dust in his hair, and built castles of apples. Emperor Julian's The Caesars presents Gallienus "with the dress and languishing gait of a woman", which is possibly connected with coins portraying the emperor with unusual iconography and bearing the legend Gallienae Augustae. This animosity within the sources was partly due to the secession of Gaul and Palmyra and his inability to win them back; at the time of Gallienus' death, Palmyra was still nominally loyal to Rome, but, under the leadership of Odaenathus, was independent in nearly every other respect. Palmyra would formally secede after Odaenathus' death and the ascension of his widow Zenobia. It was not until the reign of Aurelian several years later that the breakaway provinces were truly brought back into the Roman fold. According to modern scholar Pat Southern, some historians now see Gallienus in a more positive light. Gallienus produced some useful reforms.
About 40 rare gold coins of Gallienus have been discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.
He contributed to military history as the first to commission primarily cavalry units, the Comitatenses, that could be dispatched anywhere in the Empire in short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the future emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The biographer Aurelius Victor reports that Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable equestrian commanders rose to prominence. In Southern's view, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the emperors most responsible for the creation of the Dominate, along with Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine I.
The capture of Valerian in the year 259 forced Gallienus to issue the first official declaration of tolerance with regard to the Christians, restoring their places of worship and cemeteries, therefore implying a recognition of the property of the Church. However, the edict did not turn Christianity into an official religion.
Gallienus was played by Franco Cobianchi in the 1964 film The Magnificent Gladiator. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (/ˌɡæliˈɛnəs/; c. 218 – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won numerous military victories against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor in September 253 and had the Roman Senate elevate Gallienus to the rank of Augustus. Valerian divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Lucius Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was assassinated, stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius, as part of a conspiracy.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The exact birth date of Gallienus is unknown. The 6th-century Greek chronicler John Malalas and the Epitome de Caesaribus report that he was about 50 years old at the time of his death, meaning he was born around 218. He was the son of Emperor Valerian and Mariniana, who may have been of senatorial rank, possibly the daughter of Egnatius Victor Marinianus, and his brother was Valerianus Minor. Inscriptions on coins connect him with Falerii in Etruria, which may have been his birthplace; it has yielded many inscriptions relating to his mother's family, the Egnatii. Gallienus married Cornelia Salonina about ten years before his accession to the throne. She was the mother of three princes: Valerian II, who died in 258; Saloninus, who was named co-emperor but was murdered in 260 by the army of general Postumus; and Marinianus, who was killed in 268, shortly after his father was assassinated.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "When Valerian was proclaimed emperor in September 253, he asked the Senate to ratify the elevation of Gallienus to Augustus. He was also designated consul ordinarius for 254. As Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius Verus had done a century earlier, Gallienus and his father divided the Empire. Valerian left for the East to stem the Persian threat, and Gallienus remained in Italy to repel the Germanic tribes on the Rhine and Danube. Division of the empire had become necessary due to its sheer size and the numerous threats it faced, and it facilitated negotiations with enemies who demanded to communicate directly with the emperor.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Gallienus spent most of his time in the provinces of the Rhine area (Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, Raetia, and Noricum), though he almost certainly visited the Danube area and Illyricum in the years from 253 to 258. According to Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, he was particularly energetic and successful in preventing invaders from attacking the German provinces and Gaul, despite the weakness caused by Valerian's march on Italy against Aemilianus in 253. According to numismatic evidence, he seems to have won many victories there, and a victory in Roman Dacia might also be dated to that period. Even the hostile Latin tradition attributes success to him at this time.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 255 or 257, Gallienus was made consul again, suggesting that he briefly visited Rome on those occasions, although no record survives. During his Danube sojourn (Drinkwater suggests in 255 or 256), he proclaimed his elder son Valerian II Caesar and thus official heir to himself and Valerian I; the boy probably joined Gallienus on campaign at that time, and when Gallienus moved west to the Rhine provinces in 257, he remained behind on the Danube as the personification of Imperial authority.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Sometime between 258 and 260 (the exact date is unclear), while Valerian was distracted with the ongoing invasion of Shapur I in the East, and Gallienus was preoccupied with his problems in the West, Ingenuus, governor of at least one of the Pannonian provinces, took advantage and declared himself emperor. Valerian II had apparently died on the Danube, most likely in 258. Ingenuus may have been responsible for Valerian II's death. Alternatively, the defeat and capture of Valerian at the battle of Edessa may have been the trigger for the subsequent revolts of Ingenuus, Regalianus, and Postumus. In any case, Gallienus reacted with great speed. He left his son Saloninus as Caesar at Cologne, under the supervision of Albanus (or Silvanus) and the military leadership of Postumus. He then hastily crossed the Balkans, taking with him the new cavalry corps (comitatus) under the command of Aureolus and defeated Ingenuus at Mursa or Sirmium. Ingenuus was killed by his own guards or committed suicide by drowning himself after the fall of his capital, Sirmium.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A major invasion by the Alemanni and other Germanic tribes occurred between 258 and 260 (it is hard to fix the precise date of these events), probably due to the vacuum left by the withdrawal of troops supporting Gallienus in the campaign against Ingenuus. Franks broke through the lower Rhine, invading Gaul, some reaching as far as southern Spain, sacking Tarraco (modern Tarragona). The Alemanni invaded, probably through Agri Decumates (an area between the upper Rhine and the upper Danube), likely followed by the Juthungi. After devastating Germania Superior and Raetia (parts of southern France and Switzerland), they entered Italy, the first invasion of the Italian peninsula, aside from its most remote northern regions, since Hannibal 500 years before. When invaders reached the outskirts of Rome, they were repelled by an improvised army assembled by the Senate, consisting of local troops (probably praetorian guards) and the strongest of the civilian population. On their retreat through northern Italy, they were intercepted and defeated in the battle of Mediolanum (near present-day Milan) by Gallienus' army, which had advanced from Gaul, or from the Balkans after dealing with the Franks. The battle of Mediolanum was decisive, and the Alemanni did not bother the empire for the next ten years. The Juthungi managed to cross the Alps with their valuables and captives from Italy. A historian in the 19th century suggested that the initiative of the Senate gave rise to jealousy and suspicion by Gallienus, thus contributing to his exclusion of senators from military commands.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Around the same time, Regalianus, who held some command in the Balkans, was proclaimed emperor. The reasons for this are unclear, and the Historia Augusta (almost the sole resource for these events) does not provide a credible story. It is possible the seizure can be attributed to the discontent of the civilian and military provincials, who felt the defense of the province was being neglected.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Regalianus held power for some six months and issued coins bearing his image. After some success against the Sarmatians, his revolt ended when the Roxolani invaded Pannonia and killed Regalianus in taking the city of Sirmium. There is a suggestion that Gallienus invited the Roxolani to attack Regalianus, but other historians dismiss the accusation. It is also suggested that the invasion was finally checked by Gallienus near Verona and that he directed the restoration of the province, probably in person.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In the East, Valerian was confronted with serious troubles. Bands of \"Scythai\" began a naval raid of Pontus, in the northern part of Asia Minor. After ravaging the province, they moved south into Cappadocia. A Roman army from Antioch, under Valerian, tried to intercept them but failed. According to Zosimus, this army was infected by a plague that gravely weakened it. In that condition, this army had to repel a new invasion of the province of Mesopotamia by Shapur I, ruler of the Sassanid Empire. The invasion occurred probably in the early spring of 260. The Roman army was defeated at the Battle of Edessa, and Valerian was taken prisoner. Shapur's army raided Cilicia and Cappadocia (in present-day Turkey), sacking, as Shapur's inscriptions claim, 36 cities.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "It took a rally by an officer named Callistus (Balista), a fiscal official named Fulvius Macrianus, the remnants of the Roman army in the east, and Odenathus and his Palmyrene horsemen to turn the tide against Shapur. The Sassanids were driven back, but Macrianus proclaimed his two sons Quietus and Macrianus (sometimes misspelled Macrinus) as emperors. Coins struck for them in major cities of the East indicate acknowledgement of the usurpation. The two Macriani left Quietus, Ballista, and, presumably, Odenathus to deal with the Persians while they invaded Europe with an army of 30,000 men, according to the Historia Augusta. At first they met no opposition.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The Pannonian legions joined the invaders, being resentful of the absence of Gallienus. He sent his successful commander Aureolus against the rebels, however, and the decisive battle was fought in the spring or early summer of 261, most likely in Illyricum, although Zonaras locates it in Pannonia. In any case, the army of the usurpers was defeated and surrendered, and their two leaders were killed.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In the aftermath of the battle, the rebellion of Postumus had already started, so Gallienus had no time to deal with the rest of the usurpers, namely Balista and Quietus. He came to an agreement with Odenathus, who had just returned from his victorious Persian expedition. Odenathus received the title of dux Romanorum and besieged the usurpers, who were based at Emesa. Eventually, the people of Emesa killed Quietus, and Odenathus arrested and executed Balista about November 261.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "After the defeat at Edessa, Gallienus lost control over the provinces of Britain, Spain, parts of Germania, and a large part of Gaul when another general, Postumus, declared his own realm (usually known today as the Gallic Empire). The revolt partially coincided with that of Macrianus in the East. Gallienus had installed his son Saloninus and his guardian, Silvanus, in Cologne in 258. Postumus, a general in command of troops on the banks of the Rhine, defeated some raiders and took possession of their spoils. Instead of returning it to the original owners, he preferred to distribute it amongst his soldiers. When news of this reached Silvanus, he demanded the spoils be sent to him. Postumus made a show of submission, but his soldiers mutinied and proclaimed him emperor. Under his command, they besieged Cologne, and after some weeks the defenders of the city opened the gates and handed Saloninus and Silvanus to Postumus, who had them killed. The dating of these events was long uncertain, but an inscription discovered in 1992 at Augsburg indicates that Postumus had been proclaimed emperor by September 260. Postumus claimed the consulship for himself and one of his associates, Honoratianus, but according to D.S. Potter, he never tried to unseat Gallienus or invade Italy.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Upon receiving news of the murder of his son, Gallienus began gathering forces to face Postumus. The invasion of the Macriani forced him to dispatch Aureolus with a large force to oppose them, however, leaving him with insufficient troops to battle Postumus. After some initial defeats, the army of Aureolus, having defeated the Macriani, rejoined him, and Postumus was expelled. Aureolus was entrusted with the pursuit and deliberately allowed Postumus to escape and gather new forces. Gallienus returned in 263 or 265 and surrounded Postumus in an unnamed Gallic city. During the siege, Gallienus was severely wounded by an arrow and had to flee. The standstill persisted until his later death, and the Gallic Empire remained independent until 274.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In 262, the mint in Alexandria started to again issue coins for Gallienus, demonstrating that Egypt had returned to his control after suppressing the revolt of the Macriani. In spring of 262, the city was wrenched by civil unrest as a result of a new revolt. The rebel this time was the prefect of Egypt, Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, who had already given support to the revolt of the Macriani. The correspondence of bishop Dionysius of Alexandria provides a commentary on the background of invasion, civil war, plague, and famine that characterized this age.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Knowing he could not afford to lose control of the vital Egyptian granaries, Gallienus sent his general Theodotus against Aemilianus, probably by a naval expedition. The decisive battle probably took place near Thebes, and the result was a clear defeat of Aemilianus. In the aftermath, Gallienus became Consul three more times in 262, 264, and 266.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In the years 267–269, Goths and other barbarians invaded the empire in great numbers. Sources are extremely confused on the dating of these invasions, the participants, and their targets. Modern historians are not even able to discern with certainty whether there were two or more of these invasions or a single prolonged one. It seems that, at first, a major naval expedition was led by the Heruli starting from north of the Black Sea and leading to the ravaging of many cities of Greece (among them, Athens and Sparta). Then another, even more numerous army of invaders started a second naval invasion of the empire. The Romans defeated the barbarians on sea first. Gallienus' army then won a battle in Thrace, and the emperor pursued the invaders. According to some historians, he was the leader of the army who won the great Battle of Naissus, while the majority believes that the victory must be attributed to his successor, Claudius II.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In 268, at some time before or soon after the battle of Naissus, the authority of Gallienus was challenged by Aureolus, commander of the cavalry stationed in Mediolanum (Milan), who was supposed to keep an eye on Postumus. Instead, he acted as deputy to Postumus until the very last days of his revolt, when he seems to have claimed the throne for himself. The decisive battle took place at what is now Pontirolo Nuovo near Milan; Aureolus was clearly defeated and driven back to Milan. Gallienus laid siege to the city but was murdered during the siege. There are differing accounts of the murder, but the sources agree that most of Gallienus' officials wanted him dead. According to the Historia Augusta, an unreliable source compiled long after the events it describes, a conspiracy was led by the commander of the guard Aurelius Heraclianus and Lucius Aurelius Marcianus. Marcianus's role in the conspiracy is not confirmed by any other ancient source.",
"title": "Rule"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Cecropius, commander of the Dalmatians, spread the word that the forces of Aureolus were leaving the city, and Gallienus left his tent without his bodyguard, only to be struck down by Cecropius. One version has Claudius selected as emperor by the conspirators, another chosen by Gallienus on his death bed; the Historia Augusta was concerned to substantiate the descent of the Constantinian dynasty from Claudius, and this may explain its accounts, which do not involve Claudius in the murder. The other sources (Zosimus i.40 and Zonaras xii.25) report that the conspiracy was organized by Heraclianus, Claudius, and Aurelian.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "According to Aurelius Victor and Zonaras, on hearing the news that Gallienus was dead, the Senate in Rome ordered the execution of his family (including his brother Valerianus and son Marinianus) and their supporters, just before receiving a message from Claudius to spare their lives and deify his predecessor. The tomb of Gallienus is thought to be located to the south of Rome, at the IXth mile of the Via Appia.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Gallienus was not treated favorably by ancient historians. The biased and largely fictional account of that reign in the Historia Augusta describes him as a lover of luxury, who dressed in purple, sprinkled gold dust in his hair, and built castles of apples. Emperor Julian's The Caesars presents Gallienus \"with the dress and languishing gait of a woman\", which is possibly connected with coins portraying the emperor with unusual iconography and bearing the legend Gallienae Augustae. This animosity within the sources was partly due to the secession of Gaul and Palmyra and his inability to win them back; at the time of Gallienus' death, Palmyra was still nominally loyal to Rome, but, under the leadership of Odaenathus, was independent in nearly every other respect. Palmyra would formally secede after Odaenathus' death and the ascension of his widow Zenobia. It was not until the reign of Aurelian several years later that the breakaway provinces were truly brought back into the Roman fold. According to modern scholar Pat Southern, some historians now see Gallienus in a more positive light. Gallienus produced some useful reforms.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "About 40 rare gold coins of Gallienus have been discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "He contributed to military history as the first to commission primarily cavalry units, the Comitatenses, that could be dispatched anywhere in the Empire in short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the future emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The biographer Aurelius Victor reports that Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable equestrian commanders rose to prominence. In Southern's view, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the emperors most responsible for the creation of the Dominate, along with Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine I.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The capture of Valerian in the year 259 forced Gallienus to issue the first official declaration of tolerance with regard to the Christians, restoring their places of worship and cemeteries, therefore implying a recognition of the property of the Church. However, the edict did not turn Christianity into an official religion.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Gallienus was played by Franco Cobianchi in the 1964 film The Magnificent Gladiator.",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He won numerous military victories against usurpers and Germanic tribes, but was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest in half a century. Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor in September 253 and had the Roman Senate elevate Gallienus to the rank of Augustus. Valerian divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259. The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Lucius Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was assassinated, stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius, as part of a conspiracy. | 2001-10-02T21:41:19Z | 2023-12-17T16:17:24Z | [
"Template:Further",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:S-reg",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:Tree chart/start",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:Roman emperors",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Wikisourcehas",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:S-off",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Tree chart/end",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Isbn",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:S-start",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:Infobox royalty",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Sfnp",
"Template:Tree chart"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallienus |
12,679 | Gambeson | A gambeson (also aketon, padded jack, pourpoint, or arming doublet) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting that produced a padded cloth. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be, for example, scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces on the front.
An arming doublet (also called aketon) worn under armour, particularly plate armour of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, contains arming points for attaching plates. Fifteenth-century examples may include mail goussets sewn into the elbows and armpits, to protect the wearer in locations not covered by plate. German gothic armour arming doublets were generally shorter than Italian white armour doublets, which could extend to the upper thigh. In late fifteenth-century Italy, this also became a civilian fashion. Men who were not knights wore arming doublets, probably because the garment suggested status and chivalry.
The term gambeson is a loan from the Old French gambeson, gambaison, originally wambais, formed after the Middle High German term wambeis, 'doublet', in turn from Old High German wamba, 'stomach' (cognate to womb).
The term aketon, originally the medieval French alcottonem, might be a loan from Arabic al-qutn, meaning 'cotton' (definite article – "the cotton").
In medieval Norse, the garment was known as vápntreyja, literally 'weapon shirt', or panzari/panzer. Treyja is a loan from (Middle) Low German. Panzari/panzer is probably also a loan from Middle Low German, though the word has its likely origin in Italian, and is related to the Latin pantex, meaning 'abdomen', cognate with English paunch.
Open, quilted leather jackets and trousers were worn by Scythian horsemen before the 4th century BC, as can be seen on Scythian gold ornaments crafted by Greek goldsmiths. As stand-alone cloth armour, the European gambeson can be traced at least to the late tenth century, but it is likely to have been in use in various forms for longer than that. In Europe, its use became widespread in the thirteenth century, and peaked in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The gambeson was used both as a complete armour unto itself, and underneath mail and plate in order to cushion the body and prevent chafing. Evidence for its use under armour does not appear until the mid-twelfth century. It was very insulating and thus uncomfortable, but its protection was vital for the soldier.
Although they are thought to have been used in Europe much earlier, gambesons underwent a revolution from their first proven use (in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries) as an independent item of armour to one that facilitated the wearing of mail, but they remained popular amongst infantry as cloth armour. Although quilted armour survived into the English Civil War in England as a poor man's cuirass, and as an item to be worn beneath the few remaining suits of full plate, it was increasingly replaced by the 'buff coat' – a leather jacket of rough suede.
There are two distinctive designs of gambeson: those designed to be worn beneath armour, and those designed to be worn as independent armour. The latter tend to be thicker and higher in the collar and faced with other materials, such as leather or heavy canvas. This variant is usually referred to as padded jack and made of several (some say around 18, some even 30) layers of cotton, linen or wool. These jacks were known to stop even heavy arrows, and their design of multiple layers bears a striking resemblance to modern-day body armour, which used at first silk, then ballistic nylon and later, Kevlar as its fabric.
For common soldiers who could not afford mail or plate armour, the gambeson, combined with a helmet as the only additional protection, remained a common sight on European battlefields during the entire Middle Ages, and its decline – paralleling that of plate armour – came only with the Renaissance, as the use of firearms became more widespread. By the eighteenth century, it was no longer in military use.
While the use of linen in these jackets has been proven by archaeological evidence, the use of cotton – and cotton-based canvas – is disputed, since large amounts of cotton cloth were not widely available in Northern Europe at this time. It is quite probable that Egypt (and Asia Minor generally) still produced cotton well after the 7th and 8th centuries, and knowledge (and samples) of this cloth was brought to Europe by the returning Crusaders; however, the logistics and expense of equipping a town militia or army with large numbers of cotton-based garments make its usage doubtful when flax-based textiles (linen) were in widespread use.
Linothorax was a type of armour similar to gambeson, used by ancient Greeks. Meanwhile, the Mesoamericans were known to have used a kind of quilted textile armour called Ichcahuipilli before the arrival of the Spaniards. Another example is the bullet-resistant Myeonje baegab that was created during Korea's Joseon Dynasty in an attempt to confront the effects of Western rifles. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A gambeson (also aketon, padded jack, pourpoint, or arming doublet) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting that produced a padded cloth. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be, for example, scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces on the front.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "An arming doublet (also called aketon) worn under armour, particularly plate armour of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, contains arming points for attaching plates. Fifteenth-century examples may include mail goussets sewn into the elbows and armpits, to protect the wearer in locations not covered by plate. German gothic armour arming doublets were generally shorter than Italian white armour doublets, which could extend to the upper thigh. In late fifteenth-century Italy, this also became a civilian fashion. Men who were not knights wore arming doublets, probably because the garment suggested status and chivalry.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The term gambeson is a loan from the Old French gambeson, gambaison, originally wambais, formed after the Middle High German term wambeis, 'doublet', in turn from Old High German wamba, 'stomach' (cognate to womb).",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term aketon, originally the medieval French alcottonem, might be a loan from Arabic al-qutn, meaning 'cotton' (definite article – \"the cotton\").",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In medieval Norse, the garment was known as vápntreyja, literally 'weapon shirt', or panzari/panzer. Treyja is a loan from (Middle) Low German. Panzari/panzer is probably also a loan from Middle Low German, though the word has its likely origin in Italian, and is related to the Latin pantex, meaning 'abdomen', cognate with English paunch.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Open, quilted leather jackets and trousers were worn by Scythian horsemen before the 4th century BC, as can be seen on Scythian gold ornaments crafted by Greek goldsmiths. As stand-alone cloth armour, the European gambeson can be traced at least to the late tenth century, but it is likely to have been in use in various forms for longer than that. In Europe, its use became widespread in the thirteenth century, and peaked in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The gambeson was used both as a complete armour unto itself, and underneath mail and plate in order to cushion the body and prevent chafing. Evidence for its use under armour does not appear until the mid-twelfth century. It was very insulating and thus uncomfortable, but its protection was vital for the soldier.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Although they are thought to have been used in Europe much earlier, gambesons underwent a revolution from their first proven use (in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries) as an independent item of armour to one that facilitated the wearing of mail, but they remained popular amongst infantry as cloth armour. Although quilted armour survived into the English Civil War in England as a poor man's cuirass, and as an item to be worn beneath the few remaining suits of full plate, it was increasingly replaced by the 'buff coat' – a leather jacket of rough suede.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "There are two distinctive designs of gambeson: those designed to be worn beneath armour, and those designed to be worn as independent armour. The latter tend to be thicker and higher in the collar and faced with other materials, such as leather or heavy canvas. This variant is usually referred to as padded jack and made of several (some say around 18, some even 30) layers of cotton, linen or wool. These jacks were known to stop even heavy arrows, and their design of multiple layers bears a striking resemblance to modern-day body armour, which used at first silk, then ballistic nylon and later, Kevlar as its fabric.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "For common soldiers who could not afford mail or plate armour, the gambeson, combined with a helmet as the only additional protection, remained a common sight on European battlefields during the entire Middle Ages, and its decline – paralleling that of plate armour – came only with the Renaissance, as the use of firearms became more widespread. By the eighteenth century, it was no longer in military use.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "While the use of linen in these jackets has been proven by archaeological evidence, the use of cotton – and cotton-based canvas – is disputed, since large amounts of cotton cloth were not widely available in Northern Europe at this time. It is quite probable that Egypt (and Asia Minor generally) still produced cotton well after the 7th and 8th centuries, and knowledge (and samples) of this cloth was brought to Europe by the returning Crusaders; however, the logistics and expense of equipping a town militia or army with large numbers of cotton-based garments make its usage doubtful when flax-based textiles (linen) were in widespread use.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Linothorax was a type of armour similar to gambeson, used by ancient Greeks. Meanwhile, the Mesoamericans were known to have used a kind of quilted textile armour called Ichcahuipilli before the arrival of the Spaniards. Another example is the bullet-resistant Myeonje baegab that was created during Korea's Joseon Dynasty in an attempt to confront the effects of Western rifles.",
"title": "History"
}
]
| A gambeson is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting that produced a padded cloth. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be, for example, scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces on the front. An arming doublet worn under armour, particularly plate armour of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, contains arming points for attaching plates. Fifteenth-century examples may include mail goussets sewn into the elbows and armpits, to protect the wearer in locations not covered by plate. German gothic armour arming doublets were generally shorter than Italian white armour doublets, which could extend to the upper thigh. In late fifteenth-century Italy, this also became a civilian fashion. Men who were not knights wore arming doublets, probably because the garment suggested status and chivalry. | 2001-10-08T09:42:57Z | 2023-12-14T20:18:21Z | [
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite OED",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Types of armour",
"Template:Elements of Medieval armour",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:Em",
"Template:Cite dictionary",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Short description"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambeson |
12,681 | Geography of Afghanistan | Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous country located on the Iranian Plateau, at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. The country is the 40th largest in the world in size. Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. With a location at the intersection of major trade routes, Afghanistan has attracted a succession of invaders since the sixth century BCE.
Afghanistan contains most of the Hindu Kush. There are a number of major rivers in the country, including Amu Darya, Arghandab, Farah, Hari, Helmand, Kabul, Kokcha, and Kunar. The country also possesses many smaller rivers as well as streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and springs. Most of its fresh water has been historically flowing into neighboring countries.
Rainfall in Afghanistan is very scarce, and mainly only affects the northern highlands, arriving in March and April. Rainfall in the more arid lowlands is rare, and can be very unpredictable. Marked characteristics are the great differences of summer and winter temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent to which change of climate can be attained by slight change of place. The Afghan climate is a dry one. The sun shines for three-fourths of the year, and the nights are clearer than the days.
Taking the highlands of the country as a whole, there is no great difference between the mean temperature of Afghanistan and that of the lower Himalaya. However, a remarkable feature of the Afghan climate is its extreme temperature range within limited periods. The smallest daily range in the north is when the weather is cold; the greatest is when it is hot. For seven months of the year (from May to November) this range exceeds 17 °C (31 °F) daily. Waves of intense cold occur, lasting for several days, and one may have to endure temperatures of −24 °C (−11 °F), rising to a maximum of −8 °C (18 °F). At Ghazni the snow has been known to stay long beyond the vernal equinox; the temperatures sink as low as −25 °C (−13 °F). Oral tradition tells of the destruction of the entire population of Ghazni by snowstorms on more than one occasion. On the other hand, the summer temperature is exceedingly high, especially in the Oxus regions, where a shade maximum of 45–50 °C (113–122 °F) is not uncommon.
The summer heat is strong in the Sistan Basin, Jalalabad and Turkestan. The simoom wind occurs in Kandahar province during the summer. The hot season is rendered more intense by frequent dust storms and strong winds; whilst the bare rocky ridges that traverse the country, absorbing heat by day and radiating it by night, render the summer nights most oppressive. In Kabul the heat is tempered occasionally by cool breezes from the Hindu Kush, and the nights are usually cool. In Kandahar snow seldom falls on the plains or lower hills; when it does, it melts at once.
The combination of hot summers and bitterly cold winters has been noted comparable to the U.S. state of Wyoming.
The summer rains that accompany the southwest monsoon in India, beat along the southern slopes of the Himalaya, and travel up the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, though they are more clearly felt in Bajour and Panjkora, under the Hindu Kush, and in the eastern branches of Safed Koh. Rain also falls at this season at the head of Kurram valley. South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as the western limit of the monsoon's action. It is not felt in the rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in the rest of western Asia, the winter rains and snow are the most considerable. The spring rain, though less copious, is more important to agriculture than the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the form of snow. In the absence of monsoon influences there are steadier weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable feature, and their influence is clearly felt on the Indian frontier.
The Hindu Kush mountain range reaches a height of 7,492 m (24,580 ft) at Noshaq, Afghanistan's highest peak. Of the ranges extending southwestward from the Hindu Kush, the Foladi peak (Shah Foladi) of the Baba mountain range (Koh-i-Baba) reaches the greatest height: 5,142 m (16,870 ft). The Safed Koh range, which includes the Tora Bora area, dominates the border area southeast of Kabul.
Important passes include the Unai Pass across the Safed Koh, the Kushan and Salang Passes through the Hindu Kush, and the Khyber Pass that connects Afghanistan with Pakistan. The summit of the Khyber Pass at 1,070 m (3,510 ft) at Landi Kotal, Pakistan is 5 km (3 mi) east of the border town of Torkham. Other key passages through the mountainous Pakistan border include two from Paktika Province into Pakistan's Waziristan region: one at Angoor Ada, and one further south at the Gumal River crossing, plus the Charkai River passage south of Khost, Afghanistan, at Pakistan's Ghulam Khan village into North Waziristan. The busy Pak-Afghan border crossing at Wesh, Afghanistan is in a flat and dry area, though this route involves Pakistan's Khojak Pass at 2,707 m (8,881 ft) just 14 km (9 mi) from the border. The border connects Kandahar and Spin Boldak in Afghanistan with Quetta in Pakistan.
The Wakhan Corridor in the northeast lies eastward of the province of Panjshir, between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains, which leads to the Wakhjir Pass into Xinjiang in China. In Kabul, and over all the northern part of the country to the descent at Gandamak, winter is rigorous, especially so on the high Arachosian plateau.
Although Herat is approximately 240 m (787 ft) lower than Kandahar, the summer climate there is more temperate along with the yearly climate. From May to September, the wind blows from the northwest with great force, and this extends across the country to Kandahar. The winter is mild; snow melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze hard enough for the people to store ice. Yet, it was not very far from Herat, in Rafir Kala, in 1750, where Ahmad Shah's army, retreating from Persia, is said to have lost 18,000 men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat districts records of the coldest month (February) show the mean minimum as −8 °C (18 °F) and the maximum as 3 °C (37 °F). The eastern reaches of the Hari River, including the rapids, are frozen hard in the winter, and people travel on it as on a road.
Afghanistan receives snow between November and March, which gradually melts into numerous rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and springs, but most of the country's fresh water continues to flow into neighboring countries. It loses about two-thirds of its water to neighboring Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The nation's drainage system is largely landlocked.
The characteristic distribution of vegetation on the mountains of Afghanistan is worthy of attention. The great mass of it is confined to the main ranges and their immediate offshoots, whilst on the more distant and terminal prolongations it is almost entirely absent; in fact, these are naked rock and stone. On the Safed Koh alpine range itself and its immediate branches, at a height of 1,800–3,000 m (5,900–9,800 ft) there is abundant growth of large forest trees, among which conifers are the most noble and prominent, such as Cedrus deodara, Abies excelsa, Pinus longifolia, Pinus pinaster, Stone pine (the edible pine, although this species is probably introduced, since it is original to Spain and Portugal) and the larch. There is also the yew, the hazel, juniper, walnut, wild peach and almond. Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn, rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of genera. The lemon and wild vine are also here met with, but are more common on the northern mountains. The walnut and oak (evergreen, holly-leaved and kermes) descend to the secondary heights, where they become mixed with alder, ash, khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, with species of Astragalus. Here also are Indigoferae rind dwarf laburnum.
Down to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) there are wild olive, species of rock-rose, wild privet, acacias and mimosas, barberry and Zizyphus; and in the eastern ramifications of the chain, Nannerops ritchiana (which is applied to a variety of useful purposes), Bignonia or trumpet flower, sissu, Salvadora persica, verbena, acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae.
The lowest terminal ridges, especially towards the west, are, as it has been said, naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost non-existent. Labiate, composite and umbelliferous plants are most common. Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges.
In the low brushwood scattered over portions of the dreary plains of the Kandahar tablelands, it is possible to find leguminous thorny plants of the papilionaceous suborder, such as camel-thorn (Hedysarum alhagi), Astragalus in several varieties, spiny rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa), the fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-brush; plants of the sub-order Mimosae, as the sensitive mimosa; a plant of the rue family, called by the natives lipad; the common wormwood; also certain orchids, and several species of Salsola. The rue and wormwood are in general use as domestic medicines—the former for rheumatism and neuralgia; the latter in fever, debility and dyspepsia, as well as for a vermifuge. The lipad, owing to its heavy nauseous odour, is believed to keep off evil spirits. In some places, occupying the sides and hollows of ravines, it is found the Rose Bay, called in Persian khar-zarah, or ass-bane, the wild laburnum and various Indigoferae.
In the last several decades, 90% of forests in Afghanistan have been destroyed and much of the timber has been exported to neighboring Pakistan. As a result, large percent of Afghanistan's land could be subject to soil erosion and desertification. On the positive note, the Karzai administration and international organizations are helping counter this problem by often planting millions of saplings. Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10, ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous country located on the Iranian Plateau, at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. The country is the 40th largest in the world in size. Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. With a location at the intersection of major trade routes, Afghanistan has attracted a succession of invaders since the sixth century BCE.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Afghanistan contains most of the Hindu Kush. There are a number of major rivers in the country, including Amu Darya, Arghandab, Farah, Hari, Helmand, Kabul, Kokcha, and Kunar. The country also possesses many smaller rivers as well as streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and springs. Most of its fresh water has been historically flowing into neighboring countries.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Rainfall in Afghanistan is very scarce, and mainly only affects the northern highlands, arriving in March and April. Rainfall in the more arid lowlands is rare, and can be very unpredictable. Marked characteristics are the great differences of summer and winter temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent to which change of climate can be attained by slight change of place. The Afghan climate is a dry one. The sun shines for three-fourths of the year, and the nights are clearer than the days.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Taking the highlands of the country as a whole, there is no great difference between the mean temperature of Afghanistan and that of the lower Himalaya. However, a remarkable feature of the Afghan climate is its extreme temperature range within limited periods. The smallest daily range in the north is when the weather is cold; the greatest is when it is hot. For seven months of the year (from May to November) this range exceeds 17 °C (31 °F) daily. Waves of intense cold occur, lasting for several days, and one may have to endure temperatures of −24 °C (−11 °F), rising to a maximum of −8 °C (18 °F). At Ghazni the snow has been known to stay long beyond the vernal equinox; the temperatures sink as low as −25 °C (−13 °F). Oral tradition tells of the destruction of the entire population of Ghazni by snowstorms on more than one occasion. On the other hand, the summer temperature is exceedingly high, especially in the Oxus regions, where a shade maximum of 45–50 °C (113–122 °F) is not uncommon.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The summer heat is strong in the Sistan Basin, Jalalabad and Turkestan. The simoom wind occurs in Kandahar province during the summer. The hot season is rendered more intense by frequent dust storms and strong winds; whilst the bare rocky ridges that traverse the country, absorbing heat by day and radiating it by night, render the summer nights most oppressive. In Kabul the heat is tempered occasionally by cool breezes from the Hindu Kush, and the nights are usually cool. In Kandahar snow seldom falls on the plains or lower hills; when it does, it melts at once.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The combination of hot summers and bitterly cold winters has been noted comparable to the U.S. state of Wyoming.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The summer rains that accompany the southwest monsoon in India, beat along the southern slopes of the Himalaya, and travel up the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, though they are more clearly felt in Bajour and Panjkora, under the Hindu Kush, and in the eastern branches of Safed Koh. Rain also falls at this season at the head of Kurram valley. South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as the western limit of the monsoon's action. It is not felt in the rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in the rest of western Asia, the winter rains and snow are the most considerable. The spring rain, though less copious, is more important to agriculture than the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the form of snow. In the absence of monsoon influences there are steadier weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable feature, and their influence is clearly felt on the Indian frontier.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The Hindu Kush mountain range reaches a height of 7,492 m (24,580 ft) at Noshaq, Afghanistan's highest peak. Of the ranges extending southwestward from the Hindu Kush, the Foladi peak (Shah Foladi) of the Baba mountain range (Koh-i-Baba) reaches the greatest height: 5,142 m (16,870 ft). The Safed Koh range, which includes the Tora Bora area, dominates the border area southeast of Kabul.",
"title": "Mountain systems"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Important passes include the Unai Pass across the Safed Koh, the Kushan and Salang Passes through the Hindu Kush, and the Khyber Pass that connects Afghanistan with Pakistan. The summit of the Khyber Pass at 1,070 m (3,510 ft) at Landi Kotal, Pakistan is 5 km (3 mi) east of the border town of Torkham. Other key passages through the mountainous Pakistan border include two from Paktika Province into Pakistan's Waziristan region: one at Angoor Ada, and one further south at the Gumal River crossing, plus the Charkai River passage south of Khost, Afghanistan, at Pakistan's Ghulam Khan village into North Waziristan. The busy Pak-Afghan border crossing at Wesh, Afghanistan is in a flat and dry area, though this route involves Pakistan's Khojak Pass at 2,707 m (8,881 ft) just 14 km (9 mi) from the border. The border connects Kandahar and Spin Boldak in Afghanistan with Quetta in Pakistan.",
"title": "Mountain systems"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Wakhan Corridor in the northeast lies eastward of the province of Panjshir, between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains, which leads to the Wakhjir Pass into Xinjiang in China. In Kabul, and over all the northern part of the country to the descent at Gandamak, winter is rigorous, especially so on the high Arachosian plateau.",
"title": "Mountain systems"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Although Herat is approximately 240 m (787 ft) lower than Kandahar, the summer climate there is more temperate along with the yearly climate. From May to September, the wind blows from the northwest with great force, and this extends across the country to Kandahar. The winter is mild; snow melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze hard enough for the people to store ice. Yet, it was not very far from Herat, in Rafir Kala, in 1750, where Ahmad Shah's army, retreating from Persia, is said to have lost 18,000 men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat districts records of the coldest month (February) show the mean minimum as −8 °C (18 °F) and the maximum as 3 °C (37 °F). The eastern reaches of the Hari River, including the rapids, are frozen hard in the winter, and people travel on it as on a road.",
"title": "Mountain systems"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Afghanistan receives snow between November and March, which gradually melts into numerous rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and springs, but most of the country's fresh water continues to flow into neighboring countries. It loses about two-thirds of its water to neighboring Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.",
"title": "Rivers, streams and lakes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The nation's drainage system is largely landlocked.",
"title": "Rivers, streams and lakes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The characteristic distribution of vegetation on the mountains of Afghanistan is worthy of attention. The great mass of it is confined to the main ranges and their immediate offshoots, whilst on the more distant and terminal prolongations it is almost entirely absent; in fact, these are naked rock and stone. On the Safed Koh alpine range itself and its immediate branches, at a height of 1,800–3,000 m (5,900–9,800 ft) there is abundant growth of large forest trees, among which conifers are the most noble and prominent, such as Cedrus deodara, Abies excelsa, Pinus longifolia, Pinus pinaster, Stone pine (the edible pine, although this species is probably introduced, since it is original to Spain and Portugal) and the larch. There is also the yew, the hazel, juniper, walnut, wild peach and almond. Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn, rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of genera. The lemon and wild vine are also here met with, but are more common on the northern mountains. The walnut and oak (evergreen, holly-leaved and kermes) descend to the secondary heights, where they become mixed with alder, ash, khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, with species of Astragalus. Here also are Indigoferae rind dwarf laburnum.",
"title": "Vegetation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Down to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) there are wild olive, species of rock-rose, wild privet, acacias and mimosas, barberry and Zizyphus; and in the eastern ramifications of the chain, Nannerops ritchiana (which is applied to a variety of useful purposes), Bignonia or trumpet flower, sissu, Salvadora persica, verbena, acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae.",
"title": "Vegetation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The lowest terminal ridges, especially towards the west, are, as it has been said, naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost non-existent. Labiate, composite and umbelliferous plants are most common. Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges.",
"title": "Vegetation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In the low brushwood scattered over portions of the dreary plains of the Kandahar tablelands, it is possible to find leguminous thorny plants of the papilionaceous suborder, such as camel-thorn (Hedysarum alhagi), Astragalus in several varieties, spiny rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa), the fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-brush; plants of the sub-order Mimosae, as the sensitive mimosa; a plant of the rue family, called by the natives lipad; the common wormwood; also certain orchids, and several species of Salsola. The rue and wormwood are in general use as domestic medicines—the former for rheumatism and neuralgia; the latter in fever, debility and dyspepsia, as well as for a vermifuge. The lipad, owing to its heavy nauseous odour, is believed to keep off evil spirits. In some places, occupying the sides and hollows of ravines, it is found the Rose Bay, called in Persian khar-zarah, or ass-bane, the wild laburnum and various Indigoferae.",
"title": "Vegetation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In the last several decades, 90% of forests in Afghanistan have been destroyed and much of the timber has been exported to neighboring Pakistan. As a result, large percent of Afghanistan's land could be subject to soil erosion and desertification. On the positive note, the Karzai administration and international organizations are helping counter this problem by often planting millions of saplings. Afghanistan had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.85/10, ranking it 15th globally out of 172 countries.",
"title": "Vegetation"
}
]
| Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous country located on the Iranian Plateau, at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. The country is the 40th largest in the world in size. Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. With a location at the intersection of major trade routes, Afghanistan has attracted a succession of invaders since the sixth century BCE. Afghanistan contains most of the Hindu Kush. There are a number of major rivers in the country, including Amu Darya, Arghandab, Farah, Hari, Helmand, Kabul, Kokcha, and Kunar. The country also possesses many smaller rivers as well as streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and springs. Most of its fresh water has been historically flowing into neighboring countries. | 2001-11-06T09:03:14Z | 2023-12-11T17:59:52Z | [
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Weather box",
"Template:Unsourced section",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Afghanistan topics",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Asia topic",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:GeoSouthAsia",
"Template:Country geography",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Geography of Asia"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Afghanistan |
12,683 | Gauntlet | Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to: | 2023-04-23T03:27:59Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Lookfrom",
"Template:Intitle",
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauntlet |
|
12,684 | Grand jury | A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.
Originating in England during the Middle Ages, grand juries are retained in only two countries, the United States and Liberia. Other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most others now employ a different procedure, referred to as a preliminary hearing, that does not involve a jury. Grand juries perform both accusatory and investigatory functions. The investigatory functions of grand juries include obtaining and reviewing documents and other evidence, and hearing sworn testimonies of witnesses who appear before it; the accusatory function determines whether there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a particular offense within the venue of a district court.
In Ireland, for a period, they also functioned as local government authorities:
"They fixed the salaries of public officers; they regulated prisons and houses of correction; they levied funds for the support of hospitals; they made and repaired roads and bridges, and they framed accounts of the expenses incurred in these matters... They determined what public works should be undertaken — what price should be paid for them, and who were the individuals that should undertake them, and be responsible for their completion. They settled the amount of the local taxation of the county, and, under their direction, it was levied from the actual occupiers of the land."
In Japan, the Law of July 12, 1948, created the Kensatsu Shinsakai (Prosecutorial Review Commission or PRC system), inspired by the American system.
The grand jury (from the French word grand meaning "large") is so named because traditionally it has more jurors than a trial jury, sometimes called a petit jury (from the French word petit meaning "small"). A grand jury in the United States is usually composed of 16 to 23 citizens, though in Virginia it has fewer members for regular or special grand juries.
The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of a crime, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. Traditionally, a grand jury consists of 23 members.
The mode of accusation is by a written statement of two types:
No indictment or presentment can be made except by concurrence of at least twelve of the jurors. The grand jury may accuse upon their own knowledge, but it is generally done upon the testimony of witnesses under oath and other evidence heard before them. Grand jury proceedings are, in the first instance, at the instigation of the government or other prosecutors, and ex parte and in secret deliberation. The accused has no knowledge nor right to interfere with their proceedings.
If they find the accusation true, which is usually drawn up in form by the prosecutor or an officer of the court, they write upon the indictment the words "a true bill" which is signed by the foreperson of the grand jury and presented to the court publicly in the presence of all the jurors. If the indictment is not proven to the satisfaction of the grand jury, the word ignoramus or "not a true bill" is written upon it by the grand jury, or by their foreman and then said to be ignored, and the accusation is dismissed as unfounded; the potential defendant is said to have been "no-billed" by the grand jury. If the grand jury returns an indictment as a true bill (billa vera), the indictment is said to be founded and the party to stand indicted and required to be put on trial.
The first instance of a grand jury can be traced back to the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, an Act of Henry II of England. Henry's chief impact on the development of the English monarchy was to increase the jurisdiction of the royal courts at the expense of the feudal courts. Itinerant justices on regular circuits were sent out once each year to enforce the "King's Peace". To make this system of royal criminal justice more effective, Henry employed the method of inquest used by William the Conqueror in the Domesday Book. In each shire, a body of important men were sworn (juré) to report to the sheriff all crimes committed since the last session of the circuit court. Thus originated the more recent grand jury that presents information for an indictment. The grand jury was later recognized by King John in Magna Carta in 1215 on demand of the nobility.
The grand jury can be said to have "celebrated" its 800th birthday in 2015, because a precursor to the grand jury is defined in Article 61, the longest of the 63 articles of Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin: "the Great Charter of Liberties") executed on 15 June 1215 by King John and by the Barons. The document was primarily composed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (1150–1228). He and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed schemas for the division of the Bible into chapters and it is the system of Archbishop Langton which prevailed. He was a Biblical scholar, and the concept of the grand jury may possibly derive from Deuteronomy 25:1: "If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked." (King James Version) Thus the grand jury has been described as the "Shield and the Sword" of the People: as a "Shield for the People" from abusive indictments of the government – or malicious indictments of individuals – and as the "Sword of the People" to cut away crime by any private individual; or to cut away crime by any public servant, whether in the judicial, executive, or legislative branches.
On 2 July 1681, a popular statesman, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury was arrested on suspicion of high treason and committed to the Tower of London. He immediately petitioned the Old Bailey on a writ of habeas corpus, but the Old Bailey said it did not have jurisdiction over prisoners in the Tower of London, so Cooper had to wait for the next session of the Court of King's Bench. Cooper moved for a writ of habeas corpus on 24 October 1681, and his case finally came before a grand jury on 24 November 1681.
The government's case against Cooper was particularly weak – the government admitted that most of the witnesses brought against Cooper had already perjured themselves, and the documentary evidence was inconclusive, and the jury was handpicked by the Whig Sheriff of London. For these reasons the government had little chance of securing a conviction, and on 13 February 1682, the case was dropped when the grand jury issued an ignoramus bill (a finding of deficient evidence), rather than comply with the king's intent of a true bill (a grand jury indictment).
The grand jury's theoretical function against abuse of executive power was seen during the Watergate scandal. In United States v. Nixon, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled eight-to-zero on 23 July 1974 (Justice William Rehnquist who had been appointed by Nixon recused himself from the case) that executive privilege applied only to the legislative and judicial branches – and not to grand jury subpoenas – thus implying a grand jury constituted protections equivalent to a "fourth branch of government". The second Watergate grand jury indicted seven lawyers in the White House, including former Attorney General John Mitchell, and named President Nixon as a "secret, un-indicted, co-conspirator". Despite evading impeachment by resigning from office, Nixon was still required to testify before a grand jury.
Similarly, in 1998, President Clinton became the first sitting president required to testify before a grand jury as the subject of an investigation by the Office of Independent Counsel. The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary's alleged involvement in several scandals including Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm. Revelations from the investigation sparked a battle in Congress over whether or not to impeach Clinton.
The sheriff of every county was required to return to every quarter sessions and assizes (or more precisely the commission of oyer and terminer and of gaol delivery), 24 men of the county "to inquire into, present, do and execute all those things which, on the part of our Lord the King (or our Lady the Queen), shall then be commanded them". Grand jurors at the assizes or at the borough quarter sessions did not have property qualifications; but, at the county quarter sessions, they had the same property qualification as petty jurors. However, at the assizes, the grand jury generally consisted of gentlemen of high standing in the county.
After the court was opened by the crier making proclamation, the names of those summoned to the grand jury were called and they were sworn. They numbered at least 14 and not more than 23. The person presiding (the judge at the assizes, the chairman at the county sessions, the recorder at the borough sessions) gave the charge to the grand jury, i.e. he directed their attention to points in the various cases about to be considered which required explanation.
The charge having been delivered, the grand jury withdrew to their own room, having received the bills of indictment. The witnesses whose names were endorsed on each bill were sworn as they came to be examined, in the grand jury room, the oath being administered by the foreman, who wrote his initials against the name of the witness on the back of the bill. Only the witnesses for the prosecution were examined, as the function of the grand jury was merely to inquire whether there was sufficient ground to put the accused on trial. If the majority of them (and at least 12) thought that the evidence so adduced made out a sufficient case, the words "a true bill" were endorsed on the back of the bill. If they were of the opposite opinion, the phrase "not a true bill", or the single Latin word ignoramus ("we do not know" or "we are ignorant (of)"), was endorsed instead and the bill was said to be "ignored" or thrown out. They could find a true bill as to the charge in one count, and ignore that in another; or as to one defendant and not as to another; but they could not, like a petty jury, return a special or conditional finding, or select part of a count as true and reject the other part. When some bills were "found", some of the jurors came out and handed the bills to the clerk of arraigns (in assizes) or clerk of the peace, who announced to the court the name of the prisoner, the charge, and the endorsements of the grand jury. They then retired and considered other bills until all were disposed of; after which they were discharged by the judge, chairman, or recorder.
If a bill was thrown out, although it could not again be referred to the grand jury during the same assizes or sessions, it could be preferred at subsequent assizes or sessions, but not in respect of the same offense if a petty jury had returned a verdict.
Ordinarily, bills of indictment were preferred after there had been an examination before the magistrates. But this need not always take place. With certain exceptions, any person would prefer a bill of indictment against another before the grand jury without any previous inquiry into the truth of the accusation before a magistrate. This right was at one time universal and was often abused. A substantial check was put on this abuse by the Vexatious Indictments Act 1859. This Act provided that for certain offences which it listed (perjury, libel, etc.), the person presenting such an indictment must be bound by recognizance to prosecute or give evidence against the accused, or alternatively had judicial permission (as specified) so to do.
If an indictment was found in the absence of the accused, and he/she was not in custody and had not been bound over to appear at assizes or sessions, then process was issued to bring that person into court, as it is contrary to the English law to "try" an indictment in the absence of the accused.
The grand jury's functions were gradually made redundant by the development of committal proceedings in magistrates' courts from 1848 onward when the (three) Jervis Acts, such as the Justices Protection Act 1848, codified and greatly expanded the functions of magistrates in pre-trial proceedings; these proceedings developed into almost a repeat of the trial itself. In 1933 the grand jury ceased to function in England, under the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 and was entirely abolished in 1948, when a clause from 1933 saving grand juries for offences relating to officials abroad was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1948.
The grand jury was introduced in Scotland, solely for high treason, a year after the union with England, by the Treason Act 1708, an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Section III of the Act required the Scottish courts to try cases of treason and misprision of treason according to English rules of procedure and evidence. This rule was repealed in 1945.
The first Scottish grand jury under this Act met at Edinburgh on 10 October 1748 to take cognisance of the charges against such rebels as had not surrendered, following the Jacobite rising of 1745.
An account of its first use in Scotland illustrates the institution's characteristics. It consisted of 23 good and lawful men, chosen out of 48 who were summoned: 24 from the county of Edinburgh (Midlothian), 12 from Haddington (East Lothian) and 12 from Linlithgow (West Lothian). The court consisted of three judges from the High Court of Justiciary (Scotland's highest criminal court), of whom Tinwald (Justice Clerk) was elected preses (presiding member). Subpoenas under the seal of the court and signed by the clerk were executed on a great number of persons in different shires, requiring them to appear as witnesses under the penalty of £100 each. The preses named Sir John Inglis of Cramond as Foreman of the Grand Jury, who was sworn first in the English manner by kissing the book; the others followed three at a time; after which Lord Tinwald, addressing the jurors, informed them that the power His Majesty's advocate possessed before the union, of prosecuting any person for high treason, who appeared guilty on a precognition taken of the facts, being now done away, power was lodged with them, a grand jury, 12 of whom behoved to concur before a true bill could be found. An indictment was then preferred in court and the witnesses endorsed on it were called over and sworn; on which the jury retired to the exchequer chambers and the witnesses were conducted to a room near it, whence they were called to be examined separately. Two solicitors for the crown were present at the examination but no one else; and after they had finished and the sense of the jury was collected, the indictment was returned a "true bill", if the charges were found proved, or "ignoramus" if doubtful. The proceedings continued for a week, in which time, out of 55 bills, 42 were sustained and 13 dismissed.
Further Acts of Parliament in the 19th century regarding treason did not specify this special procedure and the Grand Jury was used no longer.
In Ireland, grand juries were active from the Middle Ages during the Lordship of Ireland in parts of the island under the control of the English government (The Pale), that was followed by the Kingdom of Ireland. They mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level. The system was so-called as the grand jurors had to present their public works proposals and budgets in court for official sanction by a judge. Grand jurors were usually the largest local payers of rates, and therefore tended to be the larger landlords, and on retiring they selected new members from the same background.
Distinct from their public works function, as property owners they also were qualified to sit on criminal juries hearing trials by jury, as well as having a pre-trial judicial function for serious criminal cases. Many of them also sat as magistrates judging the less serious cases.
They were usually wealthy "country gentlemen" (i.e. landowners, landed gentry, farmers and merchants):
A country gentleman as a member of a Grand Jury...levied the local taxes, appointed the nephews of his old friends to collect them, and spent them when they were gathered in. He controlled the boards of guardians and appointed the dispensary doctors, regulated the diet of paupers, inflicted fines and administered the law at petty sessions.
From 1691 to 1793, Dissenters and Roman Catholics were excluded from membership. The concentration of power and wealth in a few families caused resentment over time. The whole local government system started to become more representative from the passing of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. The growing divergence of opinions can be seen in the House of Commons debate on 8 March 1861 led by Isaac Butt. Grand juries were eventually replaced by democratically elected County Councils by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, as regards their administrative functions.
After the formation of Irish Free State in 1922, grand juries were not required, but they persisted in Northern Ireland until abolished by the Grand Jury (Abolition) Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1969.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury ..."
In the early decades of the United States, grand juries played a major role in public matters. During that period counties followed the traditional practice of requiring all decisions be made by at least 12 of the grand jurors, (e.g., for a 23-person grand jury, 12 people would constitute a bare majority). Any citizen could bring a matter before a grand jury directly, from a public work that needed repair, to the delinquent conduct of a public official, to a complaint of a crime, and grand juries could conduct their own investigations.
In that era most criminal prosecutions were conducted by private parties, either a law enforcement officer, a lawyer hired by a crime victim or his family, or even by laymen. A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury; if the grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant. The grand jury would then appoint the complaining party to exercise essentially the same authority as a state attorney general has, that is, a general power of attorney to represent the state in the case.
The grand jury served to screen out incompetent or malicious prosecutions. The advent of official public prosecutors in the later decades of the 19th century largely displaced private prosecutions.
While all states currently have provisions for grand juries, today approximately half of the states employ them and 22 require their use, to varying extents. The constitution of Pennsylvania required, between 1874 and 1968, that a grand jury indict all felonies. Six states (Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nevada, and Kansas) allow citizens to circulate a petition in order to impanel a grand jury.
An American federal grand jury has from 16 to 23 jurors, with twelve votes required to return an indictment. All grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors, without a presiding judge. The prosecutors are tasked with arranging for the appearance of witnesses, as well as drafting the order in which they are called, and take part in the questioning of witnesses. The targets of the grand jury or their lawyers have no right to appear before a grand jury unless they are invited, nor do they have a right to present exculpatory evidence. Possibly as a result, there is a running joke in the legal profession that a grand jury could "indict a ham sandwich" if the prosecutor asked. Some sources state the joke originated from a quote by Sol Wachtler in 1985, but it is found in a newspaper article from 1979, attributed to an unnamed "Rochester defense lawyer".
Grand juries were once common across Canada. The institution of British civil government in 1749 at Nova Scotia brought the judicature system peculiar to that form, and the grand jury was inherent to it. A similar form derived in Quebec from the promise of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that a faithful copy of Laws of England would be instituted in the North American possessions of the Crown. Archival records are found that document the presentments of a grand jury in Quebec as early as 16 October 1764. One of the chief complaints was related to the jury trial, and the use of language. The desire for English law was a driver for the division in 1791 of Quebec, as it was then known, at the Ottawa river into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, as each of the two groups (French and English) desired to maintain their traditions. In point of fact, the second law passed in Upper Canada relates to (petit) jury trial. This was continued so that Chapter 31 of the 1859 Consolidated Statutes of Upper Canada specifies the constitution of Grand and Petit Juries in the province (now known as Ontario). The colony at St. John's Island, ceded by France in 1763, and separated on 30 May 1769 from Nova Scotia, became Prince Edward Island on 29 November 1798. Prince Edward Island derived its grand jury from its administrative parent between 1763 and 1769, Nova Scotia, as did Sunbury County when it was split off in 1784 to become the Colony of New Brunswick. The Colony of British Columbia, when it was formed on 2 August 1858, instituted a grand jury, along with the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands (1853–1863) and the Colony of Vancouver Island (1848–1866) when the latter were absorbed by the former.
Old courthouses with the two jury boxes necessary to accommodate the 24 jurors of a grand jury can still be seen. The grand jury would evaluate charges and return what was called a "true bill (of indictment)" if the charges were to proceed. or a verdict of nolle prosequi if not. The practice gradually disappeared in Canada over the course of the twentieth century, after being the subject of extended discussions late in the 19th. It was ultimately abolished in 1984 when the Nova Scotia courts formally ended the practice. Prince Edward Island maintained a grand jury as recently as 1871.
The grand jury existed in New South Wales for a short period in the 1820s. The New South Wales Act 1823 (UK) enabled the establishment of quarter sessions, as a subsidiary court structure below that of the Supreme Court. Francis Forbes, Chief Justice, reasoned that this entailed the creation of quarter sessions as they existed in England. Thus, inadvertently, trial by jury and indictment by grand jury were introduced, but only for these subsidiary courts. Grand juries met in Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor and other places. This democratic method of trial proved very popular, but was resented by conservatives. Eventually, conservative elements in the colony were successful in having these innovations suppressed by the Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK). George Forbes, a member of the Legislative Council, unsuccessfully moved for the reintroduction of grand juries in 1858, but this was thwarted by the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice.
In South Australia and Western Australia, grand juries existed for longer periods of time. In South Australia, the first grand jury sat on 13 May 1837, but they were abolished in 1852. In Western Australia, by the Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 (WA), grand juries were abolished (section 4: A Grand Jury shall not be summoned for the Supreme Court of Western Australia, nor for any General Quarter Sessions for the said Colony). This 1883 abolition Act was itself abolished by the Criminal Procedure and Appeals (Consequential and Other Provisions) Act 2004 (section 5: The Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 is repealed).
The Australian state of Victoria maintained, until 2009, provisions for a grand jury in the Crimes Act 1958 under section 354 indictments, which had been used on rare occasions by individuals to bring other persons to court seeking them to be committed for trial on indictable offences. Grand juries were introduced by the Judicature Act 1874 and have been used on a very limited number of occasions. Their function in Victoria particularly relates to alleged offences either by bodies corporate or where magistrates have aborted the prosecution.
New Zealand abolished the grand jury in 1961.
Trial by jury was introduced in the Cape Colony by Richard Bourke, Lieutenant Governor and acting Governor of the colony between 1826 and 1828. The acting Governor, who was later influential in the establishment of jury trial in New South Wales, obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in August 1827 and the first Charter of Justice was issued on 24 August 1827.
Jury trial was brought into practical operation in 1828 and the 1831 Ordinance 84 laid down that criminal cases would be heard by a panel of nine, selected from males aged between 21 and 60, owning or renting property to a value of £1.17s (37 shillings) per annum or having liability for taxes of 30 shillings in Cape Town and 20 shillings outside the town. Black (i.e. non-white) jurors were not entirely excluded and sat occasionally. This is not to imply, however, that juries did not operate in an oppressive manner towards the Black African and Asian residents of the Cape, whose participation in the jury lists was, in any event, severely limited by the property qualification. The property qualification was amended in 1831 and 1861 and, experimentally, a grand jury came into operation.
The grand jury was established for Cape Town alone. It met quarterly. In 1842 it was recorded that it served a district of 50,000 inhabitants and in one quarterly session there were six presentments (1 homicide, 2 assaults, 1 robbery, 1 theft, 1 fraud).
As elsewhere, the judge could use his charge to the grand jury to bring matters of concern to him to the attention of the public and the government. In May 1879 Mr. Justice Fitzpatrick, returning from circuit in the northern and western parts of Cape Colony, gave a charge to the grand jury at the Criminal Sessions at Cape Town, in which, after congratulating them upon the lightness of the calendar, he observed there were indications in the country of a growing mutual bad feeling between the races, etc. This was reported in the Cape Argus and was a subject of a question to the government in the House of Commons in London.
The grand jury continued in operation until 1885, by which time the Cape was under responsible government, when it was abolished by Act 17 of 1885 of the Cape Parliament.
Grand juries were established in France in 1791 under the name jury d'accusation, but they were abolished with the introduction of the Code of Criminal Instruction in 1808.
The jury law of 1791 created an eight-man jury d'accusation in each arrondissement (a subdivision of the departement) and a 12-man jury de jugement in each departement. In each arrondissement the procureur-syndic drew up a list of 30 jurors from the electoral roll every three months for the jury d'accusation. There was no public prosecutor or juge d'instruction. Instead the police or private citizens could bring a complaint to the Justice of the Peace established in each canton (a subdivision of the arrondissement). This magistrate interrogated the accused to determine whether grounds for prosecution existed and if so sent the case to the directeur du jury (the director of the jury d'accusation), who was one of the arrondissement's civil court judges, and who served in the post for six months on a rotating basis. He decided whether to dismiss the charges or, if not, whether the case was a délit (misdemeanour) or a crime (felony, i.e. imprisonable for 2 years or more). Délits went to the tribunal de police correctionnelle of the arrondissement, while for crimes the directeur de jury convoked the jury d'accusation of the arrondissement, in order to get an indictment. The directeur du jury drew up the bill of indictment (acte d'accusation) summarising the charges to be presented to the jury d'accusation. The directeur made a presentation to the jury in the absence of the accused and the jury heard the witnesses. The jury then decided by majority vote whether there were sufficient grounds for the case to go to the tribunal criminel of the departement. Between 1792 and 1795 there was no property qualification for jurors.
The functions of the jury d’accusation were prescribed in the law of 1791 passed by the Constituent Assembly and were maintained and re-enacted in the Code des Délits et des Peines of 3 Brumaire, Year 4 (25 October 1795) and this was the operative law until it was abolished in 1808. Special juries and special grand juries were originally defined in law, for cases thought to require more qualified jurors, but these were abolished in Year 8 (1799).
From 1795 to 1808 grand juries also operated in Belgium, which was divided into French departements in October 1795.
After World War II, under the influence of the Allies, Japan passed the Prosecutorial Review Commission Law on July 12, 1948, which created the Kensatsu Shinsakai (or Prosecutorial Review Commission (PRC) system), a figure analogue to the grand jury system. However, until 2009 the PCR's recommendations were not binding, and were only regarded as advisory. Additionally, a survey conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office in October 1990 showed that 68.8% of surveyed Japanese citizens were not familiar with the PRC system. On May 21, 2009, the Japanese government introduced new legislation which would make the PRC's decisions binding. A PRC is made up of 11 randomly selected citizens, is appointed to a six-month term, and its primary purpose is examining cases prosecutors have chosen not to continue prosecuting. It has therefore been perceived as a way to combat misfeasance in public officials.
From 1945 to 1972 Okinawa was under American administration. Grand jury proceedings were held in the territory from 1963 until 1972. By an ordinance of the civil administration of the Ryukyu Islands promulgated in 1963, grand jury indictment and petit jury trial were assured for criminal defendants in the civil administration courts. This ordinance reflected the concern of the U.S. Supreme Court that U.S. civilians tried for crimes abroad under tribunals of U.S. provenance should not be shorn of the protections of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Indeed, the District Court in Washington twice held that the absence of the jury system in the civil administration courts in Okinawa invalidated criminal convictions.
By article 21 of the Constitution of Liberia, 'No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime except in cases of impeachment, cases arising in the Armed Forces and petty offenses, unless upon indictment by a Grand Jury". For example, the national Port Authority's managing director was indicted by the Monteserrado County Grand Jury in July 2015, on charges of economic sabotage, theft of property and criminal conspiracy.
Grand juries in Liberia date from the time of the original constitution in 1847.
Under the administration of the Sierra Leone Company, which began in 1792, the Governor and Council or any two members thereof, being also justices of the peace, held quarter sessions for the trial of offences committed within the colony. The process for indictment etc. was the same as the practice in England or as near as possible thereto. To effect this, they were empowered to issue their warrant or precept to the Sheriff, commanding him to summon a grand jury to sit at the court of quarter sessions. Grand juries continued in operation after the transfer to the colony to the Crown in 1807.
Governor Kennedy (1852–1854) was concerned that jurors were frustrating government policy by being biased in certain cases; in particular he felt that liberated Africans on the grand jury would never convict another liberated African on charges of owning or importing slaves. He promulgated the Ordinance of 29 November 1853 which abolished the grand jury. Opposition was immediately mounted in Freetown. A public meeting launched a petition with 550 names to the Colonial Secretary in London, and the opposition declared that the Kennedy ordinance was a reproach upon the loyalty of the community. Grand juries have been considered one colonial body representative of local opinion and the Colonial Secretary's support for Kennedy upholding the abolition inspired a round of agitation for a local voice in government decision-making. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Originating in England during the Middle Ages, grand juries are retained in only two countries, the United States and Liberia. Other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most others now employ a different procedure, referred to as a preliminary hearing, that does not involve a jury. Grand juries perform both accusatory and investigatory functions. The investigatory functions of grand juries include obtaining and reviewing documents and other evidence, and hearing sworn testimonies of witnesses who appear before it; the accusatory function determines whether there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a particular offense within the venue of a district court.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In Ireland, for a period, they also functioned as local government authorities:",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "\"They fixed the salaries of public officers; they regulated prisons and houses of correction; they levied funds for the support of hospitals; they made and repaired roads and bridges, and they framed accounts of the expenses incurred in these matters... They determined what public works should be undertaken — what price should be paid for them, and who were the individuals that should undertake them, and be responsible for their completion. They settled the amount of the local taxation of the county, and, under their direction, it was levied from the actual occupiers of the land.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In Japan, the Law of July 12, 1948, created the Kensatsu Shinsakai (Prosecutorial Review Commission or PRC system), inspired by the American system.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The grand jury (from the French word grand meaning \"large\") is so named because traditionally it has more jurors than a trial jury, sometimes called a petit jury (from the French word petit meaning \"small\"). A grand jury in the United States is usually composed of 16 to 23 citizens, though in Virginia it has fewer members for regular or special grand juries.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of a crime, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. Traditionally, a grand jury consists of 23 members.",
"title": "Purpose"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The mode of accusation is by a written statement of two types:",
"title": "Purpose"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "No indictment or presentment can be made except by concurrence of at least twelve of the jurors. The grand jury may accuse upon their own knowledge, but it is generally done upon the testimony of witnesses under oath and other evidence heard before them. Grand jury proceedings are, in the first instance, at the instigation of the government or other prosecutors, and ex parte and in secret deliberation. The accused has no knowledge nor right to interfere with their proceedings.",
"title": "Purpose"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "If they find the accusation true, which is usually drawn up in form by the prosecutor or an officer of the court, they write upon the indictment the words \"a true bill\" which is signed by the foreperson of the grand jury and presented to the court publicly in the presence of all the jurors. If the indictment is not proven to the satisfaction of the grand jury, the word ignoramus or \"not a true bill\" is written upon it by the grand jury, or by their foreman and then said to be ignored, and the accusation is dismissed as unfounded; the potential defendant is said to have been \"no-billed\" by the grand jury. If the grand jury returns an indictment as a true bill (billa vera), the indictment is said to be founded and the party to stand indicted and required to be put on trial.",
"title": "Purpose"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The first instance of a grand jury can be traced back to the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, an Act of Henry II of England. Henry's chief impact on the development of the English monarchy was to increase the jurisdiction of the royal courts at the expense of the feudal courts. Itinerant justices on regular circuits were sent out once each year to enforce the \"King's Peace\". To make this system of royal criminal justice more effective, Henry employed the method of inquest used by William the Conqueror in the Domesday Book. In each shire, a body of important men were sworn (juré) to report to the sheriff all crimes committed since the last session of the circuit court. Thus originated the more recent grand jury that presents information for an indictment. The grand jury was later recognized by King John in Magna Carta in 1215 on demand of the nobility.",
"title": "Origins"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The grand jury can be said to have \"celebrated\" its 800th birthday in 2015, because a precursor to the grand jury is defined in Article 61, the longest of the 63 articles of Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin: \"the Great Charter of Liberties\") executed on 15 June 1215 by King John and by the Barons. The document was primarily composed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (1150–1228). He and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed schemas for the division of the Bible into chapters and it is the system of Archbishop Langton which prevailed. He was a Biblical scholar, and the concept of the grand jury may possibly derive from Deuteronomy 25:1: \"If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.\" (King James Version) Thus the grand jury has been described as the \"Shield and the Sword\" of the People: as a \"Shield for the People\" from abusive indictments of the government – or malicious indictments of individuals – and as the \"Sword of the People\" to cut away crime by any private individual; or to cut away crime by any public servant, whether in the judicial, executive, or legislative branches.",
"title": "Origins"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "On 2 July 1681, a popular statesman, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury was arrested on suspicion of high treason and committed to the Tower of London. He immediately petitioned the Old Bailey on a writ of habeas corpus, but the Old Bailey said it did not have jurisdiction over prisoners in the Tower of London, so Cooper had to wait for the next session of the Court of King's Bench. Cooper moved for a writ of habeas corpus on 24 October 1681, and his case finally came before a grand jury on 24 November 1681.",
"title": "Notable cases"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The government's case against Cooper was particularly weak – the government admitted that most of the witnesses brought against Cooper had already perjured themselves, and the documentary evidence was inconclusive, and the jury was handpicked by the Whig Sheriff of London. For these reasons the government had little chance of securing a conviction, and on 13 February 1682, the case was dropped when the grand jury issued an ignoramus bill (a finding of deficient evidence), rather than comply with the king's intent of a true bill (a grand jury indictment).",
"title": "Notable cases"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The grand jury's theoretical function against abuse of executive power was seen during the Watergate scandal. In United States v. Nixon, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled eight-to-zero on 23 July 1974 (Justice William Rehnquist who had been appointed by Nixon recused himself from the case) that executive privilege applied only to the legislative and judicial branches – and not to grand jury subpoenas – thus implying a grand jury constituted protections equivalent to a \"fourth branch of government\". The second Watergate grand jury indicted seven lawyers in the White House, including former Attorney General John Mitchell, and named President Nixon as a \"secret, un-indicted, co-conspirator\". Despite evading impeachment by resigning from office, Nixon was still required to testify before a grand jury.",
"title": "Notable cases"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Similarly, in 1998, President Clinton became the first sitting president required to testify before a grand jury as the subject of an investigation by the Office of Independent Counsel. The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary's alleged involvement in several scandals including Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm. Revelations from the investigation sparked a battle in Congress over whether or not to impeach Clinton.",
"title": "Notable cases"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The sheriff of every county was required to return to every quarter sessions and assizes (or more precisely the commission of oyer and terminer and of gaol delivery), 24 men of the county \"to inquire into, present, do and execute all those things which, on the part of our Lord the King (or our Lady the Queen), shall then be commanded them\". Grand jurors at the assizes or at the borough quarter sessions did not have property qualifications; but, at the county quarter sessions, they had the same property qualification as petty jurors. However, at the assizes, the grand jury generally consisted of gentlemen of high standing in the county.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "After the court was opened by the crier making proclamation, the names of those summoned to the grand jury were called and they were sworn. They numbered at least 14 and not more than 23. The person presiding (the judge at the assizes, the chairman at the county sessions, the recorder at the borough sessions) gave the charge to the grand jury, i.e. he directed their attention to points in the various cases about to be considered which required explanation.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The charge having been delivered, the grand jury withdrew to their own room, having received the bills of indictment. The witnesses whose names were endorsed on each bill were sworn as they came to be examined, in the grand jury room, the oath being administered by the foreman, who wrote his initials against the name of the witness on the back of the bill. Only the witnesses for the prosecution were examined, as the function of the grand jury was merely to inquire whether there was sufficient ground to put the accused on trial. If the majority of them (and at least 12) thought that the evidence so adduced made out a sufficient case, the words \"a true bill\" were endorsed on the back of the bill. If they were of the opposite opinion, the phrase \"not a true bill\", or the single Latin word ignoramus (\"we do not know\" or \"we are ignorant (of)\"), was endorsed instead and the bill was said to be \"ignored\" or thrown out. They could find a true bill as to the charge in one count, and ignore that in another; or as to one defendant and not as to another; but they could not, like a petty jury, return a special or conditional finding, or select part of a count as true and reject the other part. When some bills were \"found\", some of the jurors came out and handed the bills to the clerk of arraigns (in assizes) or clerk of the peace, who announced to the court the name of the prisoner, the charge, and the endorsements of the grand jury. They then retired and considered other bills until all were disposed of; after which they were discharged by the judge, chairman, or recorder.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "If a bill was thrown out, although it could not again be referred to the grand jury during the same assizes or sessions, it could be preferred at subsequent assizes or sessions, but not in respect of the same offense if a petty jury had returned a verdict.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Ordinarily, bills of indictment were preferred after there had been an examination before the magistrates. But this need not always take place. With certain exceptions, any person would prefer a bill of indictment against another before the grand jury without any previous inquiry into the truth of the accusation before a magistrate. This right was at one time universal and was often abused. A substantial check was put on this abuse by the Vexatious Indictments Act 1859. This Act provided that for certain offences which it listed (perjury, libel, etc.), the person presenting such an indictment must be bound by recognizance to prosecute or give evidence against the accused, or alternatively had judicial permission (as specified) so to do.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "If an indictment was found in the absence of the accused, and he/she was not in custody and had not been bound over to appear at assizes or sessions, then process was issued to bring that person into court, as it is contrary to the English law to \"try\" an indictment in the absence of the accused.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The grand jury's functions were gradually made redundant by the development of committal proceedings in magistrates' courts from 1848 onward when the (three) Jervis Acts, such as the Justices Protection Act 1848, codified and greatly expanded the functions of magistrates in pre-trial proceedings; these proceedings developed into almost a repeat of the trial itself. In 1933 the grand jury ceased to function in England, under the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 and was entirely abolished in 1948, when a clause from 1933 saving grand juries for offences relating to officials abroad was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1948.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The grand jury was introduced in Scotland, solely for high treason, a year after the union with England, by the Treason Act 1708, an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Section III of the Act required the Scottish courts to try cases of treason and misprision of treason according to English rules of procedure and evidence. This rule was repealed in 1945.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The first Scottish grand jury under this Act met at Edinburgh on 10 October 1748 to take cognisance of the charges against such rebels as had not surrendered, following the Jacobite rising of 1745.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "An account of its first use in Scotland illustrates the institution's characteristics. It consisted of 23 good and lawful men, chosen out of 48 who were summoned: 24 from the county of Edinburgh (Midlothian), 12 from Haddington (East Lothian) and 12 from Linlithgow (West Lothian). The court consisted of three judges from the High Court of Justiciary (Scotland's highest criminal court), of whom Tinwald (Justice Clerk) was elected preses (presiding member). Subpoenas under the seal of the court and signed by the clerk were executed on a great number of persons in different shires, requiring them to appear as witnesses under the penalty of £100 each. The preses named Sir John Inglis of Cramond as Foreman of the Grand Jury, who was sworn first in the English manner by kissing the book; the others followed three at a time; after which Lord Tinwald, addressing the jurors, informed them that the power His Majesty's advocate possessed before the union, of prosecuting any person for high treason, who appeared guilty on a precognition taken of the facts, being now done away, power was lodged with them, a grand jury, 12 of whom behoved to concur before a true bill could be found. An indictment was then preferred in court and the witnesses endorsed on it were called over and sworn; on which the jury retired to the exchequer chambers and the witnesses were conducted to a room near it, whence they were called to be examined separately. Two solicitors for the crown were present at the examination but no one else; and after they had finished and the sense of the jury was collected, the indictment was returned a \"true bill\", if the charges were found proved, or \"ignoramus\" if doubtful. The proceedings continued for a week, in which time, out of 55 bills, 42 were sustained and 13 dismissed.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Further Acts of Parliament in the 19th century regarding treason did not specify this special procedure and the Grand Jury was used no longer.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In Ireland, grand juries were active from the Middle Ages during the Lordship of Ireland in parts of the island under the control of the English government (The Pale), that was followed by the Kingdom of Ireland. They mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level. The system was so-called as the grand jurors had to present their public works proposals and budgets in court for official sanction by a judge. Grand jurors were usually the largest local payers of rates, and therefore tended to be the larger landlords, and on retiring they selected new members from the same background.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Distinct from their public works function, as property owners they also were qualified to sit on criminal juries hearing trials by jury, as well as having a pre-trial judicial function for serious criminal cases. Many of them also sat as magistrates judging the less serious cases.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "They were usually wealthy \"country gentlemen\" (i.e. landowners, landed gentry, farmers and merchants):",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "A country gentleman as a member of a Grand Jury...levied the local taxes, appointed the nephews of his old friends to collect them, and spent them when they were gathered in. He controlled the boards of guardians and appointed the dispensary doctors, regulated the diet of paupers, inflicted fines and administered the law at petty sessions.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "From 1691 to 1793, Dissenters and Roman Catholics were excluded from membership. The concentration of power and wealth in a few families caused resentment over time. The whole local government system started to become more representative from the passing of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. The growing divergence of opinions can be seen in the House of Commons debate on 8 March 1861 led by Isaac Butt. Grand juries were eventually replaced by democratically elected County Councils by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, as regards their administrative functions.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "After the formation of Irish Free State in 1922, grand juries were not required, but they persisted in Northern Ireland until abolished by the Grand Jury (Abolition) Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1969.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, \"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury ...\"",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In the early decades of the United States, grand juries played a major role in public matters. During that period counties followed the traditional practice of requiring all decisions be made by at least 12 of the grand jurors, (e.g., for a 23-person grand jury, 12 people would constitute a bare majority). Any citizen could bring a matter before a grand jury directly, from a public work that needed repair, to the delinquent conduct of a public official, to a complaint of a crime, and grand juries could conduct their own investigations.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In that era most criminal prosecutions were conducted by private parties, either a law enforcement officer, a lawyer hired by a crime victim or his family, or even by laymen. A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury; if the grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant. The grand jury would then appoint the complaining party to exercise essentially the same authority as a state attorney general has, that is, a general power of attorney to represent the state in the case.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The grand jury served to screen out incompetent or malicious prosecutions. The advent of official public prosecutors in the later decades of the 19th century largely displaced private prosecutions.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "While all states currently have provisions for grand juries, today approximately half of the states employ them and 22 require their use, to varying extents. The constitution of Pennsylvania required, between 1874 and 1968, that a grand jury indict all felonies. Six states (Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nevada, and Kansas) allow citizens to circulate a petition in order to impanel a grand jury.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "An American federal grand jury has from 16 to 23 jurors, with twelve votes required to return an indictment. All grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors, without a presiding judge. The prosecutors are tasked with arranging for the appearance of witnesses, as well as drafting the order in which they are called, and take part in the questioning of witnesses. The targets of the grand jury or their lawyers have no right to appear before a grand jury unless they are invited, nor do they have a right to present exculpatory evidence. Possibly as a result, there is a running joke in the legal profession that a grand jury could \"indict a ham sandwich\" if the prosecutor asked. Some sources state the joke originated from a quote by Sol Wachtler in 1985, but it is found in a newspaper article from 1979, attributed to an unnamed \"Rochester defense lawyer\".",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Grand juries were once common across Canada. The institution of British civil government in 1749 at Nova Scotia brought the judicature system peculiar to that form, and the grand jury was inherent to it. A similar form derived in Quebec from the promise of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that a faithful copy of Laws of England would be instituted in the North American possessions of the Crown. Archival records are found that document the presentments of a grand jury in Quebec as early as 16 October 1764. One of the chief complaints was related to the jury trial, and the use of language. The desire for English law was a driver for the division in 1791 of Quebec, as it was then known, at the Ottawa river into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, as each of the two groups (French and English) desired to maintain their traditions. In point of fact, the second law passed in Upper Canada relates to (petit) jury trial. This was continued so that Chapter 31 of the 1859 Consolidated Statutes of Upper Canada specifies the constitution of Grand and Petit Juries in the province (now known as Ontario). The colony at St. John's Island, ceded by France in 1763, and separated on 30 May 1769 from Nova Scotia, became Prince Edward Island on 29 November 1798. Prince Edward Island derived its grand jury from its administrative parent between 1763 and 1769, Nova Scotia, as did Sunbury County when it was split off in 1784 to become the Colony of New Brunswick. The Colony of British Columbia, when it was formed on 2 August 1858, instituted a grand jury, along with the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands (1853–1863) and the Colony of Vancouver Island (1848–1866) when the latter were absorbed by the former.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Old courthouses with the two jury boxes necessary to accommodate the 24 jurors of a grand jury can still be seen. The grand jury would evaluate charges and return what was called a \"true bill (of indictment)\" if the charges were to proceed. or a verdict of nolle prosequi if not. The practice gradually disappeared in Canada over the course of the twentieth century, after being the subject of extended discussions late in the 19th. It was ultimately abolished in 1984 when the Nova Scotia courts formally ended the practice. Prince Edward Island maintained a grand jury as recently as 1871.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The grand jury existed in New South Wales for a short period in the 1820s. The New South Wales Act 1823 (UK) enabled the establishment of quarter sessions, as a subsidiary court structure below that of the Supreme Court. Francis Forbes, Chief Justice, reasoned that this entailed the creation of quarter sessions as they existed in England. Thus, inadvertently, trial by jury and indictment by grand jury were introduced, but only for these subsidiary courts. Grand juries met in Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor and other places. This democratic method of trial proved very popular, but was resented by conservatives. Eventually, conservative elements in the colony were successful in having these innovations suppressed by the Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK). George Forbes, a member of the Legislative Council, unsuccessfully moved for the reintroduction of grand juries in 1858, but this was thwarted by the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In South Australia and Western Australia, grand juries existed for longer periods of time. In South Australia, the first grand jury sat on 13 May 1837, but they were abolished in 1852. In Western Australia, by the Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 (WA), grand juries were abolished (section 4: A Grand Jury shall not be summoned for the Supreme Court of Western Australia, nor for any General Quarter Sessions for the said Colony). This 1883 abolition Act was itself abolished by the Criminal Procedure and Appeals (Consequential and Other Provisions) Act 2004 (section 5: The Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 is repealed).",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The Australian state of Victoria maintained, until 2009, provisions for a grand jury in the Crimes Act 1958 under section 354 indictments, which had been used on rare occasions by individuals to bring other persons to court seeking them to be committed for trial on indictable offences. Grand juries were introduced by the Judicature Act 1874 and have been used on a very limited number of occasions. Their function in Victoria particularly relates to alleged offences either by bodies corporate or where magistrates have aborted the prosecution.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "New Zealand abolished the grand jury in 1961.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Trial by jury was introduced in the Cape Colony by Richard Bourke, Lieutenant Governor and acting Governor of the colony between 1826 and 1828. The acting Governor, who was later influential in the establishment of jury trial in New South Wales, obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in August 1827 and the first Charter of Justice was issued on 24 August 1827.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Jury trial was brought into practical operation in 1828 and the 1831 Ordinance 84 laid down that criminal cases would be heard by a panel of nine, selected from males aged between 21 and 60, owning or renting property to a value of £1.17s (37 shillings) per annum or having liability for taxes of 30 shillings in Cape Town and 20 shillings outside the town. Black (i.e. non-white) jurors were not entirely excluded and sat occasionally. This is not to imply, however, that juries did not operate in an oppressive manner towards the Black African and Asian residents of the Cape, whose participation in the jury lists was, in any event, severely limited by the property qualification. The property qualification was amended in 1831 and 1861 and, experimentally, a grand jury came into operation.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The grand jury was established for Cape Town alone. It met quarterly. In 1842 it was recorded that it served a district of 50,000 inhabitants and in one quarterly session there were six presentments (1 homicide, 2 assaults, 1 robbery, 1 theft, 1 fraud).",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "As elsewhere, the judge could use his charge to the grand jury to bring matters of concern to him to the attention of the public and the government. In May 1879 Mr. Justice Fitzpatrick, returning from circuit in the northern and western parts of Cape Colony, gave a charge to the grand jury at the Criminal Sessions at Cape Town, in which, after congratulating them upon the lightness of the calendar, he observed there were indications in the country of a growing mutual bad feeling between the races, etc. This was reported in the Cape Argus and was a subject of a question to the government in the House of Commons in London.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The grand jury continued in operation until 1885, by which time the Cape was under responsible government, when it was abolished by Act 17 of 1885 of the Cape Parliament.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Grand juries were established in France in 1791 under the name jury d'accusation, but they were abolished with the introduction of the Code of Criminal Instruction in 1808.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The jury law of 1791 created an eight-man jury d'accusation in each arrondissement (a subdivision of the departement) and a 12-man jury de jugement in each departement. In each arrondissement the procureur-syndic drew up a list of 30 jurors from the electoral roll every three months for the jury d'accusation. There was no public prosecutor or juge d'instruction. Instead the police or private citizens could bring a complaint to the Justice of the Peace established in each canton (a subdivision of the arrondissement). This magistrate interrogated the accused to determine whether grounds for prosecution existed and if so sent the case to the directeur du jury (the director of the jury d'accusation), who was one of the arrondissement's civil court judges, and who served in the post for six months on a rotating basis. He decided whether to dismiss the charges or, if not, whether the case was a délit (misdemeanour) or a crime (felony, i.e. imprisonable for 2 years or more). Délits went to the tribunal de police correctionnelle of the arrondissement, while for crimes the directeur de jury convoked the jury d'accusation of the arrondissement, in order to get an indictment. The directeur du jury drew up the bill of indictment (acte d'accusation) summarising the charges to be presented to the jury d'accusation. The directeur made a presentation to the jury in the absence of the accused and the jury heard the witnesses. The jury then decided by majority vote whether there were sufficient grounds for the case to go to the tribunal criminel of the departement. Between 1792 and 1795 there was no property qualification for jurors.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The functions of the jury d’accusation were prescribed in the law of 1791 passed by the Constituent Assembly and were maintained and re-enacted in the Code des Délits et des Peines of 3 Brumaire, Year 4 (25 October 1795) and this was the operative law until it was abolished in 1808. Special juries and special grand juries were originally defined in law, for cases thought to require more qualified jurors, but these were abolished in Year 8 (1799).",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "From 1795 to 1808 grand juries also operated in Belgium, which was divided into French departements in October 1795.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "After World War II, under the influence of the Allies, Japan passed the Prosecutorial Review Commission Law on July 12, 1948, which created the Kensatsu Shinsakai (or Prosecutorial Review Commission (PRC) system), a figure analogue to the grand jury system. However, until 2009 the PCR's recommendations were not binding, and were only regarded as advisory. Additionally, a survey conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office in October 1990 showed that 68.8% of surveyed Japanese citizens were not familiar with the PRC system. On May 21, 2009, the Japanese government introduced new legislation which would make the PRC's decisions binding. A PRC is made up of 11 randomly selected citizens, is appointed to a six-month term, and its primary purpose is examining cases prosecutors have chosen not to continue prosecuting. It has therefore been perceived as a way to combat misfeasance in public officials.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "From 1945 to 1972 Okinawa was under American administration. Grand jury proceedings were held in the territory from 1963 until 1972. By an ordinance of the civil administration of the Ryukyu Islands promulgated in 1963, grand jury indictment and petit jury trial were assured for criminal defendants in the civil administration courts. This ordinance reflected the concern of the U.S. Supreme Court that U.S. civilians tried for crimes abroad under tribunals of U.S. provenance should not be shorn of the protections of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Indeed, the District Court in Washington twice held that the absence of the jury system in the civil administration courts in Okinawa invalidated criminal convictions.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "By article 21 of the Constitution of Liberia, 'No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime except in cases of impeachment, cases arising in the Armed Forces and petty offenses, unless upon indictment by a Grand Jury\". For example, the national Port Authority's managing director was indicted by the Monteserrado County Grand Jury in July 2015, on charges of economic sabotage, theft of property and criminal conspiracy.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Grand juries in Liberia date from the time of the original constitution in 1847.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Under the administration of the Sierra Leone Company, which began in 1792, the Governor and Council or any two members thereof, being also justices of the peace, held quarter sessions for the trial of offences committed within the colony. The process for indictment etc. was the same as the practice in England or as near as possible thereto. To effect this, they were empowered to issue their warrant or precept to the Sheriff, commanding him to summon a grand jury to sit at the court of quarter sessions. Grand juries continued in operation after the transfer to the colony to the Crown in 1807.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Governor Kennedy (1852–1854) was concerned that jurors were frustrating government policy by being biased in certain cases; in particular he felt that liberated Africans on the grand jury would never convict another liberated African on charges of owning or importing slaves. He promulgated the Ordinance of 29 November 1853 which abolished the grand jury. Opposition was immediately mounted in Freetown. A public meeting launched a petition with 550 names to the Colonial Secretary in London, and the opposition declared that the Kennedy ordinance was a reproach upon the loyalty of the community. Grand juries have been considered one colonial body representative of local opinion and the Colonial Secretary's support for Kennedy upholding the abolition inspired a round of agitation for a local voice in government decision-making.",
"title": "By jurisdiction"
}
]
| A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning. Originating in England during the Middle Ages, grand juries are retained in only two countries, the United States and Liberia. Other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most others now employ a different procedure, referred to as a preliminary hearing, that does not involve a jury. Grand juries perform both accusatory and investigatory functions. The investigatory functions of grand juries include obtaining and reviewing documents and other evidence, and hearing sworn testimonies of witnesses who appear before it; the accusatory function determines whether there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a particular offense within the venue of a district court. In Ireland, for a period, they also functioned as local government authorities: In Japan, the Law of July 12, 1948, created the Kensatsu Shinsakai, inspired by the American system. The grand jury is so named because traditionally it has more jurors than a trial jury, sometimes called a petit jury. A grand jury in the United States is usually composed of 16 to 23 citizens, though in Virginia it has fewer members for regular or special grand juries. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-11-30T16:13:06Z | [
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Jury",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Quote",
"Template:Snd",
"Template:Nbsp",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Cite hansard",
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Criminal procedure"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_jury |
12,686 | Overview of gun laws by nation | Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting (a.k.a. target shooting), self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.
Gun laws are usually justified by a legislative intent to reduce the use of small arms in crime, and to this end they frequently target makes and models of arms identified in crimes and shootings, such as handguns and other types of concealable firearms. Persons restricted from legal access to firearms may include those below a certain age or those with a criminal record. Firearms licenses to purchase or possess may be denied to those defined as most at risk of harming themselves or others, persons with a history of domestic violence, alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder, mental illness, depression, or those who have attempted suicide. Those applying for a firearm license may have to demonstrate competence by completing a gun safety course and show provision for a secure location to store weapons.
The legislation which restricts small arms may also restrict other weapons, such as explosives, crossbows, swords, electroshock weapons, air guns, and pepper spray. It may also restrict firearm accessories, notably high-capacity magazines and sound suppressors. There may be restrictions on the quantity or types of ammunition purchased, with certain types prohibited. Due to the global scope of this article, detailed coverage cannot be provided on all these matters; the article will instead attempt to briefly summarize each country's weapon laws in regard to small arms use and ownership by civilians.
Firearms are not defined the same way in each country.
Some terms are used in several countries in the context of gun laws. These include the following: Permitless, means that doesn t exist a license or a permit for buying firearms, and that the firearms are sold freely and without registration in gunshops.
Gun laws might be classified by countries according to some specific common characteristics:
A firearms license (also known as a gun license; or licence in British English) is a license or permit issued by a government authority (typically by the police) of a jurisdiction, that allows the licensee to buy, own, possess, or carry a firearm, often subject to a number of conditions or restrictions, especially with regard to storage requirements or the completion of a firearms safety course, as well as background checks, etc. Firearms licenses are not required in all jurisdictions. Additionally, some countries or states may require by law a "permit-to-purchase" in order to buy handguns or firearms. A licence may also be required to buy ammunition.
The permit or license scope varies according to what firearm(s) or activity(s) it allows the holder to legally do with the firearm. Some jurisdictions may require a firearm license to own a firearm, to engage in hunting, target shooting or collecting, or to carry a concealed firearm, or operate a business (such as being a gun dealer or a gunsmith). Some jurisdictions may require separate licenses for rifles, shotguns or handguns.
The requirement to have a firearm license is usually in addition to a requirement for firearm registration. For example, gun laws in Australia require firearms to be registered by serial number to the owner, who holds a firearm licence.
This section uses the expressions shall issue and may issue which are partly specific to and defined by the US system of firearm regulations.
- Map describes policy regarding obtaining new firearms regardless of whether firearms that were produced before the ban were grandfathered.
- Map describes policy regarding obtaining new firearms regardless of whether firearms that were produced before the ban were grandfathered.
The Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted in Bamako, Mali, on 1 December 2000 by the representatives of the 51 member states of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The provisions of this declaration recommend that the signatories would establish the illegal possession of small arms and light weapons as a criminal offence under national law in their respective countries.
Botswana's law allows possession of shotguns and rifles only. The government has put a limit on the number of licenses issued every year – only 50 people can receive them, no matter how many apply, meaning that the acceptance rate is usually below 1%.
Currently there are 34,550 (or 1.5 per 100 people) registered firearms.
Officially only 139 people have a permit to own firearms in Central African Republic, mostly members of parliament. They are entitled to possess one 12-gauge shotgun and one 9mm automatic pistol. Regardless, illegal possession and carry of firearms is widespread in Central African Republic, large parts of which are under control of different armed groups. Anti-balaka and ex-Seleka militias possess and carry home-made shotguns, automatic rifles and rocket launchers.
A law on firearms passed in 1968 requires a permit to own a firearm in Chad which must be renewed annually. This law does not specify any conditions that must be met to obtain a license except for a tax stamp which must be paid, between 500 and 3000 CFA francs depending on the type of firearm. Considering that in 2017 the Chadian government raised 5 million francs from issuing firearm licenses it would mean that there are between 1,666 and 10,000 active firearm licenses in Chad or between 0.01 and 0.06 per 100 people.
Possession of firearms in Djibouti is generally prohibited except when special permits are granted in exceptional circumstances by the Head of State. Firearms in Eritrea are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions.
Permitted types of firearms in Eswatini are shotguns, revolvers, pistols and rifles. To obtain a license one must get approval from the Local Chief's council, Local Station Commander, Regional Administrator, Director of Crimes at Police Headquarters, Licensing Officer/Registrar of Firearms Registry, Licensing Board and lastly the Police Station Commander. Requirements include general standing in the community. The application acceptance rate is around 57% as of 2002.
Current law states that firearm licenses are a privilege in Gambia and authorities have full discretion in issuing them.
Firearm law in Ghana allows acquisition of shotguns and handguns (pistols and revolvers). It requires that every firearm must be reregistered every year; however, this is widely ignored. Out of 1,230,000 people who legally bought a gun only 40,000 are reregistering their weapons every year. Unlike other African countries, handguns are popular in Ghana. For example, in Greater Accra Region 74.4% of people who legally acquired guns in 2020 chose revolvers, while 21% chose shotguns. In the Ashanti region 45.5% chose shotguns, while 21.5% chose revolvers.
Gun regulation in Kenya is established by the Firearms Act (Cap. 114) of Kenya. The Act states: "No person under the age of twelve years shall have in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which Part II applies, and no person under the age of fourteen years shall have in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which Part II applies other than a miniature rifle not exceeding 0.22 calibre or a shotgun the bore of which is not larger than 20 gauge, and ammunition suitable therefor, except in circumstances where he is entitled to have possession thereof without holding a firearm certificate by virtue of subsection (8), subsection (9) or subsection (10) of section 7; and no person shall part with the possession of any such firearm or ammunition to any person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be under the age of twelve or fourteen years, as the case may be, except in circumstances where that other person is entitled to have possession thereof."
The Chief Licensing Officer (CLO) has discretion to award, deny, or revoke firearm licenses. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older, pass a stringent background check for criminal activity, mental health and domestic violence, and state genuine reason(s) for their need to privately own and carry a firearm. Checks are regularly repeated, with failure to pass resulting in immediate revocation of the license. Once licensed to own a gun, no additional permit is required to carry a concealed firearm.
Applicants for firearm possession must obtain a reference letter from the village chief or headman. It is later sent to local police stations for approval, then to district police for their approval, then to the National Security Service for their final approval.
Liberia allows only possession of single-shot shotguns and black powder long guns for hunting purposes. Private security agencies are banned from arming their employees. However, some criminals have automatic firearms, particularly AK styled rifles. These are believed to be leftovers from the country's decade-long intermittent civil war. Automatic firearms are also likely coming across the country's porous borders with Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. These countries have more liberal gun-ownership laws. All of Liberia's neighbors have experienced some form of armed conflict in the last two decades leaving them awash with illegal automatic weapons. The Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the only armed unit within the Liberia National Police, responds to armed incidents, particularly armed robbery.
Liberia Firearms and Ammunition Control Act of 2015 regulates the possession and use of small arms and light weapons in the country. The illegal possession of small arms and light weapons constitutes a first-degree misdemeanor and is punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than a year and seizure of the illegally possessed arm or ammunition.
There are no licensed firearm dealers in Mozambique, therefore any person wanting to obtain one must travel to a different country (usually South Africa), purchase guns, then return, surrender them for authorities and ask them to allow them to obtain them.
Namibia permits firearm ownership under license, which is issued on a may-issue basis. In 2017 Namibian police issued 7,647 firearm licenses from 9,239 applications, the acceptance rate therefore being around 83%. Overall there are currently 200,100 registered firearms in Namibia or 9 per 100 people. Most popular types of firearms owned by civilians are pistols (46%), rifles (34%) and shotguns (24%). Carrying unloaded concealed firearms in public is allowed.
In 2019 Rwanda passed a new law dealing with firearm possession. It states that authorities have total discretion when determining whether persons can own firearms and can therefore deny applications without reason, even if someone met all requirements.
Senegal has a strict gun legislation. Applications for firearm licenses do not need to specify a reason. An application requires: copy of identity card, criminal record, medical check-up, four photos, tax stamp and personality test. Decisions should be made after a few months.
Gun ownership is very rare, however numbers are on the rise. In 2016 Senegal police issued 1000 licenses, while rejecting 250 (80% acceptance rate), compared to 456 in 2011. In 2017 it was estimated that police issued more than 7,000 total licenses (0.04 per 100 people).
In 2012, Sierra Leone legalized gun ownership after 16 years of a total ban being enforced. According to the act, authorities have discretion in determining whether persons have good reasons to own firearms. The Arms Act of 2021 repealed the Arms Act of 2012, with little change to licensing procedures.
From 1992 until 2023, a UN embargo had prohibited importation of any firearms into Somalia except for security forces.
According to 2010 gun control law residents of Somaliland are allowed to possess firearms for the purpose of defense of life and property. The law specifies pistols and AK automatic rifles as permissible while also mentioning that others can be allowed. Only one weapon of each type can be registered. Possession of more than one weapon of each type require justification and is granted only for legal persons. Permits to register a weapon are provided to people over 18 without criminal background. Permit must be renewed every year. Both citizens and residents can register firearms and they can be inherited. Sale of firearms is limited to government and licensed dealers. Weapons of war such as mortars, bombs, chemical weapons as well as suppressors are prohibited. Openly carrying firearms is prohibited. As the arms embargo on Somalia was lifted, the Somaliland government opposed the measure.
To apply for a firearm license in South Africa applicants must pass a competency test covering the specific type of firearm that is being applied for, and a test on the South African firearm laws. Once these tests are passed one needs to apply for a competency certificate, where the South African Police Service performs a background check and an inspection of the premises where the firearm will be stored. After both tests are passed and the respective certificates are awarded, one can then apply for a firearm license in categories ranging from self-defence to professional hunting. Different license categories have different restrictions, for example the amount of ammunition owners may hold. Using guns to hunt is permitted
Firearms in Argentina are restricted, being regulated by ANMaC (Agencia Nacional de Materiales Controlados) since October 2015. Said agency replaced RENAR (Registro Nacional de Armas de la Republica Argentina), both being a branch of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. To own a firearm in Argentina, one must be a legitimate user. Applicants must: be 21 years of age or older, provide a medical certificate that certifies they are physically and mentally fit, complete a safety course, provide a legitimate means of income, and undergo and pass a background check. A successful applicant is fingerprinted and issued a license which has to be renewed every five years. One may not legally discharge a firearm in Argentina if they are not a legitimate user, even if that gun belongs to someone else. Once a legitimate user wants to purchase a firearm, they must provide a secure location to store the firearm(s), and give an acceptable reason for wanting a firearm – such as collecting, target shooting, hunting, business, or self-defense in the home.
Firearms must be purchased through a licensed registry registered with the ANMaC. If a firearm is inherited, a re-registering form must be filed. There is no limit on the number of firearms owned so long as they are properly stored. Ammunition sales are recorded but unlimited. Carry permits for licensed handgun owners are extremely difficult to obtain, and require appearing before the ANMaC board to make their case. Carry permits are renewed yearly to re-examine their "clear and present" danger, and the permit is usually revoked immediately if this danger is removed. Those dealing in money or valuables or in private security may be issued a business carry permit.
Handguns above .32 calibre are conditional-use; fully automatic handguns are prohibited to civilians. Bolt-action rifles above .22, long rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with a non-detachable magazine are conditional-use; fully automatic rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with detachable magazines are prohibited. Semi-automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels between 380 and 600 mm (15 and 24 in) long are conditional-use; fully automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels under 380 mm (15 in) are prohibited.
Permanent residents or citizens of Belize are allowed to own a gun after a background check. The maximum caliber is 9mm, and one may have only 100 rounds at any given time. Licenses are available to farmers to have shotguns to protect livestock, as well as for hunting and personal protection. Firearms may be imported but must be declared before arrival. Imported guns will be impounded by the police and registered before a license is granted.
All firearms in Brazil are required to be registered. The minimum age for ownership is 25, and certificates of aptitude and mental health are required prior to the acquisition of a firearm and every ten years thereafter. It is generally illegal to carry a firearm outside one's residence, commerce/store or farm. Executive Order No. 5.123, of 1 July 2004 allows the Federal Police to confiscate firearms which are not possessed for a valid reason;
The total number of firearms in Brazil is thought to be between 14 million and 17 million with an estimated 9 million being unregistered. In a 2005 referendum, Brazilians voted against a government proposal for a total ban on the sales of firearms to private citizens.
In January 2019, President Bolsonaro signed an executive order which loosened Brazil's gun laws by removing the police's discretionary power to reject license applications.
Currently there are more than one million guns legally registered by civilians.
On September 5 the Minister of Supreme Court, Luiz Edson Fachin, did invalidate some decrees signed by President Bolsonaro. Those decisions, are named as ADI 6119, ADI 6139 and ADI 6466. The immediate action of those ADIs were the ban to purchase any firearm for home protection and the purchase of ammunition for any civilian in the country. Those ADIs also affected the shooting sports in some degree, by forbidden the acquisition of firearms of restricted calibers.
Canada's firearm laws are stated in the Firearms Act. The possession and acquisition licence (PAL) is distributed by the RCMP (federal police) and requires taking a firearms safety course and passing a test, a background check, and reference interviews. The PAL allows purchase of most popular sporting rifles and shotguns. A Restricted-PAL (RPAL) has an additional course for restricted weapons, which have increased storage requirements. The two main reasons for owning firearms are target shooting and hunting.
Carrying firearms for self-defense against human threats is prohibited without a permit. These permits are typically only issued to police, and those in a profession that involves carrying valuable goods, such as armoured car personnel. The RCMP is also able to issue an Authorization to Carry permit to private individuals on the basis that a person's life is in imminent danger and police protection is inadequate. These permits are seldom issued. In the 1990s, Toronto City Councillor Norm Gardner was revealed to hold such a permit when he shot a man who was committing a robbery. As of October 2018, only two permits for protection of life were actively issued in the country.
An Authorization to Carry permit can be obtained for protection against wild animals. However these are only issued to a licensed professional trapper, or to people in a profession that exposes them to dangerous animals in remote areas. However, the applicant must prove why carrying a rifle or shotgun is not possible, and they must choose a firearm that is appropriate for the circumstances.
In Canada, firearms fall into one of three categories:
Restricted and Prohibited firearms can only be used at an approved shooting range, and cannot be used for hunting. Transportation of firearms that meet these classifications are restricted by an Authorization to Transport (ATT) permit, and they can only be transported to and from approved ranges in a locked case.
Non-citizens may obtain a non-resident firearms declaration from a customs officer, for a temporary 60-day authorization to bring a non-prohibited firearm into Canada.
In Chile, the 103rd article of the Constitution declares gun ownership as a privilege granted in accordance to a special law. Firearms are regulated by the police. Civilian gun ownership is allowed by law but discouraged by authorities, with regular press statements and campaigns denouncing the dangers of possessing firearms.
Police-issued firearm permits require applicants to be 18 years of age, provide a mental health certificate issued by a psychiatrist, have a clean criminal record with no domestic violence accusations, and pass a written test on firearm safety and knowledge. Final approval lies in a district police commander, who can deny the permit in "justified cases" not detailed by the law. There are five types of permits:
Each of these permits has limits on types of firearms used, and allows for a police-issued permit to buy a specified quantity of appropriate ammunition from a specific gun shop. Transport permits are required to take firearms from the permit-holder's residence to a specified shooting range or hunting ground, and are valid for two years. Transported firearms must be unloaded and not attached to the body.
A self-defense permit allows carrying a firearm for protection against specific human threats. Such permits are valid for one year, but as the police commander can deny applications without stating a reason, they are very rarely issued. Automatic firearms are forbidden for civilian use.
Gun control law enacted in 2008 in Cuba divides firearm licenses in to six categories:
Article 3 of Colombia's firearm law states that civilians may possess firearms only via permit issued at discretion of the competent authority.
In 1993, Colombia legislated gun ownership, effectively establishing a government licensing monopoly. In 2016, president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos signed an executive order suspending civilians from carrying firearms, with some exceptions including security details, hunting, private defense and collection. It was extended in 2018 by newly elected president Ivan Duque, albeit with the added stipulation: "for reasons of emergency or security ... taking into consideration among other factors, the particular circumstances of each application". A legal challenge to this modification has been prepared.
Only citizens and permanent residents of Costa Rica are allowed to possess firearms: handguns (up to three), rifles (up to three for sporting use; hunting is illegal in Costa Rica), and semi-automatic weapons between the calibers of 5.6 to 18.5 millimeters.
Foreigners wishing to bring guns into the country must apply with the Ministry of Public Security and declare it when they arrive to the customs department, who will hold it until they go through the registration process. Firearms can be purchased from a licensed gun shop or private individual. Gun owners must have a clean criminal record in Costa Rica and must pass a psychological exam.
El Salvador's laws aim to allow and regulate civilian possession of firearms. In order to get a firearm license one must have no criminal record, be at least 21 years of age(24 for a carry license), pay for a tax stamp, and undergo a written test. In 2017 there were 344,587 registered firearms in El Salvador, or 5.6 per 100 people.
Possession of most long guns is allowed without a permit in Greenland, while semi- and fully-automatic firearms and handguns require a permit. In 2018, proposed amendment to firearm law would raise the minimum age to purchase guns to 16.
The constitution of Haiti provides citizens with the constitutional right to possess firearms at home. Only police and military can possess rifles. Handguns are allowed to be carried open or concealed with the correct license issued by the Haitian National Police assigned to the serial number of the firearm and with the name of the individual or organization responsible for the firearm.
Gun laws in Honduras are stated in the Act on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Material of 2000. In April 2002, the National Arms Registry was formed, requiring all citizens to register their firearms with the Ministry of Defense.
In 2003, a ban on certain "assault rifles" was passed, restricting citizens from possessing military-style rifles such as the AK-47 and the M-16. In 2007, an additional decree suspended the right to openly carry and conceal carry a firearm in public, and limited the number of firearms a person can possess.
Gun laws in Jamaica are stated in the Firearms Act and regulated by the Firearms Licensing Authority. Applicants must pass a police background check and complete a certification process to obtain a firearms license for shotguns, handguns and rifles. Shotguns and rifles for hunting or sport-shooting purposes are easier to obtain than handguns. Fully automatic weapons are prohibited. Handguns are limited to those under .45 calibre for revolvers or 10 mm for pistols. Ammunition purchases are limited to 250 rounds per year for shotguns and 50 for handguns, with applications for additional ammunition generally granted during the hunting season. A gun safe is required for storage of all firearms and ammunition. Once licensed, no additional permit is required to carry a firearm open or concealed, unless the carrying of firearms has been temporarily prohibited under section 22 of the Act.
Under the Mexican Constitution, Article 10, citizens and legal residents have the right to own and carry arms, but may only carry them in accordance with police regulations, i.e. Article 32 of the "Ley Federal de Armas de Fuego y Explosivos". Applicants must: have a clear criminal record; proven income and residence (i.e.: cannot be homeless); undergone compulsory military service; a clean bill of health (including drug tests); justified the weapon's use; be employed. New firearms are purchased through the Ministry of Defense. Prohibited weapons include: large-calibre handguns; shotguns with barrels shorter than 25 inches (640 mm) or bore greater than 12 gauge; and rifles which are fully automatic or of large calibre. One handgun is permitted for home defense, but it must be registered within 30 days of purchase. For hunting and sport shooting, up to nine long guns and one handgun is permitted, requiring membership in a hunting or shooting club. Collectors may be authorized to possess additional and prohibited weapons. A carry license may be issued to those employed by private security firms, and certain weapons are exclusive to the armed forces. Licenses must be renewed biennially.
Obtaining firearms in Panama requires a Firearms Possession Certificate (FPC), which requires: criminal background check, drugs test, psychological test and firearms training. The minimum age to own a firearm is 18. The FPC allows the owner to move the firearms, unloaded and stowed, to and from a gun range. At least 6 hours of annual gun range practice is mandatory. There are no firearm caliber nor magazine capacity restrictions and all kinds of semiautomatic weapons are allowed for civilian ownership. Automatic weapons may only be owned by the state. Ammunition is restricted by type. Tracer, incendiary, armor-piercing and explosive ammunition is prohibited to civilians. An FPC is valid for 10 years.
Concealed carry of firearms is allowed through a Firearms Carry License (FCL). An FCL has the same requirements as an FPC, but carrier must be at least 21 years of age. Only handguns, such as pistols and revolvers, are permitted for concealed carry; however, up to two handguns may be carried loaded simultaneously. An FCL is valid for 4 years.
The Public Security Ministry handles all firearm matters. All legally owned firearms must be registered to their owners and appear on their permits. Direct or private handover of firearms is prohibited. A buyer must submit an application to the Security Ministry which, if approved, will deliver the updated permits and the firearms directly to the owner. No private owner may take out a firearm directly from a dealer. A shall-issue permit policy apply for all permits; the state must issue a permit if applicant meets all requirements. Firearm applications must be resolved in 30 business days or less.
Importation of firearms is only allowed to authorized local dealers. An individual may not privately import his/her own firearms while immigrating from another country. Firearms may temporarily be taken out of the country for sport events or repairs.
Firearms are regulated by Article 312 of the Panamanian Constitution of 1972 and the General Firearms, Ammunition and Related Materials Act (Law 57 of 2011).
In order to get a firearm possession license one must have no criminal records, be at least 22 years of age, and obtain certificate of safely handling a firearm. Carry permit requires a good reason. Automatic weapons are prohibited. As of 2014, there are 392,000 registered firearms and 1,961 carry permits issued to civilians.
In the United States, firearms are regulated by both federal and individual state statutes. Federal firearms laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). State and local firearms laws, which vary greatly, are enforced by state and local authorities. The right to keep and bear arms has been protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution since 1791, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it protects any individual's right to keep and bear arms unconnected with service in a militia for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home and in public, in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022). The Supreme Court affirmed in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) that the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby applies to state and local laws as well as federal laws. Most state constitutions also guarantee this right, although there is some variance across the country as both federal and state laws apply to firearm possession and ownership.
Firearm ownership in the United States is by right and does not require licensure or proof of need. Federally, there is no minimum age to possess long guns; 18 is the minimum age to possess handguns. To purchase from a licensed dealer, one must be 18 for long guns and 21 for handguns. The respective age requirements apply to purchasing ammunition from a dealer, retail store or online.
Federally, new firearms must be transferred by a federally licensed dealer (FFL) with form 4473 and background check. Used firearms transferred interstate must also go through an FFL. Intrastate private party sales are not required to use an FFL under federal law, but many states require FFLs to conduct private party transfers.
Federal law does not limit the number of firearms or quantity of ammunition and reloading supplies a private citizen may keep.
Air guns, antique ignition (muzzle loading) guns and guns made prior to 1899 are not firearms under U.S. law, although they are still considered deadly weapons.
Federal law designates two classes of firearms in the United States:
Title I, GCA firearms: This includes all handguns, rifles with at least 16" barrel and 26" overall length, Shotguns with at least 18" barrel and 26" overall length, other firearms with an overall length of 26" or more which are neither handgun nor long gun. Sporting arms over .50 caliber are title I; non-sporting arms over .50 caliber fall into the Title II category below.
Title II, NFA Firearms. NFA firearms include:
Non-prohibited persons over 21 years of age may own NFA firearms in most states, though some states prohibit some or all of this class. NFA firearms must be registered and go through a manufacturing or transfer approval by ATF before the individual may make or take possession of the weapon. This process can take months, sometimes even years. It requires fingerprinting, photo ID and a tax of $200 per application (per weapon). There is no lawful way to make or transfer an NFA firearm without going through this process.
Fully-automatic firearms ( machine guns) are heavily restricted and can only be owned by private citizens if manufactured and registered before May 18, 1986. unless an individual is to obtain status as an SOT "Special Occupational Taxpayer" as a FFL "Federal Firearms License" holder. Since civilians without SOT status are only allowed to own machine guns manufactured before 1986, the finite supply has caused the market value of pre-1986 transferable automatic weapons to be 20 to 50 times that of their semiautomatic counterparts (2022 ex.,$500-$800 for a basic AR-15, $20,000-$25,000 for an M-16)
Law varies greatly from state to state, both in its scope and in its range.
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922 – Unlawful Acts, persons are prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition if:
The carrying of weapons, either openly or concealed, is regulated by the states, and these laws have changed rapidly beginning in the latter part of the 20th century. Some states allow residents to carry without a permit, while others only allow the public carry of firearms upon issuance of a permit or license. Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, current and former law enforcement officers can carry anywhere (except private property where they are subject to the rules of the owner and gun-free public places like schools) as long as they carry a photo identification from their agency and have completed yearly training from said agency.
Federal law provides protection for travellers who may find themselves going through states with more restrictive gun laws than their origin or destination. As long as the weapons are transported in accordance with FOPA and the weapon(s) are legally owned and not prohibited in the origin or destination(s), the travellers are immune from prosecution.
Being engaged in the business of importing firearms, dealing firearms, gunsmithing or manufacturing arms requires licensure in the United States. There are multiple license types, depending on the nature of the business, and some licenses have additional requirements, such as registration with Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Private citizens in the United States may manufacture weapons for personal use without any government approval or registration for Title I GCA firearms (NFA rules still apply to home made weapons). However, it becomes unlawful to manufacture without a license if the intent is to distribute.
The United States federal government is prohibited by law from maintaining a registry of firearms owners, although the NFA registry which predated this prohibition has been exempted. Some states do have registration.
Uruguayan law allows for firearm possession on a shall-issue basis. These firearms must be of a caliber smaller than .50 BMG. Carry permits are issued on a may-issue basis, which in practice is no-issue except for people working as private security guards. Policemen and military can carry their firearms while off-duty without the need for a licence. The legal carrying of firearms must always be in a concealed manner, no open carry is allowed. In recent times, politicians from the governing coalition have expressed their intentions of allowing the issuing of concealed carry permits to civilians. With approximately 35 civilian firearms per 100 people, Uruguay is the eighth most armed country in the world and most armed in Latin America.
During the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, in 1914, a disarmament decree in the Federal District was enacted, and later in 1919, a disarmament law was decreed, ordering every weapon owner to give them away to the authorities; the only exceptions were machetes and hunting shotguns. The official justification offered was to diminish crime, but the law was ultimately used to disarm the population and to prevent possible uprisings. Historian Manuel Caballero argued that while Gómez's final intention was to prevent his enemies from obtaining weapons, the law contributed to avoid civil wars in Venezuela for the next century.
In 2012 Venezuela banned private sales of firearms and ammunition hoping to lower crime rates. The Army, police, and certain groups trusted by the government (colectivos) are exempted from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers. In 2013 Venezuela stopped issuing new firearm licenses. In 2017 government banned carrying firearms in public places.
Automatic rifles are restricted to government forces and security companies in Afghanistan. Handguns, while allowed, are mostly issued for important people. Non-automatic rifles can be obtained for sports and hunting. Rules regarding shotguns and antique firearms are most permissive with no good reason required. Shotguns including pump-action shotguns are popular in some regions as self-defense weapons.
Gun laws are very restrictive in Bangladesh. Only people over the age of 25 (30 for handguns) and under 60 who pay taxes can apply for firearm licence. Self-defence is only accepted reason and requires proving danger to life. Legal owners can only own one long gun (shotgun or rifle) and one handgun (pistol or revolver). They cannot work as security guards.
Firearms are prohibited for citizens. Military and police personnel may apply for a licence to keep a private firearm by establishing a genuine reason, such as sport shooting or gun collecting.
Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions since 1999.
Gun ownership in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is regulated by law. Generally, private citizens are not allowed to possess guns. Civilian ownership of guns is largely restricted to authorized, non-individual entities, including sporting organizations, authorized hunting reserves, and wildlife protection, management and research organizations. The chief exception to the general ban on individual firearm ownership is for the purpose of hunting. Illegal possession or sale of firearms may result in a minimum punishment of three years in prison, and penalties for the trafficking of "arms and ammunition or other military materials to an enemy during war time" include life imprisonment.
In Hong Kong and Macau, gun ownership is tightly controlled and possession is mainly in the hands of law enforcement, military, and private security firms (providing protection for jewelers and banks). Under Section 13 of Cap 238 Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance of Hong Kong, a license is required for unrestricted firearms and ammunition. A license may be issued after a rigorous process to check for criminal records or a history of mental illness. License holders may store other firearms at home in a locked box, but ammunition must be kept at different premises. Only fully automatic firearms appear prohibited; those found in possession without a license could be fined at level 6 of the standard scale ("Maximum fine of HKD $100,000") and face imprisonment for up to 14 years.
Under East Timorese law, only the military and police forces may possess, carry and use firearms, with few exceptions.
In late June 2008, the Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmão, introduced a proposed gun law to Parliament for "urgent debate", pushing back scheduled budgetary discussions. The new law, which would allow civilians to own guns, sparked heated debates in the East Timorese parliament. The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping force deployed in the nation, also expressed concerns over the new law. The law was defeated in the Parliament.
Guns in India are regulated by law. The Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules 1962 prohibit the sale, manufacture, possession, acquisition, import, export, and transport of firearms and ammunition unless under a license, which is difficult to obtain. The Indian Government has a monopoly over the production and sale of firearms, with the exception of some breech-loading smooth-bore shotguns, of which a limited number may be produced and imported. The Arms Act classifies firearms into two categories: Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB), where all semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms fall under the Prohibited Bore category. The Arms Act of 1962 added to the Prohibited bore category, any firearm which can chamber and fire ammunition of calibers .303, 7.62 mm, .410, .380, .455, .45 rimless, or 9 mm. Smooth-bore guns having barrels shorter than 20 Inches (508 mm) are also specified as Prohibited guns.
Licenses for acquisition and possession of both PB and NPB firearms could be given by a state government or district magistrate before 1987. Since that year, issuing of licenses for PB firearms became the responsibility of the central government. Licenses are valid for five years and may be renewed after the term. The sale of firearms requires both the selling and purchasing party to possess a permit.
The criteria considered during issuing of NPB firearm permits are whether the applicant faces a threat to their life. PB firearms criteria are more stringent, often for persons in government positions who face immediate danger or threats, those whose occupations involve open threats and danger, and their immediate family members. PB licenses were tightened since 2014, when otherwise-eligible persons started to be frequently rejected on basis of national security grounds. Exceptions are made for defense officers, who are allowed to keep firearms without licenses under the Defence Service rule, and a handful of professional shooters.
Firearm licenses are issued on a may-issue basis and approximately half of applications are accepted. For example, between April 2015 and March 2016 authorities in Mumbai rejected 169 out of 342 firearm applications.
In Indonesia, gun licenses are only issued to civilians employed in a profession that involves using firearms, such as in the military and law enforcement, with an exception made for politicians and businessmen.
Applicants must be over the age of 21 to obtain a firearms license, and go through a background check and mental evaluation. They must also state a genuine reason for wanting to own a firearm, which can include hunting, target shooting, collecting, security, and self-defense. All firearms must be registered. Gun permits are valid for five years and may be renewed.
Civilians cannot possess military weapons, but may possess long rifles. Handguns can only be used for sport-shooting and hunting. In 2012 however, it was claimed that police had been issuing permits to regular citizens.
There are 200.000 rifles registered for Nomads. Iranian law had changed in 2021–22 with military, security and police having permit to access firearms use them preemptively. Airguns, airsoft guns and hunting rifles were criminalized September 2023.
In 2012, Iraq relaxed its gun laws. The "possession of one rifle or pistol per home" was allowed via simple registration at local police stations.
In 2017, the law was relaxed once again. The possession and carrying of handguns, semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms and other weapons for self-defense, hunting and sport shooting purposes was allowed. Firearm licenses require official authorization and identity cards.
Gun laws in Israel are comprehensive despite soldiers being allowed to carry their service weapons on or off duty. Civilians must obtain a firearms license to lawfully acquire, possess, sell or transfer firearms and ammunition. In 2018, Israel loosened firearms restrictions, allowing all citizens who had undergone combat training and qualified in Advanced Infantry Training ('Rifleman "07"') to apply for a private handgun license.
Prior to 2018, only a small group of people had been eligible for firearms licenses: certain retired military personnel, police officers or prison guards; residents of settlements (in the West Bank) or those who often work in such towns; and licensed hunters and animal-control officers. Age requirements vary: 21 for those who completed military service or civil service equivalent, 27 otherwise, and 45 for non-citizens. Firearm license applicants must have been a resident of Israel for at least three consecutive years, pass a background check (criminal, health, and mental history), establish a so-called "genuine reason" for possessing a firearm (such as self-defense, hunting, or sport), and pass a weapons-training course. As many as 40% of applications for firearms permits were rejected.
Those holding firearms licenses must renew them and pass a shooting course every three years. Security guards must pass these tests to renew their license to carry firearms belonging to their employers. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a safe at their residence in which to keep the firearm. Permits are given only for personal use, and holders for self-defense purposes may own only one handgun and purchase an annual supply of 50 cartridges (although more may be purchased to replace rounds used at a firing range).
Most individuals who are licensed to possess handguns may carry them loaded in public, concealed or openly.
In 2005, there were 237,000 private citizens and 154,000 security guards licensed to carry firearms. Another 34,000 Israelis own guns illegally due to their failure to renew their firearms license. In 2007, there were estimated to be 500,000 licensed small arms held by civilians, in addition to 1,757,500 by the military, and 26,040 by the police.
Following the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel almost immediately reacted strongly in favor of loosening gun restrictions in favor of a more liberal access for Israeli civilians to have firearms to defend themselves and their communities. The Israeli government also called on civilians that did find a way to arm themselves to band together and form protective groups in light of the attack initiated out of Gaza. The Times of Israel reported, "The reform was unveiled by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who has pushed for allowing more Israelis to arm themselves as a response to terror attacks." Left-wing party Meretz opposed the changes, with party member Tamar Zandberg saying in a statement, "...[guns] are a death machine whose civilian use needs to be reduced as much as possible...", Erdan in turn argued that, "Qualified citizens carrying firearms in public contribute to the sense of security, are an important line of defense from ‘lone-wolf’ attacks and thus strengthen public security.", and "Many citizens have saved lives during terror attacks, and in the era of ‘lone-wolf’ attacks, the more qualified gun-carrying citizens there are — the better the chance to thwart terror attacks without casualties and reduce the number of casualties."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was quoted in a report from Fox News as saying:
When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves.
Ben-Gvir issued an emergency directive after the attack to loosen gun restrictions for Israeli civilians in several ways, however, reportedly the comments section on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) had many people saying that this was, "too little too late."
American and international media outlets reacted largely critical of Israel's historically strict gun laws that potentially served to endanger Israelis by leaving them defenseless in many cases as the surprise attack unfolded. Only 2% of Israeli civilians were armed prior to the attack according to a report from the BBC, compared to as little as 30% of American civilians (though that number may be much higher due to gunowners that do not report accurately).
A rabbi in Israel named Raz Blizovsky was quoted as saying:
People are changing their opinion [after the attack], and now there is more awareness. I have been involved with groups that have been talking about this issue [loosening gun restrictions for civilians] for years. During calm times, people don't do anything.
Israel citizens also petitioned their government by the tens of thousands to further loosen gun laws for Israeli and Jewish civilians in light of the prior laws that made it very difficult to acquire guns and possess the means for Israeli civilians to defend themselves. One petition gathered as many as 22,000 signatures in less than 24 hours seeking to loosen restrictions on the right of Israeli civilians to buy and carry firearms.
The weapons law of Japan begins by stating "No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords", and very few exceptions are allowed. Citizens are permitted to possess firearms for hunting and sport shooting, but only after submitting to a lengthy licensing procedure. As part of the procedure, a shooting-range test must be passed with a "mark of at least 95%". A mental-health evaluation taking place at a hospital, and a thorough background check where one's family and friends are interviewed, are also part of the procedure.
A gun license expires after three years, after which license tests must be repeated. After ten years of shotgun ownership, a license-holder may apply to obtain a rifle.
Japan has been described as the country with "perhaps the first ever gun buyback initiative" in 1685, and is the first nation to have imposed gun laws in the world; as such, gun ownership is very rare: 0.6 guns per 100 people in 2007. When mass killings occur, they are often perpetrated by assailants wielding knives or other means, not guns. In 2014, Japan saw six gun deaths.
Each prefecture in the country can operate a total of three gun shops. New cartridges can only be purchased after turning in expended cartridges. In turn, new magazines can be bought only by trading in old ones. If a gun owner dies, their relatives must surrender their firearms. Off-duty police are not allowed to carry weapons, rarely do on-duty apart from special squads, and arrests are generally made without firearms; instead, police are expected to be proficient in judo.
According to Jordanian law on gun control passed in 1952 Jordanian residents are allowed to keep rifles and handguns at their home with amount of ammunition necessary for self-defense provided they obtain a permit. Permits are denied for people under 21 and convicted of any crimes. Possession and carrying of automatic firearms require special permit.
In 2019 law was proposed that would ban both semi- and fully-automatic firearms in Jordan.
Firearms may be licensed to a citizen (or foreigner recommended by the Minister of Interior) who is at least 25 years old and fully capable of handling a weapon, with no criminal record, who is not a suspect or under police surveillance, and who has a source of income. Hunting shotguns are the most commonly licensed weapons. Rifles chambered for .22 long rifle are also common, with hunting rifles being more difficult to obtain. Handguns are only allowed for VIPs. Machine guns are not legally permitted for civilian possession.
In the Lebanese Republic, ownership of any firearm other than handguns, hunting arms or antiques is illegal and only the latter two are permitted to leave the owner's home. Disregard for this law is prevalent. Lebanon does not officially grant the right to bear arms, but it is a firmly held cultural belief in the country. Firearm licenses are granted to certain individuals, but the test is not open to the public and requires a particular need to be demonstrated.
Gun control has been largely unsuccessful in Lebanon due to a historic context of gun availability and usage, a lack of effective central government control or authority over many parts of the country, and the tumultuous nature of the region. Although gunsmithing was once prominent in the region, it has all but ceased since the mid-1930s, yet it remains legal with a permit. Lebanon has come to be one of the largest arms markets in the Middle East.
Lebanon ranks 58th worldwide for privately owned firearms per capita.
Firearm ownership is highly restricted in Malaysia. The Arms Act (1960) requires Malaysian citizens to have a license for the manufacture, import, export, repair, or ownership of firearms. A firearm license can only be granted by the Chief Police Officer of a state. Discharging a firearm in crimes such as extortion, robbery, resisting arrest and house-breaking is punished by the death penalty. Exhibiting a firearm for any of the scheduled offences (without discharging) carries a penalty of life imprisonment and caning of not less than six strokes. Possession of unlawful firearms carries a sentence of up to fourteen years in prison and caning.
Mongolia currently observes a law on firearms passed in 2001 which allows anyone to apply for a firearm license, which may be issued after 21 days.
There are 46,982 (or 1.6 per 100 people) registered firearms in Mongolia including 44,306 for hunting, 1,598 for security and ward use, 619 for sports training, 260 as "art" firearms and 199 for collection purposes.
The right to firearm ownership, which is primarily governed by the Weapons Act of 1878, is generally restricted in Myanmar. The law has been amended several times, and generally provides citizens with a right to own firearms for self-defence. Since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état, successive military regimes have restricted legal gun ownership to individuals closely connected with the regimes, including army veterans. After the 1962 coup, the government confiscated all citizen-owned firearms, which were re-distributed to Burma Socialist Programme Party members, retired civil servants, and army veterans.
After the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and ensuing Myanmar civil war (2021–present), the military regime has revisited existing gun laws as part of an effort to combat pro-democracy forces. On 31 January 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive enabling organisations and citizens deemed "loyal to the state," including civilians, civil servants, and army personnel, to obtain firearm licences and permits. The directive stipulates that firearm applicants must be at least 18 years old, and must demonstrate a need for firearms for "personal security." The regulatory shift has enabled the military junta to arm pro-regime paramilitary groups like the Pyusawhti militias and to suppress pro-democracy forces in the country, in light of waning military recruitment and their challenges in concurrently operating in multiple war theatres throughout the country.
Nepal allows firearm ownership if an applicant can provide sufficient reason, for example hunting or self-defense.
There are 34,315 (or 0.1 per 100 people) registered firearms in Nepal including 13,892 shotguns, 312 pistols and 118 revolvers.
According to 2009 law civilian possession of firearms is prohibited in North Korea.
Pakistan has permissive firearm laws compared to the rest of South Asia, and has the sixth-highest number of privately owned guns in the world. Laws regulate the carrying of weapons in public in most urban areas. Private guns are prohibited in educational institutions, hostels, boarding and lodging houses, fairs, gatherings or processions of a political, religious, ceremonial, or sectarian character, and on the premises of courts of law or public offices. The law in Pakistan does not stipulate whether gun licenses should be denied or revoked, and a license permits ownership of any number of weapons including handguns of any size and fully automatic weapons. Firearms are a traditionally important part of rural life in its North-Western areas where it is not uncommon to see people legally carrying RPGs and fully automatic weapons.
The Philippines has generally strict gun laws, though liberal in comparison to other Asia-Pacific countries due to its active gun culture. Philippine gun control became notorious in 1972 during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos who implemented a near-prohibition of all civilian guns. Current gun laws in the Philippines are outlined in Republic Act 10591 or the "Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act", signed in 2013. In order to own a firearm, a citizen must acquire a License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF). Applicants must meet the following requirements: (a) has not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude; (b) has passed the psychiatric test administered by a PNP-accredited psychologist or psychiatrist; (c) has passed the drug test conducted by an accredited and authorized drug testing laboratory or clinic; (d) has passed a gun safety seminar which is administered by the PNP or a registered and authorized gun club; (e) has filed in writing the application to possess a registered firearm which shall state the personal circumstances of the applicant; (f) must present a police clearance from the city or municipality police office; and (g) has not been convicted or is currently an accused in a pending criminal case before any court of law for a crime that is punishable with a penalty of more than two (2) years.
License holders may carry concealed handguns in public with the acquisition of a separate Permit to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR), which is granted on a may-issue basis. Generally, applicants must demonstrate an imminent threat of danger and secure a Threat Assessment Certificate from the police in order to be issued a PTCFOR. Exempted from this requirement are members of the national bar (lawyers, prosecutors, judges), accountants, accredited media practitioners, cashiers, bank tellers, clergymen (priests, ministers, rabbis, imams), physicians, nurses, engineers, high-risk businessmen, elected incumbent and former officials, and active and retired military and law enforcement personnel, as they are deemed to be in imminent danger due to the nature of their profession, occupation or business.
Many Filipinos own firearms for self-protection and target-shooting, which require licenses: around 2,000,000 people out of 100,000,000 have a registered firearm.
Despite the laws, some people in the Philippines are gun enthusiasts and gun users, in part due to the influence of its history of being an American Commonwealth. It is widely believed there is a de facto right to gun ownership in the country.
Singaporean citizens must obtain a license to lawfully possess firearms or ammunition; applicants must provide justification for the license, which is often restricted to the military, police, and private security companies. Target-shooting licenses permit ownership of a gun, provided it is securely stored in an approved and protected firing range, and is not taken out of the firing range without special permission. Self-defense permits are not allowed, unless there is an 'imminent threat' to their lives that can be justified to the government. There is no restriction on types of small arms one may own after obtaining a license. Illegal firearms and firearm-related crimes are grounds for the death penalty in Singapore.
Owing to its mandatory national service, nearly half the civilian population have the experience and are well-trained in operating firearms, most notably the M16 and the SAR 21. Singapore has the lowest gun-related deaths in the world.
Similar to Singapore, the majority of South Korean men are well-trained in the use of firearms, due to mandatory military service. Guns are also notably absent in South Korean society outside of the military, and gun ownership and gun-related deaths rank among the lowest in the world.
South Korea has strict gun policies. Hunting and sporting licenses are issued, but any firearm used in these circumstances must be stored at a local police station. Air rifles also have to be stored at police stations; crossbows and electric shock devices are also classified as firearms but their private retention is permitted. Tasers are prohibited, and possessing a toy gun without an orange tip is strictly prohibited. Violation of firearms laws can result in a US$18,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.
According to 2001 law Syrian citizens and foreign Arabs can own one revolver and two shotguns under license issued for people who can provide genuine reason such as protection of business.
All types of firearms including pistols, rifles and grenades are reportedly sold in rebel-held Idlib district without any license in shops which are mostly run by militia groups. In October 2020 Idlib's Salvation Government reportedly stated it will start licensing firearms. Many other rebel groups expressed opposition to this and some doubted possibility of registering firearms in Idlib.
Taiwan has extremely strict gun control for all persons on the island, though some carveouts used to be made for indigenous Taiwanese persons. Some argue that the strict policy endangers the homeland to potential invasion by mainland China. An unusual feature of Taiwan's gun control scheme was a specific provision for indigenous people, allowing black powder muzzleloader-type single shot rifles for hunting, though in the pursuit of a total gun control policy, even indigenous persons of Taiwan have lost their right to use and own even these guns as of 2021. There is an absolute "zero tolerance policy" for owning guns in Taiwan. The indigenous people that were allowed a carve out to the absolute-no-guns policy though are increasingly antagonistic against the mainly Han Chinese that are seen as foreign occupiers that restrict the natural right of indigenous peoples of Taiwan to own and use guns for hunting and other purposes.
A firearm license in Thailand is only granted for the following uses: self-defense, property protection, hunting, or sporting. Applicants for a firearms license must be at least 20 years of age (the age of majority under the Civil and Commercial Code), have a record of good behavior, have an occupation and receive income, and have a permanent address in Thailand with a name "listed in the house registration specifically in the area where you are applying for a license, for at least six months". A license may not be issued to anyone who is a repeat criminal offender or mentally unstable. The application fee for most firearms licenses is 1,000 Baht for each license or unit; a license for possession and use of air rifles is 200 Baht per license/unit.; carry licenses are also 1,000 Baht per license. Since October 2017 citizenship is required to purchase and use firearms. A person is also not allowed to carry his gun without an additional permit for concealed carry. Fully automatic firearms and explosive devices are prohibited.
The amended 2017 law will cover weapon suppressors, electric darts, and new types of fireworks including bang fai (locally-made rockets) and talai ("rocket-like fireworks with a circular wing"). The amendment further provides that anyone who creates a bomb scare may be subject to convictions of up to three years of imprisonment and/or fined up to 60,000 Baht. Another significant change is that only Thais will be permitted to register a gun with the authorities. Formerly, foreigners residing in Thailand could also apply for weapons permits. The Act already prohibits the manufacture, purchase, ownership, use, ordering, or import of firearms or ammunition, except by persons who have been granted a license from the local registrar. Violation of this provision is punishable with convictions including imprisonment for a period of between one and ten years and/or fines of between 2,000 and 20,000 Baht.
Turkey is restrictive in terms of gun control statutes. Automatic and semi-automatic firearms are "prohibited for civilian possession (with no or limited exceptions)", and for any application, "an applicant may be asked to produce a medical certificate confirming he or she is capable of handling firearms and that he or she has no psychological – or physical – impediments". Background checks are mandatory, and a "genuine reason" is required for the issue of licenses.
Civilians must additionally apply through the police for a handgun carry permit or a rifle carry license (the latter also requiring a hunting license). They must have a special reason prior to application and pay the required expenses. Special professions like police officers, military personnel, judges, public prosecutors, and senior politicians have their own life-time license from the government, and can apply for free licenses for handgun and rifle carry. All police officers can have an unlimited number of handguns and rifles with a carry license. Military officers can have five handguns and two rifles. Generals are exempt from these limits. Mayors, deputies, ministers, and presidents are lifetime carry licensed with no money in order. Some other government employees are extraordinarily have lifetime carry licenses. Examples are forest rangers, headman, customs officers, judges and prosecutors. These employees do not have to be health controlled every 5 years. Normal civilians can have licenses to keep as long as they are healthy and no serious criminal record. Another interesting detail is that the civilians must have no tax debt to apply for a license. The numbers of guns is limitless as long as the tax is paid. The tax for every single keep license for any rifle and handgun is something like 200-250USD which every year changes as Turkish Lira. Carry permit for handguns is prohibited. Only people who have more than 50 employees, some of professions like jewelers, money-changers and people who carry gold or money, fuel dealers, lawyers and people who pays more than a limit of tax can have carry license. In Turkey it's possible for all of these people to get carry license by paying tax plus the restrictions of license to keep. Tax is somewhere between $700 and US$1000, as every years changes in Turkish lira. Carry licenses can be obtained one by one. Every single firearm is licensed individually. Carry licenses for handguns are legally limitless but not practically. Rifles can be carried legally, as long as one has a legal hunting license. It is not possible to have a carry license without a hunting license. Semi-Automatic rifles have been prohibited since 2002, because of a ban on hunting with semi-auto rifles. Licensed semi-auto rifles could have keep license for everyone or carry license, for exampled government employees. But it's forbidden for them to be used in hunting. Semi-auto tactical rifles and full-auto shotguns or rifles are fully prohibited for civilians, but with some exceptions. It's possible for a VIP to have full auto or semi-auto rifle with a special permission. The examples are some rifles which had gifted by Turkish presidents to some businessmen during the time. Also, there are some old semi-auto or full-auto tactical rifles or assault rifles which were licensed years ago and are still in some families. These rifles cannot be licensed after death of license owner. The most important thing for any rifle or handgun is spare parts, which are rare to find and difficult to change. Especially gun rebarreling is most difficult process which customers prefer to not to do or do far from legal process. Shotgun license is easier. Turkey is a country with a huge shotgun industry. Shotguns are widespread and easy to buy in Turkey. A shotgun license is much more cheaper than in most European countries. For a shotgun license, one must have a bill of health, clean criminal record, and no tax debt. Every 5 shotguns are recordable in just a license. Spare parts are common and rebarreling is easy and legal.
In 2019, the government of the United Arab Emirates relaxed its gun laws. The minimum age to possess firearms was lowered from 25 to 21, while legal owners can now have up to three guns. People from other countries are not allowed to apply for licenses. Most popular purposes to own them include hunting and trap shooting.
Weapons can be purchased during a yearly gun show called Adihex. In 2018, more than 1,764 legal weapons were sold.
Firearm licenses are issued after 60 days of applications to the relevant authority. If there is no response that means that the license has been rejected.
In 2019, the president of Uzbekistan signed a new gun law. It allows citizens to own smooth-bore firearms and firearms with rifled barrels for hunting and sport shooting purposes. Carrying in public places is prohibited and the minimum age is 21 years. Only gas and electric weapons can be used for self-defense purposes. The maximum magazine capacity is ten rounds.
Firearms in Vietnam are restricted to the military and law enforcement agencies, with possession of firearms prohibited to civilians. The chief exception to this is for hunting and sporting purposes, requiring users to undergo mandatory background checks to be licensed.
Yemen has a permissive gun policy and does not require permits for firearm ownership. The 1992 Law "On Regulating Carrying Firearms and Ammunitions and Their Trade", established the right to own firearms (rifles, machine guns, revolvers and hunting rifles) for the purpose of legitimate defense. Licenses are required to carry firearms in cities, which are issued on a may-issue basis with varying restrictions depending on the city. Open and concealed carry is unrestricted in rural areas. Since the breakout of the civil war in 2011 there has been barely any state gun control, and fully-automatic rifles/assault rifles, anti-tank guided missiles or armored vehicles are available over the counter for various militias and individuals willing to buy them.
According to the Small Arms Survey of 2018 titled Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers, there are roughly 14.9 million civilian-held firearms in Yemen (52.8 firearms held per 100 residents), making Yemen the second most armed country in the world after the United States.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, its two autonomous entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska have relatively strict weapon laws compared to the rest of Europe. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law. People over 21 may apply for a permit. Those with a history of criminal activity, mental disorders, alcohol or substance use will be denied a permit. There is also a thorough background check, interviewing neighbors and family, and the applicant must complete a course and pass a multiple-choice exam. Police have the last word on the matter, with an appeal possible to a police captain. Firearms must be kept in a "safe place" within a residence, and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found to be "irresponsible". Concealed carry is allowed with a permit. Pepper spray may be carried by females if registered with police.
Historically and legally EU member states have their own laws which differ from one country to another which led to differences in the extent of legal access to firearms among EU countries.
EU harmonisation started in 1991, with European Directive No. 91/477/EC which set minimum standards regarding civilian firearms acquisition and possession that EU member states must implement into their national legal systems. In this text, firearms are considered as any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is designed to expel or may be converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant.
Since 2017 EU directive amendment, arms are classified in three EU categories:
This classification relies on short firearms having a barrel not exceeding 30 centimetres or whose overall length does not exceed 60 centimetres.
Under article 5 of the directive:
Without prejudice to Article 3, Member States shall permit the acquisition and possession of firearms only by persons who have good cause and who:
(...)
Member states are free to adopt more stringent rules, according to article 3.
EU plans related to firearms are in line with the UN Firearms Protocol (117 states parties in 2019). This UN protocol existing since 2005 tighten regulations on the manufacture and trafficking of small firearms, like handguns and pistols. This relies on three main legal measures: criminalizing illicit trafficking of firearms; authorising or licensing legitimate manufacturers and vendors; and establishing marking and recording for tracing firearms.
All EU member states, except Ireland and Malta, have ratified the UN Firearms Protocol.
Austria is the only country in the European Union where firearms are only partially licensed; the Waffengesetz (Weapons Act) provides the legal terms for all types of weapons, including firearms. § 1 of the law defines Weapons as objects that are designed to directly eliminate or reduce the ability of people to attack or defend themselves (e.g. knives, pepper spray, gas pistols, etc.) or for firing projectiles during hunting or sport shooting (e.g. crossbows, bows, etc.). § 2 further defines Firearms as weapons where projectiles can be fired from a barrel in a predefined direction. Most common firearms and some other weapons fall into three different categories, which come with different restrictions:
Category A is divided into two subcategories "war material" and "restricted weapons". "War material" includes for example tanks, fully automatic weapons and armour-piercing weapons; "restricted weapons" includes weapons disguised as other objects, firearms which can be disassembled in a faster than usual fashion for hunting and sport, shotguns with an overall length of less than 90 cm (35 in) or barrel length shorter than 45 cm (18 in), pump action shotguns, suppressors and firearms with suppressors, knuckledusters, blackjacks, steel rods. Category B covers all handguns, repeating shotguns and semi-automatic weapons which are not category A (e.g. pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic shotguns). Category C includes most other firearms that are not category A or B (e.g. repeating rifles, revolving rifles, break-action rifles and break-action shotguns).
All firearms of category A, B, and C are registered in the central weapon register (Zentrales Waffenregister, or short ZWR). Firearms of category C are the least restricted; all citizens over 18 may purchase them at licensed sellers, even without a firearms licence (barring a 3-day waiting period to check for a weapon ban on the buyer). Category B weapons have further restrictions; buyers must have a firearms license or a carry permit, and be 21, unless granted an exception for the age of 18. Category A weapons typically require further exceptions to be granted for holders, except in the case of suppressors and suppressed weapons, which may be held by those with valid hunting licences without an additional permit. "War material" requires a further special federal permit, which is in practice only granted to approved collectors and experts. In general, ammunition sales are unrestricted, though handgun ammunition and some rifle ammunition requires a permit. Antique firearms made before 1871, many black powder firearms and some other "less effective weapons" also require no licence or registration.
In addition, § 11a defines further restrictions on the purchase, possession and carrying of all weapons and ammunition for asylum seekers and many third-country nationals. Owning weapons without a permit for them is strictly prohibited and controlled by the police.
Carrying firearms in public generally requires a carry permit (or "Waffenpass"). Carry permits are issued by the authorities on a shall issue or may issue basis, depending on reason and applicant. Austrian law makes no distinction between concealed or open carry; with a carry permit, the holder may carry their weapon(s) freely throughout the whole country and even in certain "weapon free zones". However, holders must carry their weapons in a way that does not constitute a public nuisance; for example, openly displaying a handgun in one's belt at the cinema while wearing civil clothing would be considered unusual and could be considered a public nuisance if the police were called.
Possessing or carrying firearms is generally illegal in Belgium. An exception is made for people who have a valid firearms licence. Since 2006, after a shooting incident in Antwerp, there are very strict conditions and rules for gun owners to obtain such a licence.
However the laws and regulations concerning the carrying and possession of firearms for hunters, sport shooters, collectors and also for the import and export of guns, differs from area to area in Belgium; a valid licence is almost always required. Blank guns, airsoft guns, paintball guns, and deactivated guns do not need a permit or licence and are free to purchase.
The gun law in Belgium does not apply (or at least applies differently) for the military and law enforcement services such as the police, customs and some private security units (only handguns). Until its abolition in 2019, the security units of Belgian courts and prison transport (Corps de securité Justice/Veiligheidskorps Justitie) were also permitted to carry handguns.
Croatia issues firearms permits for self-defense, hunting, sport shooting:
Every permit also requires an applicant to be at least 18 years old, not be convicted of crimes, there being no other circumstances indicating that the weapon may be abused (for example by a history of alcoholism) and passing medical examinations.
As of October 2020 there 99,829 legal gun owners in Croatia. 14,711 people can own and carry firearms for the purpose of personal safety.
The Republic of Cyprus has strict gun control. Private citizens are completely forbidden from owning handguns and rifles in any calibre, including .22 rimfire ammunition. Shotguns limited to two rounds are allowed with a license, issued by provincial police. Shotguns must be for hunting purposes, and a licensed citizen may own up to ten shotguns, typically double-barrelled. A firearm license is required to buy ammunition, of up to 250 shells per purchase, with sales being recorded. Cyprus also controls airguns, and airgun owners require a license. Even though purchasing automatic weapons is illegal, the military issues their reserves an automatic weapon, therefore the majority of the male population has one due to military conscription.
Civilian firearms possession in the Czech Republic has spanned over six centuries beginning with the Hussite revolution in the 1420s when firearms became indispensable for success of the mostly commoners militia army in its battles with professional crusader warriors armed with cold weapons. Starting with their use in the war for religious freedom, the right to be armed remains to be generally considered as a symbol of liberty in the country, alongside concepts such as freedom of speech and free elections.
The first legislation pertaining to firearms was adopted in the 1517 St. Wenceslaus Agreement, which stated that "all people of all standing have the right to keep firearms at home" and established ban on firearm carrying. A 1524 enactment on firearms then introduced a system of issuing firearms carry permits. Permitless right to possess firearms and carrying subject to shall-issue permits remained in place until the 1939 German occupation. During Czech history, only Nazis and Communists enacted firearms bans.
Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the country's firearms legislation returned to its historical roots. The authorities shall issue firearms license to any person older than 21 (sometimes 18 depending on type of license), with a clean criminal record, and physically and mentally sound, that passes a firearms proficiency test and is legally reliable.
The Czech Republic is unusual in comparison to other EU countries in that the vast majority of gun owners (250,342 out of 307,372) possess their firearms for purposes of protection of life and property. Furthermore, the Czech Republic has a shall-issue concealed carry permit system, whereby every self-defense license holder may carry up to two concealed firearms with a round chambered. The Czech Republic had a higher rate of concealed carry licenses per capita than the US up to 2010, despite a relatively lower gun-ownership rate.
Civilians in Denmark aged 16 and above can acquire gun licenses for hunting or sport shooting. This requires passing a written multiple-choice test and a practical test, after which a certified hunting license instructor determines if the applicant is suitable to own a weapon. A license is usually provided if the applicant has no or only minor marks on their criminal record.
A hunting license permits the over-the-counter-purchase and ownership of an unlimited number of shotguns of up to 12 gauge and two-round capacity. From there, the police has to be notified of new weapon purchases through an online form. Bolt-action rifles can also be bought over-the-counter, although they require a rifle license which is obtained through the police. The allowed calibers range from the smallest possible, up to .50 BMG, with .50 BMG not included. Semi-automatic rifles are allowed if the rifle is limited to two rounds (hunting in Denmark), or without limitation on capacity (hunting outside of Denmark). Currently, only larger calibers (.308, 6.5 × 55, .300wm etc.) are issued as semi-auto rifles for hunting abroad. .223/5.56 × 45 and similar caliber rifles are generally not approved. The hunter must pass a shotgun or rifle shooting test before being allowed to hunt.
For sport-shooting purposes, shotguns can also be used, as can bolt-action rifles of almost any caliber (.50 BMG as one of the exceptions). Sporting rifles are often chambered in .22 LR and 6.5 × 55 mm. Semi-automatic rifles are not allowed for sports shooting.
Handguns: After two years of active membership in a shooting club, one can apply for a handgun permit which is then subject to background checks and approval by the police, and one has to be 21 years old. Approved calibers: All calibers under 9mm (9 × 19, .38 special, .357 magnum, .32 ACP, etc.), plus a limited number of larger calibers; .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .44 special. The maximum number of handguns are six in .22 caliber. When applying for a third gun, a special permit from the department of justice is required. Large caliber guns, i.e. bigger than .22 caliber, are restricted to a maximum of two in the same caliber. Therefore, one can only own two handguns in 9 mm at any given time. However, it is legal to own an additional two handguns in 9 mm, if these are revolvers. For all handguns, the overall length must be at least 210 millimetres (8.3 in), regardless of caliber, measured without orthopedic grips or removal parts.
A weapon permit for sporting purposes (both long and short firearms) has to be renewed every five years. Rifle permits for hunting rifles have to be renewed every 10 years. Shotguns are not held on individual permits; holders are allowed to own these as long as they have a valid hunting license – and they can keep it for up to 10 years after the hunting license expires – albeit they are not allowed to keep ammunition without a valid license.
Carrying a firearm in public is strictly prohibited, however, a notion of proportional self-defense exists. This means that if someone is attacked with a firearm, they are legally allowed to defend themselves proportionally – e.g. with a firearm of their own.
Fully automatic weapons are prohibited for civilian use, unless a special permit is issued by the Ministry of Justice. These permits are extremely rare, and are normally only issued to people or companies working for, or supplying the police or military.
Illegal possession of a firearm may be punished with imprisonment of no less than one year. Civilians may keep privately owned weapons including pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles at their residences. These, together with its ammunition have to be stored in an approved gun cabinet (EN1143-1 grade 0 or better). The police may inspect a shooting club's weapons at their discretion, but require a court order to inspect privately held firearms.
Estonia is a shall-issue nation. Background checks, doctor's approval, written and practical exam and a firearms course are required. The courses are only offered by private parties (not law enforcement) and must be performed in Estonian as must be the national exam given by law enforcement. Earlier, a translator was permitted, but it was changed as a consequence of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine due to the large number of ethnic Russians applying for licenses. After the national exam is passed, the taking of which already requires passing the previous requisites, a license must be issued on request with law enforcement having no final say afterwards unless a later cause (like committing a felony) invalidates a license.
The ownership and use of firearms in Finland is regulated by the country's Firearms Act of 1998. Weapons are individually licensed by local police, with no limit on the number of licenses an individual may hold. Licenses are granted for recreational uses, exhibition or (under certain circumstances) professional use. No type of weapon is explicitly prohibited, but licenses are granted only for a reason. Self-defense is not accepted as a valid reason for licensing. In general, this excludes all but hunting and sports guns from non-professional use. Fully automatic weapons are generally not permitted. With the exception of law enforcement, only specially trained security guards may carry loaded weapons in public.
In 2007, Finland had the third largest gun-ownership rate globally (behind the US and Yemen), and the first in Europe. Finns are avid hunters, and as of 2007, there were 1.6 million registered weapons and 650,000 people with firearm permits in the country, i.e. 12% of the population. In November that year, Finland updated their gun laws after two school shootings that left 20 people dead, and to comply with an EU directive by removing the ability of 15-18-year-olds to have their own permit. The possibility of creating a dual-license for an already licensed weapon with permission of the license holder was allowed (e.g. parental permission). In 2011, a constitutional law committee concluded that people over the age of 20 can receive a permit for semi-automatic handguns; individuals must demonstrate continuous activity in handgun sporting group for two years prior.
In 1563, Charles IX of France had an address to the Rouen parliament about forbidding firearms in which he made the following statement:
In France, a hunting license or a sport-shooting license is needed to purchase any smokeless powder firearm. In September 2015, firearms were divided into four categories that determine the regulations that apply to their possession and use. Category D arms include black powder firearms designed before 1900 and compressed air arms developing between 2 and 20 joules, they can be purchased by any citizen over the age of 18. Category C firearms can be obtained with a hunting license, or sport-shooting license with a medical certificate. Category C includes mainly single-shot-per-barrel shotguns and single-shot or manual repeating rifles (including centre-fire rifles, for hunting or target shooting). Once legally purchased these category C arms may be kept, without using them, even when no longer licensed for hunting or sport-shooting.
Category B firearms are only available to sport-shooters licensed for at least 6 months, with a medical certificate, without any felony convictions, and additionally requires at least three shooting sessions with an instructor each separated by 2 months. Specific authorisations for purchase and possession may then be sought from a local police administration, are valid for 5 years, and are renewable. Such weapons may then only be used for sport-shooting at shooting ranges, never for hunting. Category B includes all assault type rifles, such as AK-47/AKM, AK-74 or AR-15/M16/M4, and any look-alike weapons even when chambered for rimfire cartridges (.22 LR). These must be semi-automatic only. All handguns, including those using rimfire ammunition, are classed as category B. It is illegal to possess these category B weapons after expiry of a non-renewed specific authorisation: the arms must be disposed of (sold to a gun shop or else destroyed, for example). Authorisations can also be revoked at any time by any of the parties involved in the authorisations delivery (Government, Prefecture, Police).
Air-guns including pistols are freely available to adults, as category D arms, provided that their energy level does not exceed 20 J (previously 10 J). Typical energy levels are 6 J for a target pistol and 7.5 J for a target rifle. A scoped Field Target rifle might produce 15 or 16 J (maximum authorised in FT competition). Air-soft arms, firing non-metallic pellets and not exceeding 2 J energy, are considered to be toys, rather than weapons, and so are excluded from firearm regulations.
Also freely available are category D defensive pepper sprays up to a maximum 75 g capacity. Bigger capacity sprays are considered offensive weapons, not defensive, and so are classed in category B, and require specific authorisation.
A person cannot own more than 12 centerfire firearms, and cannot own more than 10 magazines and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per firearm. A one-year carry license may be issued for persons "exposed to exceptional risks to their life" allowing them to carry a handgun with a maximum of 50 rounds. Such authorizations are extremely rare, however, as the state would normally insist on providing police protection in such cases. Since November 2015, police officers are authorised to carry their service weapons whilst off-duty.
Gun ownership in Germany is restrictive, being regulated by the Federal Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz) of 1972. The laws apply to weapons with a fire energy exceeding 7.5 J. A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, who are deemed reliable and can justify a reason for owning a firearm. A separate license is required for each firearm owned. Target-shooters must have been a member of a shooting club with 18 recorded visits in the previous 12 months. A firearms carry permit is a second-tier license which allows concealed carrying in public, and is only issued to those with a particular need.
Several weapons and special ammunitions are completely prohibited, such as automatic firearms. Buying, possessing, lending, using, carrying, crafting, altering and the trading of these weapons is illegal and punishable by up to five years imprisonment, confiscation of the weapon and a fine of up to €10,000. Using an illegal weapon for crimes of any kind is punishable by 1–10 years imprisonment.
Germany's National Gun Registry, introduced at the end of 2012, counted 5.5 million firearms legally owned by 1.4 million people.
Greece has gun regulations in place. Shotguns (limited to a 3-round capacity), rifles and handguns require a license issued by Police Headquarters. A license may be issued to a Greek citizen over the age of 18 if: a) there are serious fears about his or her personal security along with a positive recommendation by the Prosecutor and b) it is required for the safety of shops, banks, other financial institutions, etc. To purchase handguns and rifles, citizens must either have a concealed-carry permit or a target-shooting permit (for rifles and pistols). Semi auto rifles are not prohibited since the beginning of 2023. Hunters can own up to 10 shotguns and rifles (with no gun barrel rifling) and sport shooters can own up to 8 guns. There is no license-check or record kept for ammunition purchases for shotguns but target shooters can only own 1000 rounds per weapon but 3500 in total tops.
Gun laws in Hungary are relatively strict, regulated by Code 24/2004, governmental decision 253/2004. (VIII. 31.) and directive of the Minister of Internal Affairs 49/2004. The law defines a firearm as having muzzle energy that exceeds 7.5 joules (5.5 ft⋅lbf). A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, and have passed a basic firearms theory/practical examination. Three categories of firearms ownership are allowed: Hunting (Firearms restricted to bolt action and double barrel shotguns), Sports shooting (only restriction is no fully automatic firearms), Self defense (special permission from the Police, very rarely granted in special cases e.g. gun shop owners). Sports shooting has in recent years gained popularity with the number of sports category licenses being issued steadily climbing. Government initiatives to popularize shooting sports such as building shooting ranges and introducing shooting as a sport in the schooling system has slowly begun. It is generally expected that obtaining (and keeping) a firearms permit is a slow and somewhat costly process, but once a permit is granted and the necessary yearly memberships are paid, yearly doctors certificates are obtained and the mandatory 2–3 sporting events are attended (for sports shooter) ownership is fairly liberal as to the type of firearm one can own.
In 2010, there were 129,000 registered gun owners (1.3% of the population) in Hungary with 235,000 firearms. The majority of these were hunting rifles. Gun violence is very rare in Hungary due to the close monitoring and control of firearm ownership. Crime with firearms are very rare and this statistic usually includes crimes committed with non-lethal "pepper spray" guns. Police use lethal force with a firearm less than 10 times per year, on average.
Gun laws in Ireland are strict, requiring all firearms to be licensed individually through the Gardaí (police). Applicants must be 16 years of age and have a good reason for ownership, a secure location to store firearms, proof of competency with the firearm or arrangements to achieve such, provide access to medical records and two character references, and be of sound mind and temperate habits. Applicants convicted of certain specified offenses will be denied a firearms certificate. Personal protection is not a valid reason for ownership.
Irish firearms law is based on the Firearms Act 1925, which was amended by several following acts in 1964, 1968, 1971, 1990, 1998 and 2000. The cumulative effect of these modifications, along with modifications in other acts and confusion over which amendments applied, resulted in a 2006 Irish Law Reform Commission recommendation that all extant legislation be restated (written in a single document with all prior Acts repealed). However, the Criminal Justice Act 2006, contained a rewriting almost 80% of the Firearms Act. It was quickly followed by amendments in 2007 and further major amendments in 2009, exacerbating the legislative confusion. As of 2014, the Law Reform Commission recommendation has not as yet been fully enacted; the Firearms Act consists of the initial 1925 Act amended by approximately twenty separate Acts and is well understood by only a handful of those directly involved in its drafting, amendment or usage. Extensive complaints have arisen over the application of the legislation, with several hundred judicial review cases won in the High Court and Supreme Court by firearms owners, all relating to licensing decisions which had not adhered to the Firearms Act.
In Italy, national police issue gun licenses to those over the age of 18 without criminal records, who are not mentally ill or known to use illicit substances, and who can prove competence with firearm safety. A shooting sports license permits transporting unloaded firearms and firing them in designated shooting ranges. A hunting license allows holders to engage in hunting with firearms. A concealed carry license permits a person to carry a loaded firearm in public, and requires proving a "valid reason" to do so (e.g.: a security guard or a jeweler at risk of robbery). All weapons must be registered within 72 hours from the moment of purchase. The number of firearms an individual may own and retain at the place declared during registration is limited to:
The last two can be purchased in an authorized firearm shop by anyone who can prove to be at least 18 years old, without the need for a license. The carrying of such weapons is forbidden without a licence and no registration is required (Art. 7 c.4 DM 362/2001). These limits can be exceeded with a collector license.
Ammunition: any licence allows the owner to keep 200 rounds of handgun and 1500 rounds of hunting ammunition or up to 5 kg of gunpowder (smokeless or black) to handload cartridges. Registration is required within 72 hours form acquisition for all ammunition and powder. Registration is not to be repeated if ammunition and powder are used and then bought again, unless the original quantity registered is being exceeded with the new purchase. Smoothbore cartridges not loaded with slugs but instead with shot (regardless of its size) can be owned without registration if the number possessed is inferior to one thousand.
In Luxembourg, anyone wishing to purchase, possess or use a firearm must hold a permit issued by the Minister of Justice in person.
The most common reasons for applying for a permit are hunting, recreational shooting, weapons collecting, and inheriting a firearm. Anyone who inherits a firearm must have a permit even if they have no intention to ever touch or use the gun.
Self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a firearm. However, the Ministry of Justice is concerned that some permit holders falsely cite another reason (such as recreational shooting) as a justification for acquiring their permit when their sole actual motivation is self-defence.
Firearms are allowed in Malta for sport shooting, collection and hunting purposes. To get firearm license one must join a shooting or collectors club for training, which will issue a recommendation letter for the police, after which applicant must pass knowledge of firearm safety and the Arms Act. After successfully completing every step one will get license.
There are 102,610 registered firearms (or 22 per 100 people), including 56,000 shotguns, 10,553 pistols, 7,856 rifles, 5,369 revolvers, 501 machine guns, 477 sub-machine guns, 633 combat shotguns, 22 cannons, 7 humane killers and 2 rocket launchers.
Law allow carrying firearms while hunting, with 10,544 licensed to do so on land and 247 on sea. Carrying loaded firearms outside of hunting grounds or shooting range is illegal. Automatic firearms are allowed only if they were produced before 1946.
In the Netherlands, gun ownership is restricted to hunters, collectors and target shooters. A hunting license requires passing a hunters safety course and an exam. To own a gun for target shooting, the applicant must have been a member of a shooting club for a year. People with felonies, drug addictions, and mental illnesses may not possess firearms. To be a collector one has to limit oneself to a specific area of expertise and demonstrate a serious and thorough knowledge of that area, for instance through publications or lectures.
Once obtained, firearms must be stored in a safe and are annually inspected by police (every 3 years when over 25). Legally owned firearms may only be used in self-defense as a last resort. Fully automatic firearms are only allowed on a special permit (usually issued to collectors), but there are otherwise few restrictions: semi-automatics, handguns, and magazines of all sizes are legal, as are all types of non-armourpiercing, non-incendiary or non-explosive ammunition. Silencers require special permission. A licensed target shooter may only have five firearms registered to his or her license at one time (hunters seven, collectors unlimited) but exceptions are possible. Antique firearms (not replicas or center fire cartridge revolvers) are free to own when originally designed and produced for black powder and not at any time officially proofed and stamped for nitro powder.
Gun ownership in Poland is regulated by the Weapons and Munitions Act of 1999 as further amended. A permit is required to own or possess firearms. Permits are granted for specific purposes, such as self-defense, sport, hunting, collecting etc. and are shall issue except the ones for self-defense, which are may issue. Institutional permits allow for firearm ownership by private security companies, shooting ranges, sport clubs etc.
Permits are issued to permanent residents over 21, not addicted to alcohol or other substances, having no criminal record, being in good physical and mental health, who passed an exam before sporting association, hunting association or the Police. Permits specify the purposes, categories and quantities of allowed guns; categories depend on permit purpose while quantities are assigned at the discretion of the Police, based on documentation provided. Quantities can be increased when one uses up all available slots.
Carrying loaded guns is allowed on all types of permits except permits for collecting and memorial purposes. Hunters can carry loaded only on hunting grounds. Guns shall be carried concealed in a holster close to the body. Carrying in public transport is limited only to self-defense permit holders. It is prohibited to carry while intoxicated, and when attending public gatherings or mass events.
Everyone, including foreigners, is allowed to use legal guns at registered shooting ranges, regardless of actual gun's ownership, e.g. rented from the range or shared by a legal owner present. Discharging a firearm for training or leisure out of a registered shooting range (even on a large private property) is prohibited.
Full-auto or select-fire firearms are permitted only on institutional and training permits. Since 2020 the Police can issue permits for firearms with suppressors for hunting, but only to be used for sanitary shootings, see main article for details. Armor-piercing, incendiary, tracer and other special ammunition is banned. Only valid permit holders are allowed to buy or possess live ammunition, and only of the types exactly matching the guns they legally own. The quantity of matching ammunition in possession is not limited. Hunters, collectors and sport shooters are allowed to manufacture (reload) ammunition, but strictly for their own use. There are further limits regarding allowed types and calibers depending on the purpose of the permit – see main article for details. There are no limits of magazine capacity, except when hunting.
Replicas of cartridgeless black powder firearms designed before 1885 require no permit to own. However, a separate bill of law allows businesses to sell black powder to licensed customers only. This is often circumvented by obtaining a European Firearms Pass for a black powder firearm, asking a licensed colleague (there are no restrictions of private sale or just giving out of black powder) or by buying powder in neighboring countries, mostly the Czech Republic.
Air guns up to 17 Joules of muzzle energy are unregulated. Air guns above that limit are considered pneumatic weapons, no permit is required but the owner has to be 18 and has to pass medical and psychological evaluation as for firearms permit; guns must be registered with the Police and may be used only on registered shooting ranges. Use of pneumatic weapons outside of shooting range is considered the same kind of offense as using firearms.
Some other weapons are restricted and require a permit, such as electroshock weapons with mean current greater than 10 mA, large pepper spray dispensers, crossbows, specific kinds of batons, brass knuckles and nunchakus, however ban on nuchakus is not enforced.
Gun ownership in Romania is regulated by Law 295/2004. Romania has one of the toughest gun ownership laws in the world. In order for citizens to obtain a weapon, they must obtain a permit from the police, and must register their weapon once they purchase it. There are several categories of permits, with different requirements and rights, including hunting permits, self-defense permits, sports shooting permits and collectors permits. The only categories of people who are legally entitled to carry a weapon are owners of self-defense permits, magistrates, MPs, military forces and certain categories of diplomats. A psychological evaluation is required beforehand in all cases.
Furthermore, knives and daggers may in certain conditions (blade longer than 15 cm and at least 0.4 cm in width, double edge along the whole blade, etc.) be considered weapons and have a similar regime to those of firearms.
In order for a hunter to obtain a hunting/gun ownership license, he must spend a certain "practice time" with a professional hunter. To obtain a self-defense permit, one must be under witness protection. Sporting and collectors licenses require membership in a sport shooting club or collectors' association, respectively.
The amount of ammunition that can be owned is regulated by permit type. Sporting permits allow the ownership of 1,000 matching cartridges per gun; hunting permits allow 300 matching cartridges per gun; self-defense permits allow 50 bullet cartridges and 50 blanks per gun; Collectors permits do not allow for private ownership of ammunition.
Explosive weapons and ammunitions, fully automatic weapons, weapons camouflaged in the shape of another object, armor-piercing ammunition and lethal weapons that do not fit in any category defined by the law are prohibited.
The type of gun is also regulated by permit. Below is a shortened version of the table detailing the restrictions by type of lethal weapon and permit, for civilian owners. Note that for collectors, short weapons designed after 1945 are forbidden, while only non-lethal weapons are allowed for self-defense permits.
It is illegal to use or carry weapons with a muzzle velocity of over 10 kJ if "the barrel is fitted with devices conceived or adapted to reduce recoil"
Gun ownership in Slovakia is regulated principally by law 190/2003 (law of weapons and ammunition). A firearms license may be issued to an applicant at least 21 years of age (18 years for category D if they own a valid hunting permit, 15 years for state representative in sport-shooting), with no criminal history, and of sound health and mind, who has a valid reason for owning a gun, passes an oral exam covering aspects of gun law, safe handling, and first aid.
Licenses are issued in 6 categories:
A concealed carry license is only issued if the police deem a sufficient justification. Because of that issue of this license is may-issue in practice, and vary across Slovakia by stance of individual police department issuing licence. It is kind of similar to California, some department is almost shall-issue, another need true sufficient reason (like a constant more than average threat, previous assaults on applicant, transports of money, former service in army or law enforcement, legal awareness of applicant, clientelism). Only about 2% of the adult population holds this license.
There is an exception for non-repeating muzzle-loaded firearms, which may be purchased without a license.
Gun ownership in Slovenia is regulated under the "Weapons Law" (Zakon o orožju) which is harmonised with the directives of the EU. Gun permits are issued to applicants at least 18 years old, reliable, without criminal history and who has not been a conscientious objector, who passes a medical exam and a test on firearm safety. A specific reason must be given for gun ownership: for hunting or target shooting, the applicant must provide proof of membership in a hunting or sports shooting organization; for collection, the applicant must arrange safe storage with a level of security dependent on the type of weapons; for self-defense, the applicant must prove a risk to personal safety to such an extent that a weapon is needed.
As in most EU member states, the ownership of Category A firearms is prohibited; however these can be owned by weapon collectors, providing that requirements are met. Suppressors are legal and unregulated since 2021. Firearms must be stored in a locked cabinet with ammunition stored separately. Concealed carry is allowed in special circumstances. A gun permit is also required for airguns with muzzle velocity greater than 200 m/s (660 ft/s) or energy of 20 joules (15 ft⋅lbf).
Firearm regulation in Spain is restrictive, enacted in Citizen Security Protection Organic Act of 2015 and the Weapons Regulation (Royal Decree 137/1993). Both laws are covered by article 149.1.26.ª of the Spanish Constitution, which attributes to the State the exclusive competence in terms of the "regime of production, trade, possession and use of weapons and explosives".
A firearm license may be obtained from the Guardia Civil after passing a police background check, a physiological and medical test, and a practical and theoretical exam. Shotgun, rifle and sporting licenses must be renewed after 5 years, subject to firearm inspection. Sporting licence requires to present proof of sporting activity of at least one competition each year. A minimum score may be required for some categories. Police may inspect firearms at any time. A self-defense and concealed carry license must be renewed every year, and is only available under special conditions.
A license-holder may own up to 6 shotguns, and unlimited rifles. With a sporting license, valid for 5 years, 1 to 10 handguns may be owned, depending on sports-shooting level. Magazine capacity for semi-automatic centerfire rifles and semi-automatic shotguns is limited to 10 rounds for sports shooting and 2 rounds for hunting. Handgun magazines are limited to 20 round capacity. Rimfire rifles, regardless of type have no magazine limit. Rifles chambered for certain cartridges with military origins are prohibited, such as .223/5.56 NATO and .50 BMG. The .308 Winchester and 7.62x39 mm (AK round) cartridges are only permitted in bolt-action, repetition or single-shot firearms. Proof of ownership of an approved safe is required for all centerfire rifles and handguns, and the owner is responsible for firearm thefts. Ammunition must be stored separately. Rifle and handgun ammunition may only be possessed for legally owned firearms, and purchases and possession is limited to 200 rounds rifle and 100 rounds for handguns. In addition, there are yearly limits in quantity (1000 for rifles,100 for handguns); however additional quantities can be petitioned, mainly for sporting use. For shotgun Ammunition, adults with a valid ID can purchase/possess up to 5,000 shells and there are no yearly limits in quantity. License-holders are only allowed to transport their unloaded firearms from their residence to the shooting range or hunting field and back, with no detours. Firearms may only be discharged at approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds (in season).
There are firearm license for private security for handguns and rifles. These cannot be used outside of work and must be stored in the workplace premises (with approved safe).
In addition there are handgun license for self-defense in concealed carry. However, this is granted on a "may issue" basis with several standards of necessity to be met and very few are granted. This license must be renewed annually and is not automatic.
Members of police forces and officers and non-commissioned officers of the armed forces have a special firearms license which encompasses all of the others. There are additional licenses for collectors and muzzle-loading firearms.
Gun ownership in Sweden is regulated by Vapenlagen 1996:67 (literally, The Weapon Law), modified by weapon decree Vapenförordningen 1996:70 and FAP 551-3 / RPSFS 2009:13. The police issue licenses to persons older than 18 years in good standing on the "need to have" basis, which generally implies either hunting or sport shooting. Passing a hunting examination or membership in an approved sport shooting club for six months is required. Licenses for semi-automatic handguns are issued for five years and can be renewed, rifle and single-shot handgun licenses are valid for the owner's lifetime. License-holders may lend a weapon to a person at least 15 years of age for supervised use.
A separate license is required for each particular firearm or caliber conversion kit. There's no codified limit on the number of licenses a person can hold, but in practice a license-holder may own up to six hunting rifles, ten handguns, or a mix of eight rifles and handguns. Firearms must be stored in an approved safe. A firearm registered for hunting may be used for sport shooting, but not vice versa. Licenses obtained for hunting are implicitly limited to bolt-action or, more rarely, semi-automatic rifles that are "applicable for hunting", with no strict definition of the latter in the laws, which causes controversy.
Starting 1 July 2022, suppressors no longer require a separate license and can be freely acquired by anyone with a valid gun license and can be legally used both for hunting and target shooting.
Self-defense with firearms, as well as carry, is generally prohibited. Carry permits can be issued by the police under very special circumstances like an immediate and proven life threat. Transportation of unloaded firearms is allowed to and from approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds. Sweden is notorious for having even pepper spray and other nonlethal self-defence methods under its weapons law with similar legal punishments for misuse.
Firearm collectors must have a clearly stated demarcation of their interest in collecting (e.g.: pre-World War II British handguns). The police may demand security measures on keeping the collection. Collectors may request a time-limited permit to discharge their weapons. Firearms manufactured before 1890 and not using sealed cartridges are exempt from the weapon law.
In Georgia, civilians above 18 years of age may obtain a firearm permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, allowing them to purchase and keep firearms for hunting and sports (pump-action shotguns, hunting rifles, carbines, combined hunting firearms), self-defense (handguns, air guns, sprays, electric tranquilizers) or collections. Permits are denied to persons who are mentally ill, use illicit substances or alcohol recreationally, and those who have criminal records.
In Iceland, a license is required to own or possess firearms. A national government safety course must be passed before applying for a license. A special license is required to own a handgun, which may only be used for target shooting at a licensed range. Semi-automatic firearms have caliber restrictions, while fully automatic firearms are only permitted for collectors.
Applicants must sit through a mandatory four-hour lecture on the "history and physics of the firearm". Paperwork must be filed in the police, magistrate, and the Environment Agency of Iceland. Applicants need to prove clean criminal records, need to be evaluated by a doctor to prove they "are of sound mind" and have "good enough eyesight". Two books referring to guns must be bought and read, a three-day course must be attended, and the applicant should score at least 75% on exams concerning gun safety, management, "what animals are allowed to be hunted and when". Finally, a practical exam must be taken. After Icelanders have their license, they need to own a gun safe to store the weapons in, plus a separate place to store the ammunition".
Approximately one gun is owned for every three people in the country, being used mostly for hunting and competitive shooting. From January to July 2019, 394 shotguns, 785 rifles, and 208 handguns were registered in Iceland. In total, police counts for guns in Iceland include about 40,000 shotguns, 25,000 rifles, and 3,600 handguns as of July that year.
Law in Monaco divides firearms into two categories:
To obtain a firearm license in North Macedonia one must be at least 18 years old, able-bodied, healthy, not representing danger to public order, have permanent residency, possess technical knowledge of weapons and regulations related to them and have a justified reason for acquiring the weapon. Justified reasons include:
Fully automatic firearms are prohibited. Carrying firearms in public places is prohibited.
North Macedonia has its own defense industry with ATS Group, Eurokompozit Prilep
Firearm ownership in Norway is controlled by laws passed by the Norwegian Parlament, with further regulations passed by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The National Police Directorate can issue government circulars with further in depth definition of how the firearm regulations should be interpreted (by the police).
The Norwegian police can issue firearms licenses to those with a hunting license or members of a sports shooting club. They can also issue licenses to Norwegian historical weapons society collectors, museums, international ship and port facility security and more.
Hunters can own up to 8 firearms, and sports shooters can own up to two firearms per approved shooting disciplines as defined by The National Police Directorate. The purchase of ammunition is restricted to those with a valid firearms license for any given calibre.
Long guns must have a minimum barrel length of 40 centimetres and an overall length of 84 centimetres when operable. Rifles are restricted to 10-round magazines, shotguns to 5 rounds, and pistols to 20 rounds per default. Detachable box magazines for semi-automatic shotguns are prohibited.
Hunters can own semi-automatic and manually loaded rifles and shotguns. Semi-automatic rifles for hunting shall only accept detachable 10-round magazines or smaller ones. They must also have the visual appearance of a "hunting rifle" (i.e. no detachable pistol-grip, or handguard that covers the top half of the barrel).
Sports shooters can own semi-automatic and manually loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols. Sports shooters can apply for unrestricted magazine capacity for each firearm used in an approved sports shooting discipline. However, in practice, it is only approved for rifles and pistols.
Civilians are not permitted to transport/carry firearms loaded or in a manner that allows for easy access in public places, effectively prohibiting any form of concealed or open-carrying of firearms. Moreover, self-defence is not a valid reason for having a firearms licence issued. Firearms licences are only issued for hunting and sporting (or other speciality purposes not generally applicable to ordinary civilians).
Russian citizens over 21 years of age can obtain a firearms license after attending gun-safety classes and passing a federal test and background check. Firearms may be acquired for self-defense, hunting, or sports activities. Carrying permits may be issued for hunting firearms licensed for hunting purposes. Initially, purchases are limited to long smooth-bore firearms and pneumatic weapons with a muzzle energy of up to 25 joules (18 ft⋅lbf). After five years of shotgun ownership, rifles may be purchased. Handguns are generally not allowed (except traumatic handguns which are allowed for self-defense but can fire only cartridges with Rubber bullets), but with the growing popularity of practical shooting events and competitions in Russia in recent years (e.g. IPSC), handgun ownership has now been allowed and the handguns have to be stored at a shooting club. Rifles and shotguns with barrels less than 500 mm (20 in) long are prohibited, as are firearms which shoot in bursts or have more than a 10-cartridge capacity. Suppressors are prohibited.
Serbia has weapon laws and ranks third in guns per capita with a strong gun culture, especially in rural areas, with about one million guns in legal circulation. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law (Zakon o oružju i municiji).
People over age 18 may own firearms with a permit, which is denied to those with a criminal history, mental disorder, or history of alcohol or illegal substance use. There is a thorough background check with police having the final decision. Firearms must be stored in a designated gun cabinet, and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found irresponsible.
Rifles, shotguns and handguns may be owned with an appropriate permit. Having a permit to own a firearm does not itself allow the bearer to carry the firearm anywhere outside the home, regardless of whether it is concealed or not. The owner may transport their firearms at any time provided they are unloaded. Concealed carry permits for handguns require proving an imminent threat, with the police making a final decision. Therefore, concealed carry permits are hard to obtain. There is no limit on the number of firearms one may own, though every gun transaction is recorded by the police. There is no caliber restriction. Fully automatic firearms and suppressors are prohibited for civilians. Automatic long firearms are allowed to be obtained and used by legal entities under special circumstances. People over 18 years of age can buy and carry stun guns and electric tranquilizers with no permit needed. People over 16 can carry OC sprays. There is no restriction regarding the number of rounds that may be purchased. Ammunition may be bought only for the caliber in which an owned firearm is chambered. Reloading is allowed only to those who have passed an exam in handling explosive materials. Old firearms (produced before 1900), historically significant firearms, as well as black powder firearms (all category C items) may be bought without any permit.
Serbia has its own civilian gun and ammunition industry: Zastava Arms, Prvi Partizan, and Krušik.
Firearm regulations in Switzerland are comparatively liberal. Swiss gun laws are primarily about the acquisition of arms, and not ownership. As such a license is not required to own a gun by itself, but a shall-issue permit is required to purchase most types of firearms. Bolt-action rifles do not require an acquisition permit, and can be acquired with just a background check.
The Swiss have male conscription for military service. A 2011 referendum to force military weapons to be kept at military sites was defeated. Weapons may voluntarily be kept in the local armory and there is no longer an obligation to keep the weapon at home.
The Swiss "Federal Law on Arms, Arms Accessories and Ammunitions" (WG, LArm) of 20 June 1997 has as its objectives (Article 1) to combat the wrongful use of arms, their accessories, parts and ammunition. It governs the acquisition of arms, their introduction into Swiss territory, export, storage, possession, carrying, transport, and brokerage. It regulates the manufacture and trade in arms, and seeks to prevent the wrongful carrying of ammunition and dangerous objects. Article 3 states that "The right to acquire, possess and carry arms is guaranteed in the framework of this law".
As of 27 February 2022 there are no restrictions on ownership of any types of weapons, in fact the Ukrainian government has given out thousands of military-grade weapons to its populace. This is due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
Ukraine is the only European country without firearms legislation. Regulation is by executive fiat; specifically, Order No. 622 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A firearm license may be issued to citizens who meet an age requirement (21 for shotguns, 18 for shotguns for hunting purposes, and 25 for rifles), have no criminal record or history of domestic violence or mental illness and have a specific reason such as target shooting, hunting or collecting. Handguns of .22, 9 mm, .357 magnum and .38 caliber are permitted only for target shooting and those who can prove a threat against their lives (who are typically also given concealed carry permits). All firearms must be stored unloaded in a safe.
Citizens wishing to purchase weapons must complete courses on the fundamentals of Ukrainian legislation on weapons, their technical design and rules for the safe handling of weapons, as well as practical shooting. The organization of relevant courses is assigned to the internal affairs bodies. In order to obtain a weapon permit, citizens submit an application in the prescribed form, a certificate of completion of relevant courses, undergo a medical examination, an inspection of the internal affairs agencies and pass a test on the fundamentals of current legislation and rules for handling weapons and their application skills.
Article 263 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code says that for illegal carrying, storing and selling firearms, explosives and ammunition a person faces from 3 to 7 years in prison.
Weapon permits are not issued, and issued ones are canceled if there are:
The list of diseases and physical defects, in the presence of which a weapon permit is not issued, is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Foreigners have the right to purchase civilian weapons of ammunition and ammunition for permits issued by the internal affairs bodies on the basis of petitions from diplomatic missions or consular offices of the states of which they are citizens, as well as ministries and other central executive authorities of Ukraine, subject to the export of such weapons from Ukraine later than 5 days after purchase. Foreigners who have received certificates of permanent residence in Ukraine have the right to purchase weapons in the manner established for citizens of Ukraine. Hunting and sporting weapons can be imported by foreigners into Ukraine with the appropriate permission of the internal affairs bodies and hunting agreements made with hunting farms or inviting ministries and other central executive authorities to participate in sports competitions.
The UK increased firearm regulation through several Firearms Acts, leading to an outright ban on automatic firearms and many semi-automatic firearms. Breech-loading handguns are also tightly controlled. There are three main types of firearm that require different licences:
An SGC allows the holder to purchase and own any number of shotguns, so long as they can be securely stored, and does not restrict purchase or storage of ammunition; additionally they may legally give shotgun ammunition to non-licence holders. Section 1 and 5 firearms require individual permission for each firearm or accessory, and there are restrictions as to the type and quantity of ammunition held. Aside from Northern Ireland, private ownership of most handguns was banned in 1997, with exception for section 5 firearms licences, which are only generally issued to maritime security personnel, and those under police protection. In the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games, British Shooting reached agreement with the Home Office to nominate a small number of elite athletes who could keep and train with Section 5 pistols in the UK at designated ranges.
There are several factors that may disqualify applicants. A custodial sentence of between three months and three years disqualifies applicants for five years from release; three years or greater disqualifies applicants for life. "Intemperate habits", such as substance use, may disqualify applicants. Being of "unsound mind", meaning a history of mental illness, or other relevant medical conditions may disqualify applicants, however there are no conditions that "make them automatically unsuitable to possess a firearm", and police will contact the applicant's general practitioner, who place a flag on the records of all licence holders. Applicants must also have suitable measures for storing firearms and ammunition, such as a gun safe. The FAC additionally requires demonstrating a good reason for each firearm the applicant wishes to own (such as hunting, pest control, collecting, or target shooting). Self-defence is only accepted as a good reason in Northern Ireland.
Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions in Nauru, Palau and Marshall Islands. Fiji suspended all firearm licenses in 2000, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands did the same respectively in 1999 and 1992. Papua New Guinea does not issue new licenses since 2000, but former are still valid. Kiribati effectively made it impossible to obtain new firearms by banning import of them.
Gun laws in Australia are under the jurisdiction of the state governments, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. Gun laws were largely aligned in 1996 by the National Firearms Agreement. In two federally funded gun buybacks and voluntary surrenders and state governments' gun amnesties before and after the Port Arthur Massacre, more than a million firearms were collected and destroyed, possibly one third of the national stock.
A person must have a firearm licence to possess or use a firearm. Licence holders must demonstrate a "genuine reason" (which does not include self-defence) for holding a firearm licence and must not be a "prohibited person". All firearms must be registered by serial number to the owner, who must also hold a firearms licence.
New Zealand's gun laws focus mainly on vetting firearm owners. A firearms licence may be issued by police to applicants who attend a safety lecture, pass a written test on safety and the Arms Code, and have secure storage for firearms and ammunition; the police will also interview the applicant and two references to be certain the applicant is "fit and proper" to own a firearm. Having criminal associations, a history of domestic violence, mental instability, or alcohol or drug use almost always result in the application being denied. Misbehavior involving firearms commonly leads to a firearms licence being revoked by police. Even when licensed, a person may only be in possession of a firearm for a particular lawful, proper and sufficient purpose, for which the NZ Police policy is to exclude self-defense, however this is not written in the Arms Act or supporting regulations.
Handguns, machine guns, or selective-fire assault rifles require stricter vetting procedures, a higher level of storage security, and a "special reason" for obtaining the weapon. The applicant must gain an appropriate endorsement on their licence and a permit to procure before obtaining.
After the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, legislation to restrict semi-automatic firearms and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, and provide an amnesty and buyback of such weapons was introduced and passed by the New Zealand parliament. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting (a.k.a. target shooting), self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gun laws are usually justified by a legislative intent to reduce the use of small arms in crime, and to this end they frequently target makes and models of arms identified in crimes and shootings, such as handguns and other types of concealable firearms. Persons restricted from legal access to firearms may include those below a certain age or those with a criminal record. Firearms licenses to purchase or possess may be denied to those defined as most at risk of harming themselves or others, persons with a history of domestic violence, alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder, mental illness, depression, or those who have attempted suicide. Those applying for a firearm license may have to demonstrate competence by completing a gun safety course and show provision for a secure location to store weapons.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The legislation which restricts small arms may also restrict other weapons, such as explosives, crossbows, swords, electroshock weapons, air guns, and pepper spray. It may also restrict firearm accessories, notably high-capacity magazines and sound suppressors. There may be restrictions on the quantity or types of ammunition purchased, with certain types prohibited. Due to the global scope of this article, detailed coverage cannot be provided on all these matters; the article will instead attempt to briefly summarize each country's weapon laws in regard to small arms use and ownership by civilians.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Firearms are not defined the same way in each country.",
"title": "Vocabulary and terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Some terms are used in several countries in the context of gun laws. These include the following: Permitless, means that doesn t exist a license or a permit for buying firearms, and that the firearms are sold freely and without registration in gunshops.",
"title": "Vocabulary and terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gun laws might be classified by countries according to some specific common characteristics:",
"title": "Vocabulary and terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A firearms license (also known as a gun license; or licence in British English) is a license or permit issued by a government authority (typically by the police) of a jurisdiction, that allows the licensee to buy, own, possess, or carry a firearm, often subject to a number of conditions or restrictions, especially with regard to storage requirements or the completion of a firearms safety course, as well as background checks, etc. Firearms licenses are not required in all jurisdictions. Additionally, some countries or states may require by law a \"permit-to-purchase\" in order to buy handguns or firearms. A licence may also be required to buy ammunition.",
"title": "Firearms license"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The permit or license scope varies according to what firearm(s) or activity(s) it allows the holder to legally do with the firearm. Some jurisdictions may require a firearm license to own a firearm, to engage in hunting, target shooting or collecting, or to carry a concealed firearm, or operate a business (such as being a gun dealer or a gunsmith). Some jurisdictions may require separate licenses for rifles, shotguns or handguns.",
"title": "Firearms license"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The requirement to have a firearm license is usually in addition to a requirement for firearm registration. For example, gun laws in Australia require firearms to be registered by serial number to the owner, who holds a firearm licence.",
"title": "Firearms license"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "",
"title": "See also"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "This section uses the expressions shall issue and may issue which are partly specific to and defined by the US system of firearm regulations.",
"title": "Comparison"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "- Map describes policy regarding obtaining new firearms regardless of whether firearms that were produced before the ban were grandfathered.",
"title": "Comparison"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "- Map describes policy regarding obtaining new firearms regardless of whether firearms that were produced before the ban were grandfathered.",
"title": "Comparison"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted in Bamako, Mali, on 1 December 2000 by the representatives of the 51 member states of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The provisions of this declaration recommend that the signatories would establish the illegal possession of small arms and light weapons as a criminal offence under national law in their respective countries.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Botswana's law allows possession of shotguns and rifles only. The government has put a limit on the number of licenses issued every year – only 50 people can receive them, no matter how many apply, meaning that the acceptance rate is usually below 1%.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Currently there are 34,550 (or 1.5 per 100 people) registered firearms.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Officially only 139 people have a permit to own firearms in Central African Republic, mostly members of parliament. They are entitled to possess one 12-gauge shotgun and one 9mm automatic pistol. Regardless, illegal possession and carry of firearms is widespread in Central African Republic, large parts of which are under control of different armed groups. Anti-balaka and ex-Seleka militias possess and carry home-made shotguns, automatic rifles and rocket launchers.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "A law on firearms passed in 1968 requires a permit to own a firearm in Chad which must be renewed annually. This law does not specify any conditions that must be met to obtain a license except for a tax stamp which must be paid, between 500 and 3000 CFA francs depending on the type of firearm. Considering that in 2017 the Chadian government raised 5 million francs from issuing firearm licenses it would mean that there are between 1,666 and 10,000 active firearm licenses in Chad or between 0.01 and 0.06 per 100 people.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Possession of firearms in Djibouti is generally prohibited except when special permits are granted in exceptional circumstances by the Head of State. Firearms in Eritrea are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Permitted types of firearms in Eswatini are shotguns, revolvers, pistols and rifles. To obtain a license one must get approval from the Local Chief's council, Local Station Commander, Regional Administrator, Director of Crimes at Police Headquarters, Licensing Officer/Registrar of Firearms Registry, Licensing Board and lastly the Police Station Commander. Requirements include general standing in the community. The application acceptance rate is around 57% as of 2002.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Current law states that firearm licenses are a privilege in Gambia and authorities have full discretion in issuing them.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Firearm law in Ghana allows acquisition of shotguns and handguns (pistols and revolvers). It requires that every firearm must be reregistered every year; however, this is widely ignored. Out of 1,230,000 people who legally bought a gun only 40,000 are reregistering their weapons every year. Unlike other African countries, handguns are popular in Ghana. For example, in Greater Accra Region 74.4% of people who legally acquired guns in 2020 chose revolvers, while 21% chose shotguns. In the Ashanti region 45.5% chose shotguns, while 21.5% chose revolvers.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Gun regulation in Kenya is established by the Firearms Act (Cap. 114) of Kenya. The Act states: \"No person under the age of twelve years shall have in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which Part II applies, and no person under the age of fourteen years shall have in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which Part II applies other than a miniature rifle not exceeding 0.22 calibre or a shotgun the bore of which is not larger than 20 gauge, and ammunition suitable therefor, except in circumstances where he is entitled to have possession thereof without holding a firearm certificate by virtue of subsection (8), subsection (9) or subsection (10) of section 7; and no person shall part with the possession of any such firearm or ammunition to any person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be under the age of twelve or fourteen years, as the case may be, except in circumstances where that other person is entitled to have possession thereof.\"",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The Chief Licensing Officer (CLO) has discretion to award, deny, or revoke firearm licenses. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older, pass a stringent background check for criminal activity, mental health and domestic violence, and state genuine reason(s) for their need to privately own and carry a firearm. Checks are regularly repeated, with failure to pass resulting in immediate revocation of the license. Once licensed to own a gun, no additional permit is required to carry a concealed firearm.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Applicants for firearm possession must obtain a reference letter from the village chief or headman. It is later sent to local police stations for approval, then to district police for their approval, then to the National Security Service for their final approval.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Liberia allows only possession of single-shot shotguns and black powder long guns for hunting purposes. Private security agencies are banned from arming their employees. However, some criminals have automatic firearms, particularly AK styled rifles. These are believed to be leftovers from the country's decade-long intermittent civil war. Automatic firearms are also likely coming across the country's porous borders with Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. These countries have more liberal gun-ownership laws. All of Liberia's neighbors have experienced some form of armed conflict in the last two decades leaving them awash with illegal automatic weapons. The Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the only armed unit within the Liberia National Police, responds to armed incidents, particularly armed robbery.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Liberia Firearms and Ammunition Control Act of 2015 regulates the possession and use of small arms and light weapons in the country. The illegal possession of small arms and light weapons constitutes a first-degree misdemeanor and is punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than a year and seizure of the illegally possessed arm or ammunition.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "There are no licensed firearm dealers in Mozambique, therefore any person wanting to obtain one must travel to a different country (usually South Africa), purchase guns, then return, surrender them for authorities and ask them to allow them to obtain them.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Namibia permits firearm ownership under license, which is issued on a may-issue basis. In 2017 Namibian police issued 7,647 firearm licenses from 9,239 applications, the acceptance rate therefore being around 83%. Overall there are currently 200,100 registered firearms in Namibia or 9 per 100 people. Most popular types of firearms owned by civilians are pistols (46%), rifles (34%) and shotguns (24%). Carrying unloaded concealed firearms in public is allowed.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In 2019 Rwanda passed a new law dealing with firearm possession. It states that authorities have total discretion when determining whether persons can own firearms and can therefore deny applications without reason, even if someone met all requirements.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Senegal has a strict gun legislation. Applications for firearm licenses do not need to specify a reason. An application requires: copy of identity card, criminal record, medical check-up, four photos, tax stamp and personality test. Decisions should be made after a few months.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Gun ownership is very rare, however numbers are on the rise. In 2016 Senegal police issued 1000 licenses, while rejecting 250 (80% acceptance rate), compared to 456 in 2011. In 2017 it was estimated that police issued more than 7,000 total licenses (0.04 per 100 people).",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 2012, Sierra Leone legalized gun ownership after 16 years of a total ban being enforced. According to the act, authorities have discretion in determining whether persons have good reasons to own firearms. The Arms Act of 2021 repealed the Arms Act of 2012, with little change to licensing procedures.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "From 1992 until 2023, a UN embargo had prohibited importation of any firearms into Somalia except for security forces.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "According to 2010 gun control law residents of Somaliland are allowed to possess firearms for the purpose of defense of life and property. The law specifies pistols and AK automatic rifles as permissible while also mentioning that others can be allowed. Only one weapon of each type can be registered. Possession of more than one weapon of each type require justification and is granted only for legal persons. Permits to register a weapon are provided to people over 18 without criminal background. Permit must be renewed every year. Both citizens and residents can register firearms and they can be inherited. Sale of firearms is limited to government and licensed dealers. Weapons of war such as mortars, bombs, chemical weapons as well as suppressors are prohibited. Openly carrying firearms is prohibited. As the arms embargo on Somalia was lifted, the Somaliland government opposed the measure.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "To apply for a firearm license in South Africa applicants must pass a competency test covering the specific type of firearm that is being applied for, and a test on the South African firearm laws. Once these tests are passed one needs to apply for a competency certificate, where the South African Police Service performs a background check and an inspection of the premises where the firearm will be stored. After both tests are passed and the respective certificates are awarded, one can then apply for a firearm license in categories ranging from self-defence to professional hunting. Different license categories have different restrictions, for example the amount of ammunition owners may hold. Using guns to hunt is permitted",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Firearms in Argentina are restricted, being regulated by ANMaC (Agencia Nacional de Materiales Controlados) since October 2015. Said agency replaced RENAR (Registro Nacional de Armas de la Republica Argentina), both being a branch of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. To own a firearm in Argentina, one must be a legitimate user. Applicants must: be 21 years of age or older, provide a medical certificate that certifies they are physically and mentally fit, complete a safety course, provide a legitimate means of income, and undergo and pass a background check. A successful applicant is fingerprinted and issued a license which has to be renewed every five years. One may not legally discharge a firearm in Argentina if they are not a legitimate user, even if that gun belongs to someone else. Once a legitimate user wants to purchase a firearm, they must provide a secure location to store the firearm(s), and give an acceptable reason for wanting a firearm – such as collecting, target shooting, hunting, business, or self-defense in the home.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Firearms must be purchased through a licensed registry registered with the ANMaC. If a firearm is inherited, a re-registering form must be filed. There is no limit on the number of firearms owned so long as they are properly stored. Ammunition sales are recorded but unlimited. Carry permits for licensed handgun owners are extremely difficult to obtain, and require appearing before the ANMaC board to make their case. Carry permits are renewed yearly to re-examine their \"clear and present\" danger, and the permit is usually revoked immediately if this danger is removed. Those dealing in money or valuables or in private security may be issued a business carry permit.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Handguns above .32 calibre are conditional-use; fully automatic handguns are prohibited to civilians. Bolt-action rifles above .22, long rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with a non-detachable magazine are conditional-use; fully automatic rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with detachable magazines are prohibited. Semi-automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels between 380 and 600 mm (15 and 24 in) long are conditional-use; fully automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels under 380 mm (15 in) are prohibited.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Permanent residents or citizens of Belize are allowed to own a gun after a background check. The maximum caliber is 9mm, and one may have only 100 rounds at any given time. Licenses are available to farmers to have shotguns to protect livestock, as well as for hunting and personal protection. Firearms may be imported but must be declared before arrival. Imported guns will be impounded by the police and registered before a license is granted.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "All firearms in Brazil are required to be registered. The minimum age for ownership is 25, and certificates of aptitude and mental health are required prior to the acquisition of a firearm and every ten years thereafter. It is generally illegal to carry a firearm outside one's residence, commerce/store or farm. Executive Order No. 5.123, of 1 July 2004 allows the Federal Police to confiscate firearms which are not possessed for a valid reason;",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The total number of firearms in Brazil is thought to be between 14 million and 17 million with an estimated 9 million being unregistered. In a 2005 referendum, Brazilians voted against a government proposal for a total ban on the sales of firearms to private citizens.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In January 2019, President Bolsonaro signed an executive order which loosened Brazil's gun laws by removing the police's discretionary power to reject license applications.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Currently there are more than one million guns legally registered by civilians.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "On September 5 the Minister of Supreme Court, Luiz Edson Fachin, did invalidate some decrees signed by President Bolsonaro. Those decisions, are named as ADI 6119, ADI 6139 and ADI 6466. The immediate action of those ADIs were the ban to purchase any firearm for home protection and the purchase of ammunition for any civilian in the country. Those ADIs also affected the shooting sports in some degree, by forbidden the acquisition of firearms of restricted calibers.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Canada's firearm laws are stated in the Firearms Act. The possession and acquisition licence (PAL) is distributed by the RCMP (federal police) and requires taking a firearms safety course and passing a test, a background check, and reference interviews. The PAL allows purchase of most popular sporting rifles and shotguns. A Restricted-PAL (RPAL) has an additional course for restricted weapons, which have increased storage requirements. The two main reasons for owning firearms are target shooting and hunting.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Carrying firearms for self-defense against human threats is prohibited without a permit. These permits are typically only issued to police, and those in a profession that involves carrying valuable goods, such as armoured car personnel. The RCMP is also able to issue an Authorization to Carry permit to private individuals on the basis that a person's life is in imminent danger and police protection is inadequate. These permits are seldom issued. In the 1990s, Toronto City Councillor Norm Gardner was revealed to hold such a permit when he shot a man who was committing a robbery. As of October 2018, only two permits for protection of life were actively issued in the country.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "An Authorization to Carry permit can be obtained for protection against wild animals. However these are only issued to a licensed professional trapper, or to people in a profession that exposes them to dangerous animals in remote areas. However, the applicant must prove why carrying a rifle or shotgun is not possible, and they must choose a firearm that is appropriate for the circumstances.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In Canada, firearms fall into one of three categories:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Restricted and Prohibited firearms can only be used at an approved shooting range, and cannot be used for hunting. Transportation of firearms that meet these classifications are restricted by an Authorization to Transport (ATT) permit, and they can only be transported to and from approved ranges in a locked case.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Non-citizens may obtain a non-resident firearms declaration from a customs officer, for a temporary 60-day authorization to bring a non-prohibited firearm into Canada.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In Chile, the 103rd article of the Constitution declares gun ownership as a privilege granted in accordance to a special law. Firearms are regulated by the police. Civilian gun ownership is allowed by law but discouraged by authorities, with regular press statements and campaigns denouncing the dangers of possessing firearms.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Police-issued firearm permits require applicants to be 18 years of age, provide a mental health certificate issued by a psychiatrist, have a clean criminal record with no domestic violence accusations, and pass a written test on firearm safety and knowledge. Final approval lies in a district police commander, who can deny the permit in \"justified cases\" not detailed by the law. There are five types of permits:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Each of these permits has limits on types of firearms used, and allows for a police-issued permit to buy a specified quantity of appropriate ammunition from a specific gun shop. Transport permits are required to take firearms from the permit-holder's residence to a specified shooting range or hunting ground, and are valid for two years. Transported firearms must be unloaded and not attached to the body.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "A self-defense permit allows carrying a firearm for protection against specific human threats. Such permits are valid for one year, but as the police commander can deny applications without stating a reason, they are very rarely issued. Automatic firearms are forbidden for civilian use.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Gun control law enacted in 2008 in Cuba divides firearm licenses in to six categories:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Article 3 of Colombia's firearm law states that civilians may possess firearms only via permit issued at discretion of the competent authority.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "In 1993, Colombia legislated gun ownership, effectively establishing a government licensing monopoly. In 2016, president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos signed an executive order suspending civilians from carrying firearms, with some exceptions including security details, hunting, private defense and collection. It was extended in 2018 by newly elected president Ivan Duque, albeit with the added stipulation: \"for reasons of emergency or security ... taking into consideration among other factors, the particular circumstances of each application\". A legal challenge to this modification has been prepared.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Only citizens and permanent residents of Costa Rica are allowed to possess firearms: handguns (up to three), rifles (up to three for sporting use; hunting is illegal in Costa Rica), and semi-automatic weapons between the calibers of 5.6 to 18.5 millimeters.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Foreigners wishing to bring guns into the country must apply with the Ministry of Public Security and declare it when they arrive to the customs department, who will hold it until they go through the registration process. Firearms can be purchased from a licensed gun shop or private individual. Gun owners must have a clean criminal record in Costa Rica and must pass a psychological exam.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "El Salvador's laws aim to allow and regulate civilian possession of firearms. In order to get a firearm license one must have no criminal record, be at least 21 years of age(24 for a carry license), pay for a tax stamp, and undergo a written test. In 2017 there were 344,587 registered firearms in El Salvador, or 5.6 per 100 people.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Possession of most long guns is allowed without a permit in Greenland, while semi- and fully-automatic firearms and handguns require a permit. In 2018, proposed amendment to firearm law would raise the minimum age to purchase guns to 16.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "The constitution of Haiti provides citizens with the constitutional right to possess firearms at home. Only police and military can possess rifles. Handguns are allowed to be carried open or concealed with the correct license issued by the Haitian National Police assigned to the serial number of the firearm and with the name of the individual or organization responsible for the firearm.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Gun laws in Honduras are stated in the Act on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Material of 2000. In April 2002, the National Arms Registry was formed, requiring all citizens to register their firearms with the Ministry of Defense.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In 2003, a ban on certain \"assault rifles\" was passed, restricting citizens from possessing military-style rifles such as the AK-47 and the M-16. In 2007, an additional decree suspended the right to openly carry and conceal carry a firearm in public, and limited the number of firearms a person can possess.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Gun laws in Jamaica are stated in the Firearms Act and regulated by the Firearms Licensing Authority. Applicants must pass a police background check and complete a certification process to obtain a firearms license for shotguns, handguns and rifles. Shotguns and rifles for hunting or sport-shooting purposes are easier to obtain than handguns. Fully automatic weapons are prohibited. Handguns are limited to those under .45 calibre for revolvers or 10 mm for pistols. Ammunition purchases are limited to 250 rounds per year for shotguns and 50 for handguns, with applications for additional ammunition generally granted during the hunting season. A gun safe is required for storage of all firearms and ammunition. Once licensed, no additional permit is required to carry a firearm open or concealed, unless the carrying of firearms has been temporarily prohibited under section 22 of the Act.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Under the Mexican Constitution, Article 10, citizens and legal residents have the right to own and carry arms, but may only carry them in accordance with police regulations, i.e. Article 32 of the \"Ley Federal de Armas de Fuego y Explosivos\". Applicants must: have a clear criminal record; proven income and residence (i.e.: cannot be homeless); undergone compulsory military service; a clean bill of health (including drug tests); justified the weapon's use; be employed. New firearms are purchased through the Ministry of Defense. Prohibited weapons include: large-calibre handguns; shotguns with barrels shorter than 25 inches (640 mm) or bore greater than 12 gauge; and rifles which are fully automatic or of large calibre. One handgun is permitted for home defense, but it must be registered within 30 days of purchase. For hunting and sport shooting, up to nine long guns and one handgun is permitted, requiring membership in a hunting or shooting club. Collectors may be authorized to possess additional and prohibited weapons. A carry license may be issued to those employed by private security firms, and certain weapons are exclusive to the armed forces. Licenses must be renewed biennially.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Obtaining firearms in Panama requires a Firearms Possession Certificate (FPC), which requires: criminal background check, drugs test, psychological test and firearms training. The minimum age to own a firearm is 18. The FPC allows the owner to move the firearms, unloaded and stowed, to and from a gun range. At least 6 hours of annual gun range practice is mandatory. There are no firearm caliber nor magazine capacity restrictions and all kinds of semiautomatic weapons are allowed for civilian ownership. Automatic weapons may only be owned by the state. Ammunition is restricted by type. Tracer, incendiary, armor-piercing and explosive ammunition is prohibited to civilians. An FPC is valid for 10 years.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Concealed carry of firearms is allowed through a Firearms Carry License (FCL). An FCL has the same requirements as an FPC, but carrier must be at least 21 years of age. Only handguns, such as pistols and revolvers, are permitted for concealed carry; however, up to two handguns may be carried loaded simultaneously. An FCL is valid for 4 years.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The Public Security Ministry handles all firearm matters. All legally owned firearms must be registered to their owners and appear on their permits. Direct or private handover of firearms is prohibited. A buyer must submit an application to the Security Ministry which, if approved, will deliver the updated permits and the firearms directly to the owner. No private owner may take out a firearm directly from a dealer. A shall-issue permit policy apply for all permits; the state must issue a permit if applicant meets all requirements. Firearm applications must be resolved in 30 business days or less.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Importation of firearms is only allowed to authorized local dealers. An individual may not privately import his/her own firearms while immigrating from another country. Firearms may temporarily be taken out of the country for sport events or repairs.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Firearms are regulated by Article 312 of the Panamanian Constitution of 1972 and the General Firearms, Ammunition and Related Materials Act (Law 57 of 2011).",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "In order to get a firearm possession license one must have no criminal records, be at least 22 years of age, and obtain certificate of safely handling a firearm. Carry permit requires a good reason. Automatic weapons are prohibited. As of 2014, there are 392,000 registered firearms and 1,961 carry permits issued to civilians.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "In the United States, firearms are regulated by both federal and individual state statutes. Federal firearms laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). State and local firearms laws, which vary greatly, are enforced by state and local authorities. The right to keep and bear arms has been protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution since 1791, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it protects any individual's right to keep and bear arms unconnected with service in a militia for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home and in public, in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022). The Supreme Court affirmed in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) that the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby applies to state and local laws as well as federal laws. Most state constitutions also guarantee this right, although there is some variance across the country as both federal and state laws apply to firearm possession and ownership.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Firearm ownership in the United States is by right and does not require licensure or proof of need. Federally, there is no minimum age to possess long guns; 18 is the minimum age to possess handguns. To purchase from a licensed dealer, one must be 18 for long guns and 21 for handguns. The respective age requirements apply to purchasing ammunition from a dealer, retail store or online.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Federally, new firearms must be transferred by a federally licensed dealer (FFL) with form 4473 and background check. Used firearms transferred interstate must also go through an FFL. Intrastate private party sales are not required to use an FFL under federal law, but many states require FFLs to conduct private party transfers.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Federal law does not limit the number of firearms or quantity of ammunition and reloading supplies a private citizen may keep.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Air guns, antique ignition (muzzle loading) guns and guns made prior to 1899 are not firearms under U.S. law, although they are still considered deadly weapons.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Federal law designates two classes of firearms in the United States:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Title I, GCA firearms: This includes all handguns, rifles with at least 16\" barrel and 26\" overall length, Shotguns with at least 18\" barrel and 26\" overall length, other firearms with an overall length of 26\" or more which are neither handgun nor long gun. Sporting arms over .50 caliber are title I; non-sporting arms over .50 caliber fall into the Title II category below.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Title II, NFA Firearms. NFA firearms include:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Non-prohibited persons over 21 years of age may own NFA firearms in most states, though some states prohibit some or all of this class. NFA firearms must be registered and go through a manufacturing or transfer approval by ATF before the individual may make or take possession of the weapon. This process can take months, sometimes even years. It requires fingerprinting, photo ID and a tax of $200 per application (per weapon). There is no lawful way to make or transfer an NFA firearm without going through this process.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Fully-automatic firearms ( machine guns) are heavily restricted and can only be owned by private citizens if manufactured and registered before May 18, 1986. unless an individual is to obtain status as an SOT \"Special Occupational Taxpayer\" as a FFL \"Federal Firearms License\" holder. Since civilians without SOT status are only allowed to own machine guns manufactured before 1986, the finite supply has caused the market value of pre-1986 transferable automatic weapons to be 20 to 50 times that of their semiautomatic counterparts (2022 ex.,$500-$800 for a basic AR-15, $20,000-$25,000 for an M-16)",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Law varies greatly from state to state, both in its scope and in its range.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922 – Unlawful Acts, persons are prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition if:",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "The carrying of weapons, either openly or concealed, is regulated by the states, and these laws have changed rapidly beginning in the latter part of the 20th century. Some states allow residents to carry without a permit, while others only allow the public carry of firearms upon issuance of a permit or license. Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, current and former law enforcement officers can carry anywhere (except private property where they are subject to the rules of the owner and gun-free public places like schools) as long as they carry a photo identification from their agency and have completed yearly training from said agency.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Federal law provides protection for travellers who may find themselves going through states with more restrictive gun laws than their origin or destination. As long as the weapons are transported in accordance with FOPA and the weapon(s) are legally owned and not prohibited in the origin or destination(s), the travellers are immune from prosecution.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Being engaged in the business of importing firearms, dealing firearms, gunsmithing or manufacturing arms requires licensure in the United States. There are multiple license types, depending on the nature of the business, and some licenses have additional requirements, such as registration with Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "Private citizens in the United States may manufacture weapons for personal use without any government approval or registration for Title I GCA firearms (NFA rules still apply to home made weapons). However, it becomes unlawful to manufacture without a license if the intent is to distribute.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "The United States federal government is prohibited by law from maintaining a registry of firearms owners, although the NFA registry which predated this prohibition has been exempted. Some states do have registration.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Uruguayan law allows for firearm possession on a shall-issue basis. These firearms must be of a caliber smaller than .50 BMG. Carry permits are issued on a may-issue basis, which in practice is no-issue except for people working as private security guards. Policemen and military can carry their firearms while off-duty without the need for a licence. The legal carrying of firearms must always be in a concealed manner, no open carry is allowed. In recent times, politicians from the governing coalition have expressed their intentions of allowing the issuing of concealed carry permits to civilians. With approximately 35 civilian firearms per 100 people, Uruguay is the eighth most armed country in the world and most armed in Latin America.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "During the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, in 1914, a disarmament decree in the Federal District was enacted, and later in 1919, a disarmament law was decreed, ordering every weapon owner to give them away to the authorities; the only exceptions were machetes and hunting shotguns. The official justification offered was to diminish crime, but the law was ultimately used to disarm the population and to prevent possible uprisings. Historian Manuel Caballero argued that while Gómez's final intention was to prevent his enemies from obtaining weapons, the law contributed to avoid civil wars in Venezuela for the next century.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "In 2012 Venezuela banned private sales of firearms and ammunition hoping to lower crime rates. The Army, police, and certain groups trusted by the government (colectivos) are exempted from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers. In 2013 Venezuela stopped issuing new firearm licenses. In 2017 government banned carrying firearms in public places.",
"title": "Americas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Automatic rifles are restricted to government forces and security companies in Afghanistan. Handguns, while allowed, are mostly issued for important people. Non-automatic rifles can be obtained for sports and hunting. Rules regarding shotguns and antique firearms are most permissive with no good reason required. Shotguns including pump-action shotguns are popular in some regions as self-defense weapons.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "Gun laws are very restrictive in Bangladesh. Only people over the age of 25 (30 for handguns) and under 60 who pay taxes can apply for firearm licence. Self-defence is only accepted reason and requires proving danger to life. Legal owners can only own one long gun (shotgun or rifle) and one handgun (pistol or revolver). They cannot work as security guards.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Firearms are prohibited for citizens. Military and police personnel may apply for a licence to keep a private firearm by establishing a genuine reason, such as sport shooting or gun collecting.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions since 1999.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Gun ownership in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is regulated by law. Generally, private citizens are not allowed to possess guns. Civilian ownership of guns is largely restricted to authorized, non-individual entities, including sporting organizations, authorized hunting reserves, and wildlife protection, management and research organizations. The chief exception to the general ban on individual firearm ownership is for the purpose of hunting. Illegal possession or sale of firearms may result in a minimum punishment of three years in prison, and penalties for the trafficking of \"arms and ammunition or other military materials to an enemy during war time\" include life imprisonment.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "In Hong Kong and Macau, gun ownership is tightly controlled and possession is mainly in the hands of law enforcement, military, and private security firms (providing protection for jewelers and banks). Under Section 13 of Cap 238 Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance of Hong Kong, a license is required for unrestricted firearms and ammunition. A license may be issued after a rigorous process to check for criminal records or a history of mental illness. License holders may store other firearms at home in a locked box, but ammunition must be kept at different premises. Only fully automatic firearms appear prohibited; those found in possession without a license could be fined at level 6 of the standard scale (\"Maximum fine of HKD $100,000\") and face imprisonment for up to 14 years.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Under East Timorese law, only the military and police forces may possess, carry and use firearms, with few exceptions.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "In late June 2008, the Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmão, introduced a proposed gun law to Parliament for \"urgent debate\", pushing back scheduled budgetary discussions. The new law, which would allow civilians to own guns, sparked heated debates in the East Timorese parliament. The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping force deployed in the nation, also expressed concerns over the new law. The law was defeated in the Parliament.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "Guns in India are regulated by law. The Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules 1962 prohibit the sale, manufacture, possession, acquisition, import, export, and transport of firearms and ammunition unless under a license, which is difficult to obtain. The Indian Government has a monopoly over the production and sale of firearms, with the exception of some breech-loading smooth-bore shotguns, of which a limited number may be produced and imported. The Arms Act classifies firearms into two categories: Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB), where all semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms fall under the Prohibited Bore category. The Arms Act of 1962 added to the Prohibited bore category, any firearm which can chamber and fire ammunition of calibers .303, 7.62 mm, .410, .380, .455, .45 rimless, or 9 mm. Smooth-bore guns having barrels shorter than 20 Inches (508 mm) are also specified as Prohibited guns.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "Licenses for acquisition and possession of both PB and NPB firearms could be given by a state government or district magistrate before 1987. Since that year, issuing of licenses for PB firearms became the responsibility of the central government. Licenses are valid for five years and may be renewed after the term. The sale of firearms requires both the selling and purchasing party to possess a permit.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "The criteria considered during issuing of NPB firearm permits are whether the applicant faces a threat to their life. PB firearms criteria are more stringent, often for persons in government positions who face immediate danger or threats, those whose occupations involve open threats and danger, and their immediate family members. PB licenses were tightened since 2014, when otherwise-eligible persons started to be frequently rejected on basis of national security grounds. Exceptions are made for defense officers, who are allowed to keep firearms without licenses under the Defence Service rule, and a handful of professional shooters.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Firearm licenses are issued on a may-issue basis and approximately half of applications are accepted. For example, between April 2015 and March 2016 authorities in Mumbai rejected 169 out of 342 firearm applications.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "In Indonesia, gun licenses are only issued to civilians employed in a profession that involves using firearms, such as in the military and law enforcement, with an exception made for politicians and businessmen.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "Applicants must be over the age of 21 to obtain a firearms license, and go through a background check and mental evaluation. They must also state a genuine reason for wanting to own a firearm, which can include hunting, target shooting, collecting, security, and self-defense. All firearms must be registered. Gun permits are valid for five years and may be renewed.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Civilians cannot possess military weapons, but may possess long rifles. Handguns can only be used for sport-shooting and hunting. In 2012 however, it was claimed that police had been issuing permits to regular citizens.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "There are 200.000 rifles registered for Nomads. Iranian law had changed in 2021–22 with military, security and police having permit to access firearms use them preemptively. Airguns, airsoft guns and hunting rifles were criminalized September 2023.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "In 2012, Iraq relaxed its gun laws. The \"possession of one rifle or pistol per home\" was allowed via simple registration at local police stations.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "In 2017, the law was relaxed once again. The possession and carrying of handguns, semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms and other weapons for self-defense, hunting and sport shooting purposes was allowed. Firearm licenses require official authorization and identity cards.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "Gun laws in Israel are comprehensive despite soldiers being allowed to carry their service weapons on or off duty. Civilians must obtain a firearms license to lawfully acquire, possess, sell or transfer firearms and ammunition. In 2018, Israel loosened firearms restrictions, allowing all citizens who had undergone combat training and qualified in Advanced Infantry Training ('Rifleman \"07\"') to apply for a private handgun license.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Prior to 2018, only a small group of people had been eligible for firearms licenses: certain retired military personnel, police officers or prison guards; residents of settlements (in the West Bank) or those who often work in such towns; and licensed hunters and animal-control officers. Age requirements vary: 21 for those who completed military service or civil service equivalent, 27 otherwise, and 45 for non-citizens. Firearm license applicants must have been a resident of Israel for at least three consecutive years, pass a background check (criminal, health, and mental history), establish a so-called \"genuine reason\" for possessing a firearm (such as self-defense, hunting, or sport), and pass a weapons-training course. As many as 40% of applications for firearms permits were rejected.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "Those holding firearms licenses must renew them and pass a shooting course every three years. Security guards must pass these tests to renew their license to carry firearms belonging to their employers. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a safe at their residence in which to keep the firearm. Permits are given only for personal use, and holders for self-defense purposes may own only one handgun and purchase an annual supply of 50 cartridges (although more may be purchased to replace rounds used at a firing range).",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "Most individuals who are licensed to possess handguns may carry them loaded in public, concealed or openly.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "In 2005, there were 237,000 private citizens and 154,000 security guards licensed to carry firearms. Another 34,000 Israelis own guns illegally due to their failure to renew their firearms license. In 2007, there were estimated to be 500,000 licensed small arms held by civilians, in addition to 1,757,500 by the military, and 26,040 by the police.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Following the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Israel almost immediately reacted strongly in favor of loosening gun restrictions in favor of a more liberal access for Israeli civilians to have firearms to defend themselves and their communities. The Israeli government also called on civilians that did find a way to arm themselves to band together and form protective groups in light of the attack initiated out of Gaza. The Times of Israel reported, \"The reform was unveiled by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who has pushed for allowing more Israelis to arm themselves as a response to terror attacks.\" Left-wing party Meretz opposed the changes, with party member Tamar Zandberg saying in a statement, \"...[guns] are a death machine whose civilian use needs to be reduced as much as possible...\", Erdan in turn argued that, \"Qualified citizens carrying firearms in public contribute to the sense of security, are an important line of defense from ‘lone-wolf’ attacks and thus strengthen public security.\", and \"Many citizens have saved lives during terror attacks, and in the era of ‘lone-wolf’ attacks, the more qualified gun-carrying citizens there are — the better the chance to thwart terror attacks without casualties and reduce the number of casualties.\"",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was quoted in a report from Fox News as saying:",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "Ben-Gvir issued an emergency directive after the attack to loosen gun restrictions for Israeli civilians in several ways, however, reportedly the comments section on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) had many people saying that this was, \"too little too late.\"",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "American and international media outlets reacted largely critical of Israel's historically strict gun laws that potentially served to endanger Israelis by leaving them defenseless in many cases as the surprise attack unfolded. Only 2% of Israeli civilians were armed prior to the attack according to a report from the BBC, compared to as little as 30% of American civilians (though that number may be much higher due to gunowners that do not report accurately).",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "A rabbi in Israel named Raz Blizovsky was quoted as saying:",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "People are changing their opinion [after the attack], and now there is more awareness. I have been involved with groups that have been talking about this issue [loosening gun restrictions for civilians] for years. During calm times, people don't do anything.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Israel citizens also petitioned their government by the tens of thousands to further loosen gun laws for Israeli and Jewish civilians in light of the prior laws that made it very difficult to acquire guns and possess the means for Israeli civilians to defend themselves. One petition gathered as many as 22,000 signatures in less than 24 hours seeking to loosen restrictions on the right of Israeli civilians to buy and carry firearms.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "The weapons law of Japan begins by stating \"No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords\", and very few exceptions are allowed. Citizens are permitted to possess firearms for hunting and sport shooting, but only after submitting to a lengthy licensing procedure. As part of the procedure, a shooting-range test must be passed with a \"mark of at least 95%\". A mental-health evaluation taking place at a hospital, and a thorough background check where one's family and friends are interviewed, are also part of the procedure.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "A gun license expires after three years, after which license tests must be repeated. After ten years of shotgun ownership, a license-holder may apply to obtain a rifle.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "Japan has been described as the country with \"perhaps the first ever gun buyback initiative\" in 1685, and is the first nation to have imposed gun laws in the world; as such, gun ownership is very rare: 0.6 guns per 100 people in 2007. When mass killings occur, they are often perpetrated by assailants wielding knives or other means, not guns. In 2014, Japan saw six gun deaths.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "Each prefecture in the country can operate a total of three gun shops. New cartridges can only be purchased after turning in expended cartridges. In turn, new magazines can be bought only by trading in old ones. If a gun owner dies, their relatives must surrender their firearms. Off-duty police are not allowed to carry weapons, rarely do on-duty apart from special squads, and arrests are generally made without firearms; instead, police are expected to be proficient in judo.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "According to Jordanian law on gun control passed in 1952 Jordanian residents are allowed to keep rifles and handguns at their home with amount of ammunition necessary for self-defense provided they obtain a permit. Permits are denied for people under 21 and convicted of any crimes. Possession and carrying of automatic firearms require special permit.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "In 2019 law was proposed that would ban both semi- and fully-automatic firearms in Jordan.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 130,
"text": "Firearms may be licensed to a citizen (or foreigner recommended by the Minister of Interior) who is at least 25 years old and fully capable of handling a weapon, with no criminal record, who is not a suspect or under police surveillance, and who has a source of income. Hunting shotguns are the most commonly licensed weapons. Rifles chambered for .22 long rifle are also common, with hunting rifles being more difficult to obtain. Handguns are only allowed for VIPs. Machine guns are not legally permitted for civilian possession.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 131,
"text": "In the Lebanese Republic, ownership of any firearm other than handguns, hunting arms or antiques is illegal and only the latter two are permitted to leave the owner's home. Disregard for this law is prevalent. Lebanon does not officially grant the right to bear arms, but it is a firmly held cultural belief in the country. Firearm licenses are granted to certain individuals, but the test is not open to the public and requires a particular need to be demonstrated.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 132,
"text": "Gun control has been largely unsuccessful in Lebanon due to a historic context of gun availability and usage, a lack of effective central government control or authority over many parts of the country, and the tumultuous nature of the region. Although gunsmithing was once prominent in the region, it has all but ceased since the mid-1930s, yet it remains legal with a permit. Lebanon has come to be one of the largest arms markets in the Middle East.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 133,
"text": "Lebanon ranks 58th worldwide for privately owned firearms per capita.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 134,
"text": "Firearm ownership is highly restricted in Malaysia. The Arms Act (1960) requires Malaysian citizens to have a license for the manufacture, import, export, repair, or ownership of firearms. A firearm license can only be granted by the Chief Police Officer of a state. Discharging a firearm in crimes such as extortion, robbery, resisting arrest and house-breaking is punished by the death penalty. Exhibiting a firearm for any of the scheduled offences (without discharging) carries a penalty of life imprisonment and caning of not less than six strokes. Possession of unlawful firearms carries a sentence of up to fourteen years in prison and caning.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 135,
"text": "Mongolia currently observes a law on firearms passed in 2001 which allows anyone to apply for a firearm license, which may be issued after 21 days.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 136,
"text": "There are 46,982 (or 1.6 per 100 people) registered firearms in Mongolia including 44,306 for hunting, 1,598 for security and ward use, 619 for sports training, 260 as \"art\" firearms and 199 for collection purposes.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 137,
"text": "The right to firearm ownership, which is primarily governed by the Weapons Act of 1878, is generally restricted in Myanmar. The law has been amended several times, and generally provides citizens with a right to own firearms for self-defence. Since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état, successive military regimes have restricted legal gun ownership to individuals closely connected with the regimes, including army veterans. After the 1962 coup, the government confiscated all citizen-owned firearms, which were re-distributed to Burma Socialist Programme Party members, retired civil servants, and army veterans.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 138,
"text": "After the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and ensuing Myanmar civil war (2021–present), the military regime has revisited existing gun laws as part of an effort to combat pro-democracy forces. On 31 January 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive enabling organisations and citizens deemed \"loyal to the state,\" including civilians, civil servants, and army personnel, to obtain firearm licences and permits. The directive stipulates that firearm applicants must be at least 18 years old, and must demonstrate a need for firearms for \"personal security.\" The regulatory shift has enabled the military junta to arm pro-regime paramilitary groups like the Pyusawhti militias and to suppress pro-democracy forces in the country, in light of waning military recruitment and their challenges in concurrently operating in multiple war theatres throughout the country.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 139,
"text": "Nepal allows firearm ownership if an applicant can provide sufficient reason, for example hunting or self-defense.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 140,
"text": "There are 34,315 (or 0.1 per 100 people) registered firearms in Nepal including 13,892 shotguns, 312 pistols and 118 revolvers.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 141,
"text": "According to 2009 law civilian possession of firearms is prohibited in North Korea.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 142,
"text": "Pakistan has permissive firearm laws compared to the rest of South Asia, and has the sixth-highest number of privately owned guns in the world. Laws regulate the carrying of weapons in public in most urban areas. Private guns are prohibited in educational institutions, hostels, boarding and lodging houses, fairs, gatherings or processions of a political, religious, ceremonial, or sectarian character, and on the premises of courts of law or public offices. The law in Pakistan does not stipulate whether gun licenses should be denied or revoked, and a license permits ownership of any number of weapons including handguns of any size and fully automatic weapons. Firearms are a traditionally important part of rural life in its North-Western areas where it is not uncommon to see people legally carrying RPGs and fully automatic weapons.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 143,
"text": "The Philippines has generally strict gun laws, though liberal in comparison to other Asia-Pacific countries due to its active gun culture. Philippine gun control became notorious in 1972 during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos who implemented a near-prohibition of all civilian guns. Current gun laws in the Philippines are outlined in Republic Act 10591 or the \"Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act\", signed in 2013. In order to own a firearm, a citizen must acquire a License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF). Applicants must meet the following requirements: (a) has not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude; (b) has passed the psychiatric test administered by a PNP-accredited psychologist or psychiatrist; (c) has passed the drug test conducted by an accredited and authorized drug testing laboratory or clinic; (d) has passed a gun safety seminar which is administered by the PNP or a registered and authorized gun club; (e) has filed in writing the application to possess a registered firearm which shall state the personal circumstances of the applicant; (f) must present a police clearance from the city or municipality police office; and (g) has not been convicted or is currently an accused in a pending criminal case before any court of law for a crime that is punishable with a penalty of more than two (2) years.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 144,
"text": "License holders may carry concealed handguns in public with the acquisition of a separate Permit to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR), which is granted on a may-issue basis. Generally, applicants must demonstrate an imminent threat of danger and secure a Threat Assessment Certificate from the police in order to be issued a PTCFOR. Exempted from this requirement are members of the national bar (lawyers, prosecutors, judges), accountants, accredited media practitioners, cashiers, bank tellers, clergymen (priests, ministers, rabbis, imams), physicians, nurses, engineers, high-risk businessmen, elected incumbent and former officials, and active and retired military and law enforcement personnel, as they are deemed to be in imminent danger due to the nature of their profession, occupation or business.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 145,
"text": "Many Filipinos own firearms for self-protection and target-shooting, which require licenses: around 2,000,000 people out of 100,000,000 have a registered firearm.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 146,
"text": "Despite the laws, some people in the Philippines are gun enthusiasts and gun users, in part due to the influence of its history of being an American Commonwealth. It is widely believed there is a de facto right to gun ownership in the country.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 147,
"text": "Singaporean citizens must obtain a license to lawfully possess firearms or ammunition; applicants must provide justification for the license, which is often restricted to the military, police, and private security companies. Target-shooting licenses permit ownership of a gun, provided it is securely stored in an approved and protected firing range, and is not taken out of the firing range without special permission. Self-defense permits are not allowed, unless there is an 'imminent threat' to their lives that can be justified to the government. There is no restriction on types of small arms one may own after obtaining a license. Illegal firearms and firearm-related crimes are grounds for the death penalty in Singapore.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 148,
"text": "Owing to its mandatory national service, nearly half the civilian population have the experience and are well-trained in operating firearms, most notably the M16 and the SAR 21. Singapore has the lowest gun-related deaths in the world.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 149,
"text": "Similar to Singapore, the majority of South Korean men are well-trained in the use of firearms, due to mandatory military service. Guns are also notably absent in South Korean society outside of the military, and gun ownership and gun-related deaths rank among the lowest in the world.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 150,
"text": "South Korea has strict gun policies. Hunting and sporting licenses are issued, but any firearm used in these circumstances must be stored at a local police station. Air rifles also have to be stored at police stations; crossbows and electric shock devices are also classified as firearms but their private retention is permitted. Tasers are prohibited, and possessing a toy gun without an orange tip is strictly prohibited. Violation of firearms laws can result in a US$18,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 151,
"text": "According to 2001 law Syrian citizens and foreign Arabs can own one revolver and two shotguns under license issued for people who can provide genuine reason such as protection of business.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 152,
"text": "All types of firearms including pistols, rifles and grenades are reportedly sold in rebel-held Idlib district without any license in shops which are mostly run by militia groups. In October 2020 Idlib's Salvation Government reportedly stated it will start licensing firearms. Many other rebel groups expressed opposition to this and some doubted possibility of registering firearms in Idlib.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 153,
"text": "Taiwan has extremely strict gun control for all persons on the island, though some carveouts used to be made for indigenous Taiwanese persons. Some argue that the strict policy endangers the homeland to potential invasion by mainland China. An unusual feature of Taiwan's gun control scheme was a specific provision for indigenous people, allowing black powder muzzleloader-type single shot rifles for hunting, though in the pursuit of a total gun control policy, even indigenous persons of Taiwan have lost their right to use and own even these guns as of 2021. There is an absolute \"zero tolerance policy\" for owning guns in Taiwan. The indigenous people that were allowed a carve out to the absolute-no-guns policy though are increasingly antagonistic against the mainly Han Chinese that are seen as foreign occupiers that restrict the natural right of indigenous peoples of Taiwan to own and use guns for hunting and other purposes.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 154,
"text": "A firearm license in Thailand is only granted for the following uses: self-defense, property protection, hunting, or sporting. Applicants for a firearms license must be at least 20 years of age (the age of majority under the Civil and Commercial Code), have a record of good behavior, have an occupation and receive income, and have a permanent address in Thailand with a name \"listed in the house registration specifically in the area where you are applying for a license, for at least six months\". A license may not be issued to anyone who is a repeat criminal offender or mentally unstable. The application fee for most firearms licenses is 1,000 Baht for each license or unit; a license for possession and use of air rifles is 200 Baht per license/unit.; carry licenses are also 1,000 Baht per license. Since October 2017 citizenship is required to purchase and use firearms. A person is also not allowed to carry his gun without an additional permit for concealed carry. Fully automatic firearms and explosive devices are prohibited.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 155,
"text": "The amended 2017 law will cover weapon suppressors, electric darts, and new types of fireworks including bang fai (locally-made rockets) and talai (\"rocket-like fireworks with a circular wing\"). The amendment further provides that anyone who creates a bomb scare may be subject to convictions of up to three years of imprisonment and/or fined up to 60,000 Baht. Another significant change is that only Thais will be permitted to register a gun with the authorities. Formerly, foreigners residing in Thailand could also apply for weapons permits. The Act already prohibits the manufacture, purchase, ownership, use, ordering, or import of firearms or ammunition, except by persons who have been granted a license from the local registrar. Violation of this provision is punishable with convictions including imprisonment for a period of between one and ten years and/or fines of between 2,000 and 20,000 Baht.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 156,
"text": "Turkey is restrictive in terms of gun control statutes. Automatic and semi-automatic firearms are \"prohibited for civilian possession (with no or limited exceptions)\", and for any application, \"an applicant may be asked to produce a medical certificate confirming he or she is capable of handling firearms and that he or she has no psychological – or physical – impediments\". Background checks are mandatory, and a \"genuine reason\" is required for the issue of licenses.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 157,
"text": "Civilians must additionally apply through the police for a handgun carry permit or a rifle carry license (the latter also requiring a hunting license). They must have a special reason prior to application and pay the required expenses. Special professions like police officers, military personnel, judges, public prosecutors, and senior politicians have their own life-time license from the government, and can apply for free licenses for handgun and rifle carry. All police officers can have an unlimited number of handguns and rifles with a carry license. Military officers can have five handguns and two rifles. Generals are exempt from these limits. Mayors, deputies, ministers, and presidents are lifetime carry licensed with no money in order. Some other government employees are extraordinarily have lifetime carry licenses. Examples are forest rangers, headman, customs officers, judges and prosecutors. These employees do not have to be health controlled every 5 years. Normal civilians can have licenses to keep as long as they are healthy and no serious criminal record. Another interesting detail is that the civilians must have no tax debt to apply for a license. The numbers of guns is limitless as long as the tax is paid. The tax for every single keep license for any rifle and handgun is something like 200-250USD which every year changes as Turkish Lira. Carry permit for handguns is prohibited. Only people who have more than 50 employees, some of professions like jewelers, money-changers and people who carry gold or money, fuel dealers, lawyers and people who pays more than a limit of tax can have carry license. In Turkey it's possible for all of these people to get carry license by paying tax plus the restrictions of license to keep. Tax is somewhere between $700 and US$1000, as every years changes in Turkish lira. Carry licenses can be obtained one by one. Every single firearm is licensed individually. Carry licenses for handguns are legally limitless but not practically. Rifles can be carried legally, as long as one has a legal hunting license. It is not possible to have a carry license without a hunting license. Semi-Automatic rifles have been prohibited since 2002, because of a ban on hunting with semi-auto rifles. Licensed semi-auto rifles could have keep license for everyone or carry license, for exampled government employees. But it's forbidden for them to be used in hunting. Semi-auto tactical rifles and full-auto shotguns or rifles are fully prohibited for civilians, but with some exceptions. It's possible for a VIP to have full auto or semi-auto rifle with a special permission. The examples are some rifles which had gifted by Turkish presidents to some businessmen during the time. Also, there are some old semi-auto or full-auto tactical rifles or assault rifles which were licensed years ago and are still in some families. These rifles cannot be licensed after death of license owner. The most important thing for any rifle or handgun is spare parts, which are rare to find and difficult to change. Especially gun rebarreling is most difficult process which customers prefer to not to do or do far from legal process. Shotgun license is easier. Turkey is a country with a huge shotgun industry. Shotguns are widespread and easy to buy in Turkey. A shotgun license is much more cheaper than in most European countries. For a shotgun license, one must have a bill of health, clean criminal record, and no tax debt. Every 5 shotguns are recordable in just a license. Spare parts are common and rebarreling is easy and legal.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 158,
"text": "In 2019, the government of the United Arab Emirates relaxed its gun laws. The minimum age to possess firearms was lowered from 25 to 21, while legal owners can now have up to three guns. People from other countries are not allowed to apply for licenses. Most popular purposes to own them include hunting and trap shooting.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 159,
"text": "Weapons can be purchased during a yearly gun show called Adihex. In 2018, more than 1,764 legal weapons were sold.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 160,
"text": "Firearm licenses are issued after 60 days of applications to the relevant authority. If there is no response that means that the license has been rejected.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 161,
"text": "In 2019, the president of Uzbekistan signed a new gun law. It allows citizens to own smooth-bore firearms and firearms with rifled barrels for hunting and sport shooting purposes. Carrying in public places is prohibited and the minimum age is 21 years. Only gas and electric weapons can be used for self-defense purposes. The maximum magazine capacity is ten rounds.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 162,
"text": "Firearms in Vietnam are restricted to the military and law enforcement agencies, with possession of firearms prohibited to civilians. The chief exception to this is for hunting and sporting purposes, requiring users to undergo mandatory background checks to be licensed.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 163,
"text": "Yemen has a permissive gun policy and does not require permits for firearm ownership. The 1992 Law \"On Regulating Carrying Firearms and Ammunitions and Their Trade\", established the right to own firearms (rifles, machine guns, revolvers and hunting rifles) for the purpose of legitimate defense. Licenses are required to carry firearms in cities, which are issued on a may-issue basis with varying restrictions depending on the city. Open and concealed carry is unrestricted in rural areas. Since the breakout of the civil war in 2011 there has been barely any state gun control, and fully-automatic rifles/assault rifles, anti-tank guided missiles or armored vehicles are available over the counter for various militias and individuals willing to buy them.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 164,
"text": "According to the Small Arms Survey of 2018 titled Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers, there are roughly 14.9 million civilian-held firearms in Yemen (52.8 firearms held per 100 residents), making Yemen the second most armed country in the world after the United States.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 165,
"text": "In Bosnia and Herzegovina, its two autonomous entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska have relatively strict weapon laws compared to the rest of Europe. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law. People over 21 may apply for a permit. Those with a history of criminal activity, mental disorders, alcohol or substance use will be denied a permit. There is also a thorough background check, interviewing neighbors and family, and the applicant must complete a course and pass a multiple-choice exam. Police have the last word on the matter, with an appeal possible to a police captain. Firearms must be kept in a \"safe place\" within a residence, and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found to be \"irresponsible\". Concealed carry is allowed with a permit. Pepper spray may be carried by females if registered with police.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 166,
"text": "Historically and legally EU member states have their own laws which differ from one country to another which led to differences in the extent of legal access to firearms among EU countries.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 167,
"text": "EU harmonisation started in 1991, with European Directive No. 91/477/EC which set minimum standards regarding civilian firearms acquisition and possession that EU member states must implement into their national legal systems. In this text, firearms are considered as any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is designed to expel or may be converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 168,
"text": "Since 2017 EU directive amendment, arms are classified in three EU categories:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 169,
"text": "This classification relies on short firearms having a barrel not exceeding 30 centimetres or whose overall length does not exceed 60 centimetres.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 170,
"text": "Under article 5 of the directive:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 171,
"text": "Without prejudice to Article 3, Member States shall permit the acquisition and possession of firearms only by persons who have good cause and who:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 172,
"text": "(...)",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 173,
"text": "Member states are free to adopt more stringent rules, according to article 3.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 174,
"text": "EU plans related to firearms are in line with the UN Firearms Protocol (117 states parties in 2019). This UN protocol existing since 2005 tighten regulations on the manufacture and trafficking of small firearms, like handguns and pistols. This relies on three main legal measures: criminalizing illicit trafficking of firearms; authorising or licensing legitimate manufacturers and vendors; and establishing marking and recording for tracing firearms.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 175,
"text": "All EU member states, except Ireland and Malta, have ratified the UN Firearms Protocol.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 176,
"text": "Austria is the only country in the European Union where firearms are only partially licensed; the Waffengesetz (Weapons Act) provides the legal terms for all types of weapons, including firearms. § 1 of the law defines Weapons as objects that are designed to directly eliminate or reduce the ability of people to attack or defend themselves (e.g. knives, pepper spray, gas pistols, etc.) or for firing projectiles during hunting or sport shooting (e.g. crossbows, bows, etc.). § 2 further defines Firearms as weapons where projectiles can be fired from a barrel in a predefined direction. Most common firearms and some other weapons fall into three different categories, which come with different restrictions:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 177,
"text": "Category A is divided into two subcategories \"war material\" and \"restricted weapons\". \"War material\" includes for example tanks, fully automatic weapons and armour-piercing weapons; \"restricted weapons\" includes weapons disguised as other objects, firearms which can be disassembled in a faster than usual fashion for hunting and sport, shotguns with an overall length of less than 90 cm (35 in) or barrel length shorter than 45 cm (18 in), pump action shotguns, suppressors and firearms with suppressors, knuckledusters, blackjacks, steel rods. Category B covers all handguns, repeating shotguns and semi-automatic weapons which are not category A (e.g. pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic shotguns). Category C includes most other firearms that are not category A or B (e.g. repeating rifles, revolving rifles, break-action rifles and break-action shotguns).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 178,
"text": "All firearms of category A, B, and C are registered in the central weapon register (Zentrales Waffenregister, or short ZWR). Firearms of category C are the least restricted; all citizens over 18 may purchase them at licensed sellers, even without a firearms licence (barring a 3-day waiting period to check for a weapon ban on the buyer). Category B weapons have further restrictions; buyers must have a firearms license or a carry permit, and be 21, unless granted an exception for the age of 18. Category A weapons typically require further exceptions to be granted for holders, except in the case of suppressors and suppressed weapons, which may be held by those with valid hunting licences without an additional permit. \"War material\" requires a further special federal permit, which is in practice only granted to approved collectors and experts. In general, ammunition sales are unrestricted, though handgun ammunition and some rifle ammunition requires a permit. Antique firearms made before 1871, many black powder firearms and some other \"less effective weapons\" also require no licence or registration.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 179,
"text": "In addition, § 11a defines further restrictions on the purchase, possession and carrying of all weapons and ammunition for asylum seekers and many third-country nationals. Owning weapons without a permit for them is strictly prohibited and controlled by the police.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 180,
"text": "Carrying firearms in public generally requires a carry permit (or \"Waffenpass\"). Carry permits are issued by the authorities on a shall issue or may issue basis, depending on reason and applicant. Austrian law makes no distinction between concealed or open carry; with a carry permit, the holder may carry their weapon(s) freely throughout the whole country and even in certain \"weapon free zones\". However, holders must carry their weapons in a way that does not constitute a public nuisance; for example, openly displaying a handgun in one's belt at the cinema while wearing civil clothing would be considered unusual and could be considered a public nuisance if the police were called.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 181,
"text": "Possessing or carrying firearms is generally illegal in Belgium. An exception is made for people who have a valid firearms licence. Since 2006, after a shooting incident in Antwerp, there are very strict conditions and rules for gun owners to obtain such a licence.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 182,
"text": "However the laws and regulations concerning the carrying and possession of firearms for hunters, sport shooters, collectors and also for the import and export of guns, differs from area to area in Belgium; a valid licence is almost always required. Blank guns, airsoft guns, paintball guns, and deactivated guns do not need a permit or licence and are free to purchase.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 183,
"text": "The gun law in Belgium does not apply (or at least applies differently) for the military and law enforcement services such as the police, customs and some private security units (only handguns). Until its abolition in 2019, the security units of Belgian courts and prison transport (Corps de securité Justice/Veiligheidskorps Justitie) were also permitted to carry handguns.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 184,
"text": "Croatia issues firearms permits for self-defense, hunting, sport shooting:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 185,
"text": "Every permit also requires an applicant to be at least 18 years old, not be convicted of crimes, there being no other circumstances indicating that the weapon may be abused (for example by a history of alcoholism) and passing medical examinations.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 186,
"text": "As of October 2020 there 99,829 legal gun owners in Croatia. 14,711 people can own and carry firearms for the purpose of personal safety.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 187,
"text": "The Republic of Cyprus has strict gun control. Private citizens are completely forbidden from owning handguns and rifles in any calibre, including .22 rimfire ammunition. Shotguns limited to two rounds are allowed with a license, issued by provincial police. Shotguns must be for hunting purposes, and a licensed citizen may own up to ten shotguns, typically double-barrelled. A firearm license is required to buy ammunition, of up to 250 shells per purchase, with sales being recorded. Cyprus also controls airguns, and airgun owners require a license. Even though purchasing automatic weapons is illegal, the military issues their reserves an automatic weapon, therefore the majority of the male population has one due to military conscription.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 188,
"text": "Civilian firearms possession in the Czech Republic has spanned over six centuries beginning with the Hussite revolution in the 1420s when firearms became indispensable for success of the mostly commoners militia army in its battles with professional crusader warriors armed with cold weapons. Starting with their use in the war for religious freedom, the right to be armed remains to be generally considered as a symbol of liberty in the country, alongside concepts such as freedom of speech and free elections.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 189,
"text": "The first legislation pertaining to firearms was adopted in the 1517 St. Wenceslaus Agreement, which stated that \"all people of all standing have the right to keep firearms at home\" and established ban on firearm carrying. A 1524 enactment on firearms then introduced a system of issuing firearms carry permits. Permitless right to possess firearms and carrying subject to shall-issue permits remained in place until the 1939 German occupation. During Czech history, only Nazis and Communists enacted firearms bans.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 190,
"text": "Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the country's firearms legislation returned to its historical roots. The authorities shall issue firearms license to any person older than 21 (sometimes 18 depending on type of license), with a clean criminal record, and physically and mentally sound, that passes a firearms proficiency test and is legally reliable.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 191,
"text": "The Czech Republic is unusual in comparison to other EU countries in that the vast majority of gun owners (250,342 out of 307,372) possess their firearms for purposes of protection of life and property. Furthermore, the Czech Republic has a shall-issue concealed carry permit system, whereby every self-defense license holder may carry up to two concealed firearms with a round chambered. The Czech Republic had a higher rate of concealed carry licenses per capita than the US up to 2010, despite a relatively lower gun-ownership rate.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 192,
"text": "Civilians in Denmark aged 16 and above can acquire gun licenses for hunting or sport shooting. This requires passing a written multiple-choice test and a practical test, after which a certified hunting license instructor determines if the applicant is suitable to own a weapon. A license is usually provided if the applicant has no or only minor marks on their criminal record.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 193,
"text": "A hunting license permits the over-the-counter-purchase and ownership of an unlimited number of shotguns of up to 12 gauge and two-round capacity. From there, the police has to be notified of new weapon purchases through an online form. Bolt-action rifles can also be bought over-the-counter, although they require a rifle license which is obtained through the police. The allowed calibers range from the smallest possible, up to .50 BMG, with .50 BMG not included. Semi-automatic rifles are allowed if the rifle is limited to two rounds (hunting in Denmark), or without limitation on capacity (hunting outside of Denmark). Currently, only larger calibers (.308, 6.5 × 55, .300wm etc.) are issued as semi-auto rifles for hunting abroad. .223/5.56 × 45 and similar caliber rifles are generally not approved. The hunter must pass a shotgun or rifle shooting test before being allowed to hunt.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 194,
"text": "For sport-shooting purposes, shotguns can also be used, as can bolt-action rifles of almost any caliber (.50 BMG as one of the exceptions). Sporting rifles are often chambered in .22 LR and 6.5 × 55 mm. Semi-automatic rifles are not allowed for sports shooting.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 195,
"text": "Handguns: After two years of active membership in a shooting club, one can apply for a handgun permit which is then subject to background checks and approval by the police, and one has to be 21 years old. Approved calibers: All calibers under 9mm (9 × 19, .38 special, .357 magnum, .32 ACP, etc.), plus a limited number of larger calibers; .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .44 special. The maximum number of handguns are six in .22 caliber. When applying for a third gun, a special permit from the department of justice is required. Large caliber guns, i.e. bigger than .22 caliber, are restricted to a maximum of two in the same caliber. Therefore, one can only own two handguns in 9 mm at any given time. However, it is legal to own an additional two handguns in 9 mm, if these are revolvers. For all handguns, the overall length must be at least 210 millimetres (8.3 in), regardless of caliber, measured without orthopedic grips or removal parts.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 196,
"text": "A weapon permit for sporting purposes (both long and short firearms) has to be renewed every five years. Rifle permits for hunting rifles have to be renewed every 10 years. Shotguns are not held on individual permits; holders are allowed to own these as long as they have a valid hunting license – and they can keep it for up to 10 years after the hunting license expires – albeit they are not allowed to keep ammunition without a valid license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 197,
"text": "Carrying a firearm in public is strictly prohibited, however, a notion of proportional self-defense exists. This means that if someone is attacked with a firearm, they are legally allowed to defend themselves proportionally – e.g. with a firearm of their own.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 198,
"text": "Fully automatic weapons are prohibited for civilian use, unless a special permit is issued by the Ministry of Justice. These permits are extremely rare, and are normally only issued to people or companies working for, or supplying the police or military.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 199,
"text": "Illegal possession of a firearm may be punished with imprisonment of no less than one year. Civilians may keep privately owned weapons including pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles at their residences. These, together with its ammunition have to be stored in an approved gun cabinet (EN1143-1 grade 0 or better). The police may inspect a shooting club's weapons at their discretion, but require a court order to inspect privately held firearms.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 200,
"text": "Estonia is a shall-issue nation. Background checks, doctor's approval, written and practical exam and a firearms course are required. The courses are only offered by private parties (not law enforcement) and must be performed in Estonian as must be the national exam given by law enforcement. Earlier, a translator was permitted, but it was changed as a consequence of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine due to the large number of ethnic Russians applying for licenses. After the national exam is passed, the taking of which already requires passing the previous requisites, a license must be issued on request with law enforcement having no final say afterwards unless a later cause (like committing a felony) invalidates a license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 201,
"text": "The ownership and use of firearms in Finland is regulated by the country's Firearms Act of 1998. Weapons are individually licensed by local police, with no limit on the number of licenses an individual may hold. Licenses are granted for recreational uses, exhibition or (under certain circumstances) professional use. No type of weapon is explicitly prohibited, but licenses are granted only for a reason. Self-defense is not accepted as a valid reason for licensing. In general, this excludes all but hunting and sports guns from non-professional use. Fully automatic weapons are generally not permitted. With the exception of law enforcement, only specially trained security guards may carry loaded weapons in public.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 202,
"text": "In 2007, Finland had the third largest gun-ownership rate globally (behind the US and Yemen), and the first in Europe. Finns are avid hunters, and as of 2007, there were 1.6 million registered weapons and 650,000 people with firearm permits in the country, i.e. 12% of the population. In November that year, Finland updated their gun laws after two school shootings that left 20 people dead, and to comply with an EU directive by removing the ability of 15-18-year-olds to have their own permit. The possibility of creating a dual-license for an already licensed weapon with permission of the license holder was allowed (e.g. parental permission). In 2011, a constitutional law committee concluded that people over the age of 20 can receive a permit for semi-automatic handguns; individuals must demonstrate continuous activity in handgun sporting group for two years prior.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 203,
"text": "In 1563, Charles IX of France had an address to the Rouen parliament about forbidding firearms in which he made the following statement:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 204,
"text": "In France, a hunting license or a sport-shooting license is needed to purchase any smokeless powder firearm. In September 2015, firearms were divided into four categories that determine the regulations that apply to their possession and use. Category D arms include black powder firearms designed before 1900 and compressed air arms developing between 2 and 20 joules, they can be purchased by any citizen over the age of 18. Category C firearms can be obtained with a hunting license, or sport-shooting license with a medical certificate. Category C includes mainly single-shot-per-barrel shotguns and single-shot or manual repeating rifles (including centre-fire rifles, for hunting or target shooting). Once legally purchased these category C arms may be kept, without using them, even when no longer licensed for hunting or sport-shooting.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 205,
"text": "Category B firearms are only available to sport-shooters licensed for at least 6 months, with a medical certificate, without any felony convictions, and additionally requires at least three shooting sessions with an instructor each separated by 2 months. Specific authorisations for purchase and possession may then be sought from a local police administration, are valid for 5 years, and are renewable. Such weapons may then only be used for sport-shooting at shooting ranges, never for hunting. Category B includes all assault type rifles, such as AK-47/AKM, AK-74 or AR-15/M16/M4, and any look-alike weapons even when chambered for rimfire cartridges (.22 LR). These must be semi-automatic only. All handguns, including those using rimfire ammunition, are classed as category B. It is illegal to possess these category B weapons after expiry of a non-renewed specific authorisation: the arms must be disposed of (sold to a gun shop or else destroyed, for example). Authorisations can also be revoked at any time by any of the parties involved in the authorisations delivery (Government, Prefecture, Police).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 206,
"text": "Air-guns including pistols are freely available to adults, as category D arms, provided that their energy level does not exceed 20 J (previously 10 J). Typical energy levels are 6 J for a target pistol and 7.5 J for a target rifle. A scoped Field Target rifle might produce 15 or 16 J (maximum authorised in FT competition). Air-soft arms, firing non-metallic pellets and not exceeding 2 J energy, are considered to be toys, rather than weapons, and so are excluded from firearm regulations.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 207,
"text": "Also freely available are category D defensive pepper sprays up to a maximum 75 g capacity. Bigger capacity sprays are considered offensive weapons, not defensive, and so are classed in category B, and require specific authorisation.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 208,
"text": "A person cannot own more than 12 centerfire firearms, and cannot own more than 10 magazines and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per firearm. A one-year carry license may be issued for persons \"exposed to exceptional risks to their life\" allowing them to carry a handgun with a maximum of 50 rounds. Such authorizations are extremely rare, however, as the state would normally insist on providing police protection in such cases. Since November 2015, police officers are authorised to carry their service weapons whilst off-duty.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 209,
"text": "Gun ownership in Germany is restrictive, being regulated by the Federal Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz) of 1972. The laws apply to weapons with a fire energy exceeding 7.5 J. A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, who are deemed reliable and can justify a reason for owning a firearm. A separate license is required for each firearm owned. Target-shooters must have been a member of a shooting club with 18 recorded visits in the previous 12 months. A firearms carry permit is a second-tier license which allows concealed carrying in public, and is only issued to those with a particular need.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 210,
"text": "Several weapons and special ammunitions are completely prohibited, such as automatic firearms. Buying, possessing, lending, using, carrying, crafting, altering and the trading of these weapons is illegal and punishable by up to five years imprisonment, confiscation of the weapon and a fine of up to €10,000. Using an illegal weapon for crimes of any kind is punishable by 1–10 years imprisonment.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 211,
"text": "Germany's National Gun Registry, introduced at the end of 2012, counted 5.5 million firearms legally owned by 1.4 million people.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 212,
"text": "Greece has gun regulations in place. Shotguns (limited to a 3-round capacity), rifles and handguns require a license issued by Police Headquarters. A license may be issued to a Greek citizen over the age of 18 if: a) there are serious fears about his or her personal security along with a positive recommendation by the Prosecutor and b) it is required for the safety of shops, banks, other financial institutions, etc. To purchase handguns and rifles, citizens must either have a concealed-carry permit or a target-shooting permit (for rifles and pistols). Semi auto rifles are not prohibited since the beginning of 2023. Hunters can own up to 10 shotguns and rifles (with no gun barrel rifling) and sport shooters can own up to 8 guns. There is no license-check or record kept for ammunition purchases for shotguns but target shooters can only own 1000 rounds per weapon but 3500 in total tops.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 213,
"text": "Gun laws in Hungary are relatively strict, regulated by Code 24/2004, governmental decision 253/2004. (VIII. 31.) and directive of the Minister of Internal Affairs 49/2004. The law defines a firearm as having muzzle energy that exceeds 7.5 joules (5.5 ft⋅lbf). A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, and have passed a basic firearms theory/practical examination. Three categories of firearms ownership are allowed: Hunting (Firearms restricted to bolt action and double barrel shotguns), Sports shooting (only restriction is no fully automatic firearms), Self defense (special permission from the Police, very rarely granted in special cases e.g. gun shop owners). Sports shooting has in recent years gained popularity with the number of sports category licenses being issued steadily climbing. Government initiatives to popularize shooting sports such as building shooting ranges and introducing shooting as a sport in the schooling system has slowly begun. It is generally expected that obtaining (and keeping) a firearms permit is a slow and somewhat costly process, but once a permit is granted and the necessary yearly memberships are paid, yearly doctors certificates are obtained and the mandatory 2–3 sporting events are attended (for sports shooter) ownership is fairly liberal as to the type of firearm one can own.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 214,
"text": "In 2010, there were 129,000 registered gun owners (1.3% of the population) in Hungary with 235,000 firearms. The majority of these were hunting rifles. Gun violence is very rare in Hungary due to the close monitoring and control of firearm ownership. Crime with firearms are very rare and this statistic usually includes crimes committed with non-lethal \"pepper spray\" guns. Police use lethal force with a firearm less than 10 times per year, on average.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 215,
"text": "Gun laws in Ireland are strict, requiring all firearms to be licensed individually through the Gardaí (police). Applicants must be 16 years of age and have a good reason for ownership, a secure location to store firearms, proof of competency with the firearm or arrangements to achieve such, provide access to medical records and two character references, and be of sound mind and temperate habits. Applicants convicted of certain specified offenses will be denied a firearms certificate. Personal protection is not a valid reason for ownership.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 216,
"text": "Irish firearms law is based on the Firearms Act 1925, which was amended by several following acts in 1964, 1968, 1971, 1990, 1998 and 2000. The cumulative effect of these modifications, along with modifications in other acts and confusion over which amendments applied, resulted in a 2006 Irish Law Reform Commission recommendation that all extant legislation be restated (written in a single document with all prior Acts repealed). However, the Criminal Justice Act 2006, contained a rewriting almost 80% of the Firearms Act. It was quickly followed by amendments in 2007 and further major amendments in 2009, exacerbating the legislative confusion. As of 2014, the Law Reform Commission recommendation has not as yet been fully enacted; the Firearms Act consists of the initial 1925 Act amended by approximately twenty separate Acts and is well understood by only a handful of those directly involved in its drafting, amendment or usage. Extensive complaints have arisen over the application of the legislation, with several hundred judicial review cases won in the High Court and Supreme Court by firearms owners, all relating to licensing decisions which had not adhered to the Firearms Act.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 217,
"text": "In Italy, national police issue gun licenses to those over the age of 18 without criminal records, who are not mentally ill or known to use illicit substances, and who can prove competence with firearm safety. A shooting sports license permits transporting unloaded firearms and firing them in designated shooting ranges. A hunting license allows holders to engage in hunting with firearms. A concealed carry license permits a person to carry a loaded firearm in public, and requires proving a \"valid reason\" to do so (e.g.: a security guard or a jeweler at risk of robbery). All weapons must be registered within 72 hours from the moment of purchase. The number of firearms an individual may own and retain at the place declared during registration is limited to:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 218,
"text": "The last two can be purchased in an authorized firearm shop by anyone who can prove to be at least 18 years old, without the need for a license. The carrying of such weapons is forbidden without a licence and no registration is required (Art. 7 c.4 DM 362/2001). These limits can be exceeded with a collector license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 219,
"text": "Ammunition: any licence allows the owner to keep 200 rounds of handgun and 1500 rounds of hunting ammunition or up to 5 kg of gunpowder (smokeless or black) to handload cartridges. Registration is required within 72 hours form acquisition for all ammunition and powder. Registration is not to be repeated if ammunition and powder are used and then bought again, unless the original quantity registered is being exceeded with the new purchase. Smoothbore cartridges not loaded with slugs but instead with shot (regardless of its size) can be owned without registration if the number possessed is inferior to one thousand.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 220,
"text": "In Luxembourg, anyone wishing to purchase, possess or use a firearm must hold a permit issued by the Minister of Justice in person.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 221,
"text": "The most common reasons for applying for a permit are hunting, recreational shooting, weapons collecting, and inheriting a firearm. Anyone who inherits a firearm must have a permit even if they have no intention to ever touch or use the gun.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 222,
"text": "Self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a firearm. However, the Ministry of Justice is concerned that some permit holders falsely cite another reason (such as recreational shooting) as a justification for acquiring their permit when their sole actual motivation is self-defence.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 223,
"text": "Firearms are allowed in Malta for sport shooting, collection and hunting purposes. To get firearm license one must join a shooting or collectors club for training, which will issue a recommendation letter for the police, after which applicant must pass knowledge of firearm safety and the Arms Act. After successfully completing every step one will get license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 224,
"text": "There are 102,610 registered firearms (or 22 per 100 people), including 56,000 shotguns, 10,553 pistols, 7,856 rifles, 5,369 revolvers, 501 machine guns, 477 sub-machine guns, 633 combat shotguns, 22 cannons, 7 humane killers and 2 rocket launchers.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 225,
"text": "Law allow carrying firearms while hunting, with 10,544 licensed to do so on land and 247 on sea. Carrying loaded firearms outside of hunting grounds or shooting range is illegal. Automatic firearms are allowed only if they were produced before 1946.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 226,
"text": "In the Netherlands, gun ownership is restricted to hunters, collectors and target shooters. A hunting license requires passing a hunters safety course and an exam. To own a gun for target shooting, the applicant must have been a member of a shooting club for a year. People with felonies, drug addictions, and mental illnesses may not possess firearms. To be a collector one has to limit oneself to a specific area of expertise and demonstrate a serious and thorough knowledge of that area, for instance through publications or lectures.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 227,
"text": "Once obtained, firearms must be stored in a safe and are annually inspected by police (every 3 years when over 25). Legally owned firearms may only be used in self-defense as a last resort. Fully automatic firearms are only allowed on a special permit (usually issued to collectors), but there are otherwise few restrictions: semi-automatics, handguns, and magazines of all sizes are legal, as are all types of non-armourpiercing, non-incendiary or non-explosive ammunition. Silencers require special permission. A licensed target shooter may only have five firearms registered to his or her license at one time (hunters seven, collectors unlimited) but exceptions are possible. Antique firearms (not replicas or center fire cartridge revolvers) are free to own when originally designed and produced for black powder and not at any time officially proofed and stamped for nitro powder.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 228,
"text": "Gun ownership in Poland is regulated by the Weapons and Munitions Act of 1999 as further amended. A permit is required to own or possess firearms. Permits are granted for specific purposes, such as self-defense, sport, hunting, collecting etc. and are shall issue except the ones for self-defense, which are may issue. Institutional permits allow for firearm ownership by private security companies, shooting ranges, sport clubs etc.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 229,
"text": "Permits are issued to permanent residents over 21, not addicted to alcohol or other substances, having no criminal record, being in good physical and mental health, who passed an exam before sporting association, hunting association or the Police. Permits specify the purposes, categories and quantities of allowed guns; categories depend on permit purpose while quantities are assigned at the discretion of the Police, based on documentation provided. Quantities can be increased when one uses up all available slots.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 230,
"text": "Carrying loaded guns is allowed on all types of permits except permits for collecting and memorial purposes. Hunters can carry loaded only on hunting grounds. Guns shall be carried concealed in a holster close to the body. Carrying in public transport is limited only to self-defense permit holders. It is prohibited to carry while intoxicated, and when attending public gatherings or mass events.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 231,
"text": "Everyone, including foreigners, is allowed to use legal guns at registered shooting ranges, regardless of actual gun's ownership, e.g. rented from the range or shared by a legal owner present. Discharging a firearm for training or leisure out of a registered shooting range (even on a large private property) is prohibited.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 232,
"text": "Full-auto or select-fire firearms are permitted only on institutional and training permits. Since 2020 the Police can issue permits for firearms with suppressors for hunting, but only to be used for sanitary shootings, see main article for details. Armor-piercing, incendiary, tracer and other special ammunition is banned. Only valid permit holders are allowed to buy or possess live ammunition, and only of the types exactly matching the guns they legally own. The quantity of matching ammunition in possession is not limited. Hunters, collectors and sport shooters are allowed to manufacture (reload) ammunition, but strictly for their own use. There are further limits regarding allowed types and calibers depending on the purpose of the permit – see main article for details. There are no limits of magazine capacity, except when hunting.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 233,
"text": "Replicas of cartridgeless black powder firearms designed before 1885 require no permit to own. However, a separate bill of law allows businesses to sell black powder to licensed customers only. This is often circumvented by obtaining a European Firearms Pass for a black powder firearm, asking a licensed colleague (there are no restrictions of private sale or just giving out of black powder) or by buying powder in neighboring countries, mostly the Czech Republic.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 234,
"text": "Air guns up to 17 Joules of muzzle energy are unregulated. Air guns above that limit are considered pneumatic weapons, no permit is required but the owner has to be 18 and has to pass medical and psychological evaluation as for firearms permit; guns must be registered with the Police and may be used only on registered shooting ranges. Use of pneumatic weapons outside of shooting range is considered the same kind of offense as using firearms.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 235,
"text": "Some other weapons are restricted and require a permit, such as electroshock weapons with mean current greater than 10 mA, large pepper spray dispensers, crossbows, specific kinds of batons, brass knuckles and nunchakus, however ban on nuchakus is not enforced.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 236,
"text": "Gun ownership in Romania is regulated by Law 295/2004. Romania has one of the toughest gun ownership laws in the world. In order for citizens to obtain a weapon, they must obtain a permit from the police, and must register their weapon once they purchase it. There are several categories of permits, with different requirements and rights, including hunting permits, self-defense permits, sports shooting permits and collectors permits. The only categories of people who are legally entitled to carry a weapon are owners of self-defense permits, magistrates, MPs, military forces and certain categories of diplomats. A psychological evaluation is required beforehand in all cases.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 237,
"text": "Furthermore, knives and daggers may in certain conditions (blade longer than 15 cm and at least 0.4 cm in width, double edge along the whole blade, etc.) be considered weapons and have a similar regime to those of firearms.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 238,
"text": "In order for a hunter to obtain a hunting/gun ownership license, he must spend a certain \"practice time\" with a professional hunter. To obtain a self-defense permit, one must be under witness protection. Sporting and collectors licenses require membership in a sport shooting club or collectors' association, respectively.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 239,
"text": "The amount of ammunition that can be owned is regulated by permit type. Sporting permits allow the ownership of 1,000 matching cartridges per gun; hunting permits allow 300 matching cartridges per gun; self-defense permits allow 50 bullet cartridges and 50 blanks per gun; Collectors permits do not allow for private ownership of ammunition.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 240,
"text": "Explosive weapons and ammunitions, fully automatic weapons, weapons camouflaged in the shape of another object, armor-piercing ammunition and lethal weapons that do not fit in any category defined by the law are prohibited.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 241,
"text": "The type of gun is also regulated by permit. Below is a shortened version of the table detailing the restrictions by type of lethal weapon and permit, for civilian owners. Note that for collectors, short weapons designed after 1945 are forbidden, while only non-lethal weapons are allowed for self-defense permits.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 242,
"text": "It is illegal to use or carry weapons with a muzzle velocity of over 10 kJ if \"the barrel is fitted with devices conceived or adapted to reduce recoil\"",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 243,
"text": "Gun ownership in Slovakia is regulated principally by law 190/2003 (law of weapons and ammunition). A firearms license may be issued to an applicant at least 21 years of age (18 years for category D if they own a valid hunting permit, 15 years for state representative in sport-shooting), with no criminal history, and of sound health and mind, who has a valid reason for owning a gun, passes an oral exam covering aspects of gun law, safe handling, and first aid.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 244,
"text": "Licenses are issued in 6 categories:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 245,
"text": "A concealed carry license is only issued if the police deem a sufficient justification. Because of that issue of this license is may-issue in practice, and vary across Slovakia by stance of individual police department issuing licence. It is kind of similar to California, some department is almost shall-issue, another need true sufficient reason (like a constant more than average threat, previous assaults on applicant, transports of money, former service in army or law enforcement, legal awareness of applicant, clientelism). Only about 2% of the adult population holds this license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 246,
"text": "There is an exception for non-repeating muzzle-loaded firearms, which may be purchased without a license.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 247,
"text": "Gun ownership in Slovenia is regulated under the \"Weapons Law\" (Zakon o orožju) which is harmonised with the directives of the EU. Gun permits are issued to applicants at least 18 years old, reliable, without criminal history and who has not been a conscientious objector, who passes a medical exam and a test on firearm safety. A specific reason must be given for gun ownership: for hunting or target shooting, the applicant must provide proof of membership in a hunting or sports shooting organization; for collection, the applicant must arrange safe storage with a level of security dependent on the type of weapons; for self-defense, the applicant must prove a risk to personal safety to such an extent that a weapon is needed.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 248,
"text": "As in most EU member states, the ownership of Category A firearms is prohibited; however these can be owned by weapon collectors, providing that requirements are met. Suppressors are legal and unregulated since 2021. Firearms must be stored in a locked cabinet with ammunition stored separately. Concealed carry is allowed in special circumstances. A gun permit is also required for airguns with muzzle velocity greater than 200 m/s (660 ft/s) or energy of 20 joules (15 ft⋅lbf).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 249,
"text": "Firearm regulation in Spain is restrictive, enacted in Citizen Security Protection Organic Act of 2015 and the Weapons Regulation (Royal Decree 137/1993). Both laws are covered by article 149.1.26.ª of the Spanish Constitution, which attributes to the State the exclusive competence in terms of the \"regime of production, trade, possession and use of weapons and explosives\".",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 250,
"text": "A firearm license may be obtained from the Guardia Civil after passing a police background check, a physiological and medical test, and a practical and theoretical exam. Shotgun, rifle and sporting licenses must be renewed after 5 years, subject to firearm inspection. Sporting licence requires to present proof of sporting activity of at least one competition each year. A minimum score may be required for some categories. Police may inspect firearms at any time. A self-defense and concealed carry license must be renewed every year, and is only available under special conditions.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 251,
"text": "A license-holder may own up to 6 shotguns, and unlimited rifles. With a sporting license, valid for 5 years, 1 to 10 handguns may be owned, depending on sports-shooting level. Magazine capacity for semi-automatic centerfire rifles and semi-automatic shotguns is limited to 10 rounds for sports shooting and 2 rounds for hunting. Handgun magazines are limited to 20 round capacity. Rimfire rifles, regardless of type have no magazine limit. Rifles chambered for certain cartridges with military origins are prohibited, such as .223/5.56 NATO and .50 BMG. The .308 Winchester and 7.62x39 mm (AK round) cartridges are only permitted in bolt-action, repetition or single-shot firearms. Proof of ownership of an approved safe is required for all centerfire rifles and handguns, and the owner is responsible for firearm thefts. Ammunition must be stored separately. Rifle and handgun ammunition may only be possessed for legally owned firearms, and purchases and possession is limited to 200 rounds rifle and 100 rounds for handguns. In addition, there are yearly limits in quantity (1000 for rifles,100 for handguns); however additional quantities can be petitioned, mainly for sporting use. For shotgun Ammunition, adults with a valid ID can purchase/possess up to 5,000 shells and there are no yearly limits in quantity. License-holders are only allowed to transport their unloaded firearms from their residence to the shooting range or hunting field and back, with no detours. Firearms may only be discharged at approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds (in season).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 252,
"text": "There are firearm license for private security for handguns and rifles. These cannot be used outside of work and must be stored in the workplace premises (with approved safe).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 253,
"text": "In addition there are handgun license for self-defense in concealed carry. However, this is granted on a \"may issue\" basis with several standards of necessity to be met and very few are granted. This license must be renewed annually and is not automatic.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 254,
"text": "Members of police forces and officers and non-commissioned officers of the armed forces have a special firearms license which encompasses all of the others. There are additional licenses for collectors and muzzle-loading firearms.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 255,
"text": "Gun ownership in Sweden is regulated by Vapenlagen 1996:67 (literally, The Weapon Law), modified by weapon decree Vapenförordningen 1996:70 and FAP 551-3 / RPSFS 2009:13. The police issue licenses to persons older than 18 years in good standing on the \"need to have\" basis, which generally implies either hunting or sport shooting. Passing a hunting examination or membership in an approved sport shooting club for six months is required. Licenses for semi-automatic handguns are issued for five years and can be renewed, rifle and single-shot handgun licenses are valid for the owner's lifetime. License-holders may lend a weapon to a person at least 15 years of age for supervised use.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 256,
"text": "A separate license is required for each particular firearm or caliber conversion kit. There's no codified limit on the number of licenses a person can hold, but in practice a license-holder may own up to six hunting rifles, ten handguns, or a mix of eight rifles and handguns. Firearms must be stored in an approved safe. A firearm registered for hunting may be used for sport shooting, but not vice versa. Licenses obtained for hunting are implicitly limited to bolt-action or, more rarely, semi-automatic rifles that are \"applicable for hunting\", with no strict definition of the latter in the laws, which causes controversy.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 257,
"text": "Starting 1 July 2022, suppressors no longer require a separate license and can be freely acquired by anyone with a valid gun license and can be legally used both for hunting and target shooting.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 258,
"text": "Self-defense with firearms, as well as carry, is generally prohibited. Carry permits can be issued by the police under very special circumstances like an immediate and proven life threat. Transportation of unloaded firearms is allowed to and from approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds. Sweden is notorious for having even pepper spray and other nonlethal self-defence methods under its weapons law with similar legal punishments for misuse.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 259,
"text": "Firearm collectors must have a clearly stated demarcation of their interest in collecting (e.g.: pre-World War II British handguns). The police may demand security measures on keeping the collection. Collectors may request a time-limited permit to discharge their weapons. Firearms manufactured before 1890 and not using sealed cartridges are exempt from the weapon law.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 260,
"text": "In Georgia, civilians above 18 years of age may obtain a firearm permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, allowing them to purchase and keep firearms for hunting and sports (pump-action shotguns, hunting rifles, carbines, combined hunting firearms), self-defense (handguns, air guns, sprays, electric tranquilizers) or collections. Permits are denied to persons who are mentally ill, use illicit substances or alcohol recreationally, and those who have criminal records.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 261,
"text": "In Iceland, a license is required to own or possess firearms. A national government safety course must be passed before applying for a license. A special license is required to own a handgun, which may only be used for target shooting at a licensed range. Semi-automatic firearms have caliber restrictions, while fully automatic firearms are only permitted for collectors.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 262,
"text": "Applicants must sit through a mandatory four-hour lecture on the \"history and physics of the firearm\". Paperwork must be filed in the police, magistrate, and the Environment Agency of Iceland. Applicants need to prove clean criminal records, need to be evaluated by a doctor to prove they \"are of sound mind\" and have \"good enough eyesight\". Two books referring to guns must be bought and read, a three-day course must be attended, and the applicant should score at least 75% on exams concerning gun safety, management, \"what animals are allowed to be hunted and when\". Finally, a practical exam must be taken. After Icelanders have their license, they need to own a gun safe to store the weapons in, plus a separate place to store the ammunition\".",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 263,
"text": "Approximately one gun is owned for every three people in the country, being used mostly for hunting and competitive shooting. From January to July 2019, 394 shotguns, 785 rifles, and 208 handguns were registered in Iceland. In total, police counts for guns in Iceland include about 40,000 shotguns, 25,000 rifles, and 3,600 handguns as of July that year.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 264,
"text": "Law in Monaco divides firearms into two categories:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 265,
"text": "To obtain a firearm license in North Macedonia one must be at least 18 years old, able-bodied, healthy, not representing danger to public order, have permanent residency, possess technical knowledge of weapons and regulations related to them and have a justified reason for acquiring the weapon. Justified reasons include:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 266,
"text": "Fully automatic firearms are prohibited. Carrying firearms in public places is prohibited.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 267,
"text": "North Macedonia has its own defense industry with ATS Group, Eurokompozit Prilep",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 268,
"text": "Firearm ownership in Norway is controlled by laws passed by the Norwegian Parlament, with further regulations passed by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The National Police Directorate can issue government circulars with further in depth definition of how the firearm regulations should be interpreted (by the police).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 269,
"text": "The Norwegian police can issue firearms licenses to those with a hunting license or members of a sports shooting club. They can also issue licenses to Norwegian historical weapons society collectors, museums, international ship and port facility security and more.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 270,
"text": "Hunters can own up to 8 firearms, and sports shooters can own up to two firearms per approved shooting disciplines as defined by The National Police Directorate. The purchase of ammunition is restricted to those with a valid firearms license for any given calibre.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 271,
"text": "Long guns must have a minimum barrel length of 40 centimetres and an overall length of 84 centimetres when operable. Rifles are restricted to 10-round magazines, shotguns to 5 rounds, and pistols to 20 rounds per default. Detachable box magazines for semi-automatic shotguns are prohibited.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 272,
"text": "Hunters can own semi-automatic and manually loaded rifles and shotguns. Semi-automatic rifles for hunting shall only accept detachable 10-round magazines or smaller ones. They must also have the visual appearance of a \"hunting rifle\" (i.e. no detachable pistol-grip, or handguard that covers the top half of the barrel).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 273,
"text": "Sports shooters can own semi-automatic and manually loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols. Sports shooters can apply for unrestricted magazine capacity for each firearm used in an approved sports shooting discipline. However, in practice, it is only approved for rifles and pistols.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 274,
"text": "Civilians are not permitted to transport/carry firearms loaded or in a manner that allows for easy access in public places, effectively prohibiting any form of concealed or open-carrying of firearms. Moreover, self-defence is not a valid reason for having a firearms licence issued. Firearms licences are only issued for hunting and sporting (or other speciality purposes not generally applicable to ordinary civilians).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 275,
"text": "Russian citizens over 21 years of age can obtain a firearms license after attending gun-safety classes and passing a federal test and background check. Firearms may be acquired for self-defense, hunting, or sports activities. Carrying permits may be issued for hunting firearms licensed for hunting purposes. Initially, purchases are limited to long smooth-bore firearms and pneumatic weapons with a muzzle energy of up to 25 joules (18 ft⋅lbf). After five years of shotgun ownership, rifles may be purchased. Handguns are generally not allowed (except traumatic handguns which are allowed for self-defense but can fire only cartridges with Rubber bullets), but with the growing popularity of practical shooting events and competitions in Russia in recent years (e.g. IPSC), handgun ownership has now been allowed and the handguns have to be stored at a shooting club. Rifles and shotguns with barrels less than 500 mm (20 in) long are prohibited, as are firearms which shoot in bursts or have more than a 10-cartridge capacity. Suppressors are prohibited.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 276,
"text": "Serbia has weapon laws and ranks third in guns per capita with a strong gun culture, especially in rural areas, with about one million guns in legal circulation. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law (Zakon o oružju i municiji).",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 277,
"text": "People over age 18 may own firearms with a permit, which is denied to those with a criminal history, mental disorder, or history of alcohol or illegal substance use. There is a thorough background check with police having the final decision. Firearms must be stored in a designated gun cabinet, and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found irresponsible.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 278,
"text": "Rifles, shotguns and handguns may be owned with an appropriate permit. Having a permit to own a firearm does not itself allow the bearer to carry the firearm anywhere outside the home, regardless of whether it is concealed or not. The owner may transport their firearms at any time provided they are unloaded. Concealed carry permits for handguns require proving an imminent threat, with the police making a final decision. Therefore, concealed carry permits are hard to obtain. There is no limit on the number of firearms one may own, though every gun transaction is recorded by the police. There is no caliber restriction. Fully automatic firearms and suppressors are prohibited for civilians. Automatic long firearms are allowed to be obtained and used by legal entities under special circumstances. People over 18 years of age can buy and carry stun guns and electric tranquilizers with no permit needed. People over 16 can carry OC sprays. There is no restriction regarding the number of rounds that may be purchased. Ammunition may be bought only for the caliber in which an owned firearm is chambered. Reloading is allowed only to those who have passed an exam in handling explosive materials. Old firearms (produced before 1900), historically significant firearms, as well as black powder firearms (all category C items) may be bought without any permit.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 279,
"text": "Serbia has its own civilian gun and ammunition industry: Zastava Arms, Prvi Partizan, and Krušik.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 280,
"text": "Firearm regulations in Switzerland are comparatively liberal. Swiss gun laws are primarily about the acquisition of arms, and not ownership. As such a license is not required to own a gun by itself, but a shall-issue permit is required to purchase most types of firearms. Bolt-action rifles do not require an acquisition permit, and can be acquired with just a background check.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 281,
"text": "The Swiss have male conscription for military service. A 2011 referendum to force military weapons to be kept at military sites was defeated. Weapons may voluntarily be kept in the local armory and there is no longer an obligation to keep the weapon at home.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 282,
"text": "The Swiss \"Federal Law on Arms, Arms Accessories and Ammunitions\" (WG, LArm) of 20 June 1997 has as its objectives (Article 1) to combat the wrongful use of arms, their accessories, parts and ammunition. It governs the acquisition of arms, their introduction into Swiss territory, export, storage, possession, carrying, transport, and brokerage. It regulates the manufacture and trade in arms, and seeks to prevent the wrongful carrying of ammunition and dangerous objects. Article 3 states that \"The right to acquire, possess and carry arms is guaranteed in the framework of this law\".",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 283,
"text": "As of 27 February 2022 there are no restrictions on ownership of any types of weapons, in fact the Ukrainian government has given out thousands of military-grade weapons to its populace. This is due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 284,
"text": "Ukraine is the only European country without firearms legislation. Regulation is by executive fiat; specifically, Order No. 622 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A firearm license may be issued to citizens who meet an age requirement (21 for shotguns, 18 for shotguns for hunting purposes, and 25 for rifles), have no criminal record or history of domestic violence or mental illness and have a specific reason such as target shooting, hunting or collecting. Handguns of .22, 9 mm, .357 magnum and .38 caliber are permitted only for target shooting and those who can prove a threat against their lives (who are typically also given concealed carry permits). All firearms must be stored unloaded in a safe.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 285,
"text": "Citizens wishing to purchase weapons must complete courses on the fundamentals of Ukrainian legislation on weapons, their technical design and rules for the safe handling of weapons, as well as practical shooting. The organization of relevant courses is assigned to the internal affairs bodies. In order to obtain a weapon permit, citizens submit an application in the prescribed form, a certificate of completion of relevant courses, undergo a medical examination, an inspection of the internal affairs agencies and pass a test on the fundamentals of current legislation and rules for handling weapons and their application skills.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 286,
"text": "Article 263 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code says that for illegal carrying, storing and selling firearms, explosives and ammunition a person faces from 3 to 7 years in prison.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 287,
"text": "Weapon permits are not issued, and issued ones are canceled if there are:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 288,
"text": "The list of diseases and physical defects, in the presence of which a weapon permit is not issued, is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 289,
"text": "Foreigners have the right to purchase civilian weapons of ammunition and ammunition for permits issued by the internal affairs bodies on the basis of petitions from diplomatic missions or consular offices of the states of which they are citizens, as well as ministries and other central executive authorities of Ukraine, subject to the export of such weapons from Ukraine later than 5 days after purchase. Foreigners who have received certificates of permanent residence in Ukraine have the right to purchase weapons in the manner established for citizens of Ukraine. Hunting and sporting weapons can be imported by foreigners into Ukraine with the appropriate permission of the internal affairs bodies and hunting agreements made with hunting farms or inviting ministries and other central executive authorities to participate in sports competitions.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 290,
"text": "The UK increased firearm regulation through several Firearms Acts, leading to an outright ban on automatic firearms and many semi-automatic firearms. Breech-loading handguns are also tightly controlled. There are three main types of firearm that require different licences:",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 291,
"text": "An SGC allows the holder to purchase and own any number of shotguns, so long as they can be securely stored, and does not restrict purchase or storage of ammunition; additionally they may legally give shotgun ammunition to non-licence holders. Section 1 and 5 firearms require individual permission for each firearm or accessory, and there are restrictions as to the type and quantity of ammunition held. Aside from Northern Ireland, private ownership of most handguns was banned in 1997, with exception for section 5 firearms licences, which are only generally issued to maritime security personnel, and those under police protection. In the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games, British Shooting reached agreement with the Home Office to nominate a small number of elite athletes who could keep and train with Section 5 pistols in the UK at designated ranges.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 292,
"text": "There are several factors that may disqualify applicants. A custodial sentence of between three months and three years disqualifies applicants for five years from release; three years or greater disqualifies applicants for life. \"Intemperate habits\", such as substance use, may disqualify applicants. Being of \"unsound mind\", meaning a history of mental illness, or other relevant medical conditions may disqualify applicants, however there are no conditions that \"make them automatically unsuitable to possess a firearm\", and police will contact the applicant's general practitioner, who place a flag on the records of all licence holders. Applicants must also have suitable measures for storing firearms and ammunition, such as a gun safe. The FAC additionally requires demonstrating a good reason for each firearm the applicant wishes to own (such as hunting, pest control, collecting, or target shooting). Self-defence is only accepted as a good reason in Northern Ireland.",
"title": "Europe"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 293,
"text": "Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions in Nauru, Palau and Marshall Islands. Fiji suspended all firearm licenses in 2000, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands did the same respectively in 1999 and 1992. Papua New Guinea does not issue new licenses since 2000, but former are still valid. Kiribati effectively made it impossible to obtain new firearms by banning import of them.",
"title": "Oceania"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 294,
"text": "Gun laws in Australia are under the jurisdiction of the state governments, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. Gun laws were largely aligned in 1996 by the National Firearms Agreement. In two federally funded gun buybacks and voluntary surrenders and state governments' gun amnesties before and after the Port Arthur Massacre, more than a million firearms were collected and destroyed, possibly one third of the national stock.",
"title": "Oceania"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 295,
"text": "A person must have a firearm licence to possess or use a firearm. Licence holders must demonstrate a \"genuine reason\" (which does not include self-defence) for holding a firearm licence and must not be a \"prohibited person\". All firearms must be registered by serial number to the owner, who must also hold a firearms licence.",
"title": "Oceania"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 296,
"text": "New Zealand's gun laws focus mainly on vetting firearm owners. A firearms licence may be issued by police to applicants who attend a safety lecture, pass a written test on safety and the Arms Code, and have secure storage for firearms and ammunition; the police will also interview the applicant and two references to be certain the applicant is \"fit and proper\" to own a firearm. Having criminal associations, a history of domestic violence, mental instability, or alcohol or drug use almost always result in the application being denied. Misbehavior involving firearms commonly leads to a firearms licence being revoked by police. Even when licensed, a person may only be in possession of a firearm for a particular lawful, proper and sufficient purpose, for which the NZ Police policy is to exclude self-defense, however this is not written in the Arms Act or supporting regulations.",
"title": "Oceania"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 297,
"text": "Handguns, machine guns, or selective-fire assault rifles require stricter vetting procedures, a higher level of storage security, and a \"special reason\" for obtaining the weapon. The applicant must gain an appropriate endorsement on their licence and a permit to procure before obtaining.",
"title": "Oceania"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 298,
"text": "After the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, legislation to restrict semi-automatic firearms and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, and provide an amnesty and buyback of such weapons was introduced and passed by the New Zealand parliament.",
"title": "Oceania"
}
]
| Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting, self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities. Gun laws are usually justified by a legislative intent to reduce the use of small arms in crime, and to this end they frequently target makes and models of arms identified in crimes and shootings, such as handguns and other types of concealable firearms. Persons restricted from legal access to firearms may include those below a certain age or those with a criminal record. Firearms licenses to purchase or possess may be denied to those defined as most at risk of harming themselves or others, persons with a history of domestic violence, alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder, mental illness, depression, or those who have attempted suicide. Those applying for a firearm license may have to demonstrate competence by completing a gun safety course and show provision for a secure location to store weapons. The legislation which restricts small arms may also restrict other weapons, such as explosives, crossbows, swords, electroshock weapons, air guns, and pepper spray. It may also restrict firearm accessories, notably high-capacity magazines and sound suppressors. There may be restrictions on the quantity or types of ammunition purchased, with certain types prohibited. Due to the global scope of this article, detailed coverage cannot be provided on all these matters; the article will instead attempt to briefly summarize each country's weapon laws in regard to small arms use and ownership by civilians. | 2001-10-04T17:14:41Z | 2023-12-31T05:35:03Z | [
"Template:Concealed carry permit requirements in the US",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Em",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:N/A",
"Template:Unreferenced section",
"Template:Cleanup rewrite",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Americas topic",
"Template:Europe topic",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:A.k.a.",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite act",
"Template:Firearms",
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Legend",
"Template:UnitedStatesCode",
"Template:Times",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Main",
"Template:As of",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Abbr",
"Template:Usually",
"Template:Ya",
"Template:Yes",
"Template:Maybe",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Law country lists",
"Template:No",
"Template:Clarify",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Gun laws by country",
"Template:Rarely",
"Template:Citation needed"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation |
12,688 | Shock site | A shock site is a website that is intended to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, though it can also contain elements of humor or evoke (in some viewers) sexual arousal. Shock-oriented websites generally contain material such as pornographic, scatological, racist, antisemitic, sexist, graphically violent, insulting, vulgar, profane, or otherwise some other provocative nature. Websites that are primarily fixated on real death and graphic violence are particularly referred to as gore sites. Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, video clip or small gallery, and are circulated via email or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a prank. Steven Jones distinguishes these sites from those that collect galleries where users search for shocking content, such as Rotten.com. Gallery sites can contain beheadings, execution, electrocution, suicide, murder, stoning, torching, police brutality, hangings, terrorism, cartel violence, drowning, vehicular accidents, war victims, rape, necrophilia, genital mutilation and other sexual crimes.
Some shock sites have also gained their own subcultures and have become internet memes on their own. Goatse.cx featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site's hello.jpg, and a parody of the image was unwittingly shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then-recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics. A 2007 shock video known as 2 Girls 1 Cup also quickly became an Internet phenomenon, with videos of reactions, homages, and parodies widely posted on video sharing sites such as YouTube.
There have been several shock galleries that have launched and shut down. Rotten.com hosted murder videos and images of deceased people, and brandished the motto "Pure Evil Since 1996". During their operation, the owners of Rotten.com launched several new sites, one of which was Shockumentary.com in 2006. Shockumentary.com was created to sell mondo films like Traces of Death (1993). Ogrish.com, which was established in 2000, hosted "mutilated corpses, car accidents, burn victims, congenital malformations and other grotesqueries". Ogrish.com's reputation rested on its publication of gore media from terrorists and war. In 2006, Ogrish.com was rebranded as Liveleak.com. Bestgore.com, established in 2008 by Mark Marek, was notorious for its extremely graphic content, such as photos and videos of murders, suicides and violent accidents with an estimated 15–20 million monthly visits during its operation. Marek pleaded guilty and was given a six-month conditional sentence for his role in a case where he was accused of corrupting public morals in Alberta, Canada. Some shock galleries, however, established more specific niches. The sites Necrobabes, Cannibal Café, and Gourmet tailored themselves to would-be cannibals in the early 2000s. These sites gained attention in 2003 when Armin Meiwes, an aspiring cannibal, used the sites to connect with Jürgen Brandes, a man who desired to be eaten. Additionally, Graham Coutts visited Necrobabes, Rapepassion, Violentpleasure, and Hangingbitches frequently before strangling teacher Jane Longhurst.
There have also been several individual videos that received viral attention. Goatse was one of the earliest and best-known shock sites, featuring an image of a man stretching his anus with his hands. The site featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site. The site was shut down in 2004; however, various mirror sites featuring the image still exist. In 2012, it was resurrected as an e-mail service. In 2008, the Dnepropetrovsk maniacs posted the graphic murder video "3 Guys 1 Hammer". This was followed years later by Eric Clinton Kirk Newman's (known now as Luka Rocco Magnotta) video "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" in 2012—a video of Newman murdering Chinese student Jun Lin that contained dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia, and was posted on Bestgore.com. Newman also shared a video one year prior of him using a vacuum and plastic bag to suffocate two kittens to the song "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon to several gore sites. Meatspin is a shock site containing a looping video (set playing to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive) of two people engaging in anal sex, while the penis of the receiving partner spins endlessly. Although frequently reported to be gay pornography, it has been mentioned that the clip was derived from a transgender pornography film. A counter keeps track of how many "spins" the viewer has watched. In 2013, a student at Florida State University hacked the wireless network of his campus and redirected all traffic to Meatspin. In 2015, consternation followed when a family restaurant played the website in front of young children. In 2016, the website was played on a public digital billboard in Sweden, resulting in international media attention. The site first went live on March 10, 2005. As of 2017, the domain is now meatspin.cc. John-Michael Bond of The Daily Dot stated that to an extent, "casual homophobia" of the 2000s helped popularize Meatspin.
Currently, there is no federal or state legislation in the United States that outlaws possessing or viewing videos or images that depict the death of a human being. In 2000, a bill was introduced in the California State Legislature to outlaw these films, but after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) raised protest over First Amendment concerns, the bill failed to pass. No other bill has passed since. In the case of Miller v. California, the Supreme Court of the United States established a test to determine whether content falls under the category of unprotected obscenity. The Miller test requires that content "appeals to the prurient interest" to be obscene, meaning content must have a sexual component.
That test was modified by United States v. Richards, which ruled that animal crush videos (videos that involve the killing of animals) can be obscene and therefore, are not protected by the First Amendment even though they do not clearly appeal to sexual interests. The court ruled animal crush videos to be unprotected obscenity for two reasons. First, animal crush videos can appeal to a "specific sexual fetish," which fits the sexual conduct requirement of the Miller test. Second, United States v. Richards modified the Miller test by ruling that obscenity "can also cover unusual deviant acts" even if they are not directly sexual. Child pornography also falls under the category of unprotected obscenity by these tests. Due to the combination of murder and pornography depicted on shock sites that contain murder videos like gore2gasm.com, legal scholars have argued that murder videos also appeal to specific sexual interests and are thus unprotected under United States v. Richards.
In terms of liability, unless death videos are illegal, third party providers like shock sites that host death videos are protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). However, websites that require users to upload illegal content or actively encourage users to create and share illegal content can be held liable. Additionally, courts have granted increasing privacy rights to families over the publication and distribution of images of deceased relatives. The owners of Rotten.com were successfully sued by families for hosting photos of dead people and videos of their deaths on the site.
In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which included a section outlawing extreme pornography (that which is intended to sexually arouse viewers that threatens a person's life, is likely to seriously harm a person's anus, breasts, or genitals, or involves a human corpse or an animal). This has resulted in shock sites, as well as American pornographers including Max Hardcore and Extreme Associates, being convicted of obscenity in the United Kingdom.
During the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, the shooter broadcast the killings live on Facebook. The video was shared on Facebook and uploaded to YouTube shortly after. Footage of the mass killings were hosted on 4chan, 8chan, LiveLeak, Voat, Zero Hedge, and KiwiFarms. Rather than the Australian government trying to ban this specific instance of murder video, internet service providers in Australia chose to place temporary blocks on any sites that hosted the footage until all the footage was believed to be removed.
Several ethical concerns have been raised on the topic of shock sites and murder videos. One concern is that the popularity of shock sites will encourage an increase in violent murders, which can result in more extreme and violent videos that will likely generate more views on shock sites. Murder videos can inspire copycats to replicate the snuff films. After one of the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs' videos leaked on the internet as "3 Guys 1 Hammer" in 2007, Luka Magnotta murdered Lin Jun, a Chinese student, and uploaded the video (including scenes of dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia) under the similar title of "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" in 2012.
Another concern is the right of a victim and the victim's family to privacy after death. This is the issue of whether Lin Jun's parents have a right to remove the video of their son's murder from the internet. Murder victims cannot consent to the footage of their deaths being used and uploaded, and several court cases have agreed that parents and loved ones should have a right to prevent the widespread viewership of a personal tragedy and stop the video from being published.
Finally, while shock value is not sufficient to justify banning content legally (as was determined by Cohen v. California), there are still ethical concerns about the emotional damages caused by the jarring nature and content of shock sites. Viewing violent content such as murder videos on social media can cause or trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cause other emotional distress.
As more people upload and view murder videos on shock sites, some believe that this practice is being mirrored in the horror movie genre. The presence of CCTV in Saw and the online torture auctions in Hostel Part II raise questions on the nefarious use of monitoring systems and the widespread access to videos of Al-Qaeda beheadings, executions in American prisons, and other real depictions of violence and murder on the internet. In examples like Saw, the contemporary horror genre reflects real horror on the internet.
Additionally, a parody of Goatse was shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A shock site is a website that is intended to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, though it can also contain elements of humor or evoke (in some viewers) sexual arousal. Shock-oriented websites generally contain material such as pornographic, scatological, racist, antisemitic, sexist, graphically violent, insulting, vulgar, profane, or otherwise some other provocative nature. Websites that are primarily fixated on real death and graphic violence are particularly referred to as gore sites. Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, video clip or small gallery, and are circulated via email or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a prank. Steven Jones distinguishes these sites from those that collect galleries where users search for shocking content, such as Rotten.com. Gallery sites can contain beheadings, execution, electrocution, suicide, murder, stoning, torching, police brutality, hangings, terrorism, cartel violence, drowning, vehicular accidents, war victims, rape, necrophilia, genital mutilation and other sexual crimes.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Some shock sites have also gained their own subcultures and have become internet memes on their own. Goatse.cx featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site's hello.jpg, and a parody of the image was unwittingly shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then-recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics. A 2007 shock video known as 2 Girls 1 Cup also quickly became an Internet phenomenon, with videos of reactions, homages, and parodies widely posted on video sharing sites such as YouTube.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "There have been several shock galleries that have launched and shut down. Rotten.com hosted murder videos and images of deceased people, and brandished the motto \"Pure Evil Since 1996\". During their operation, the owners of Rotten.com launched several new sites, one of which was Shockumentary.com in 2006. Shockumentary.com was created to sell mondo films like Traces of Death (1993). Ogrish.com, which was established in 2000, hosted \"mutilated corpses, car accidents, burn victims, congenital malformations and other grotesqueries\". Ogrish.com's reputation rested on its publication of gore media from terrorists and war. In 2006, Ogrish.com was rebranded as Liveleak.com. Bestgore.com, established in 2008 by Mark Marek, was notorious for its extremely graphic content, such as photos and videos of murders, suicides and violent accidents with an estimated 15–20 million monthly visits during its operation. Marek pleaded guilty and was given a six-month conditional sentence for his role in a case where he was accused of corrupting public morals in Alberta, Canada. Some shock galleries, however, established more specific niches. The sites Necrobabes, Cannibal Café, and Gourmet tailored themselves to would-be cannibals in the early 2000s. These sites gained attention in 2003 when Armin Meiwes, an aspiring cannibal, used the sites to connect with Jürgen Brandes, a man who desired to be eaten. Additionally, Graham Coutts visited Necrobabes, Rapepassion, Violentpleasure, and Hangingbitches frequently before strangling teacher Jane Longhurst.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "There have also been several individual videos that received viral attention. Goatse was one of the earliest and best-known shock sites, featuring an image of a man stretching his anus with his hands. The site featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site. The site was shut down in 2004; however, various mirror sites featuring the image still exist. In 2012, it was resurrected as an e-mail service. In 2008, the Dnepropetrovsk maniacs posted the graphic murder video \"3 Guys 1 Hammer\". This was followed years later by Eric Clinton Kirk Newman's (known now as Luka Rocco Magnotta) video \"1 Lunatic 1 Icepick\" in 2012—a video of Newman murdering Chinese student Jun Lin that contained dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia, and was posted on Bestgore.com. Newman also shared a video one year prior of him using a vacuum and plastic bag to suffocate two kittens to the song \"Happy Xmas (War is Over)\" by John Lennon to several gore sites. Meatspin is a shock site containing a looping video (set playing to \"You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)\" by Dead or Alive) of two people engaging in anal sex, while the penis of the receiving partner spins endlessly. Although frequently reported to be gay pornography, it has been mentioned that the clip was derived from a transgender pornography film. A counter keeps track of how many \"spins\" the viewer has watched. In 2013, a student at Florida State University hacked the wireless network of his campus and redirected all traffic to Meatspin. In 2015, consternation followed when a family restaurant played the website in front of young children. In 2016, the website was played on a public digital billboard in Sweden, resulting in international media attention. The site first went live on March 10, 2005. As of 2017, the domain is now meatspin.cc. John-Michael Bond of The Daily Dot stated that to an extent, \"casual homophobia\" of the 2000s helped popularize Meatspin.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Currently, there is no federal or state legislation in the United States that outlaws possessing or viewing videos or images that depict the death of a human being. In 2000, a bill was introduced in the California State Legislature to outlaw these films, but after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) raised protest over First Amendment concerns, the bill failed to pass. No other bill has passed since. In the case of Miller v. California, the Supreme Court of the United States established a test to determine whether content falls under the category of unprotected obscenity. The Miller test requires that content \"appeals to the prurient interest\" to be obscene, meaning content must have a sexual component.",
"title": "Legality"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "That test was modified by United States v. Richards, which ruled that animal crush videos (videos that involve the killing of animals) can be obscene and therefore, are not protected by the First Amendment even though they do not clearly appeal to sexual interests. The court ruled animal crush videos to be unprotected obscenity for two reasons. First, animal crush videos can appeal to a \"specific sexual fetish,\" which fits the sexual conduct requirement of the Miller test. Second, United States v. Richards modified the Miller test by ruling that obscenity \"can also cover unusual deviant acts\" even if they are not directly sexual. Child pornography also falls under the category of unprotected obscenity by these tests. Due to the combination of murder and pornography depicted on shock sites that contain murder videos like gore2gasm.com, legal scholars have argued that murder videos also appeal to specific sexual interests and are thus unprotected under United States v. Richards.",
"title": "Legality"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In terms of liability, unless death videos are illegal, third party providers like shock sites that host death videos are protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). However, websites that require users to upload illegal content or actively encourage users to create and share illegal content can be held liable. Additionally, courts have granted increasing privacy rights to families over the publication and distribution of images of deceased relatives. The owners of Rotten.com were successfully sued by families for hosting photos of dead people and videos of their deaths on the site.",
"title": "Legality"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which included a section outlawing extreme pornography (that which is intended to sexually arouse viewers that threatens a person's life, is likely to seriously harm a person's anus, breasts, or genitals, or involves a human corpse or an animal). This has resulted in shock sites, as well as American pornographers including Max Hardcore and Extreme Associates, being convicted of obscenity in the United Kingdom.",
"title": "Legality"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "During the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, the shooter broadcast the killings live on Facebook. The video was shared on Facebook and uploaded to YouTube shortly after. Footage of the mass killings were hosted on 4chan, 8chan, LiveLeak, Voat, Zero Hedge, and KiwiFarms. Rather than the Australian government trying to ban this specific instance of murder video, internet service providers in Australia chose to place temporary blocks on any sites that hosted the footage until all the footage was believed to be removed.",
"title": "Legality"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Several ethical concerns have been raised on the topic of shock sites and murder videos. One concern is that the popularity of shock sites will encourage an increase in violent murders, which can result in more extreme and violent videos that will likely generate more views on shock sites. Murder videos can inspire copycats to replicate the snuff films. After one of the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs' videos leaked on the internet as \"3 Guys 1 Hammer\" in 2007, Luka Magnotta murdered Lin Jun, a Chinese student, and uploaded the video (including scenes of dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia) under the similar title of \"1 Lunatic 1 Icepick\" in 2012.",
"title": "Ethics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Another concern is the right of a victim and the victim's family to privacy after death. This is the issue of whether Lin Jun's parents have a right to remove the video of their son's murder from the internet. Murder victims cannot consent to the footage of their deaths being used and uploaded, and several court cases have agreed that parents and loved ones should have a right to prevent the widespread viewership of a personal tragedy and stop the video from being published.",
"title": "Ethics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Finally, while shock value is not sufficient to justify banning content legally (as was determined by Cohen v. California), there are still ethical concerns about the emotional damages caused by the jarring nature and content of shock sites. Viewing violent content such as murder videos on social media can cause or trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cause other emotional distress.",
"title": "Ethics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "As more people upload and view murder videos on shock sites, some believe that this practice is being mirrored in the horror movie genre. The presence of CCTV in Saw and the online torture auctions in Hostel Part II raise questions on the nefarious use of monitoring systems and the widespread access to videos of Al-Qaeda beheadings, executions in American prisons, and other real depictions of violence and murder on the internet. In examples like Saw, the contemporary horror genre reflects real horror on the internet.",
"title": "Media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Additionally, a parody of Goatse was shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics.",
"title": "Media"
}
]
| A shock site is a website that is intended to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, though it can also contain elements of humor or evoke sexual arousal. Shock-oriented websites generally contain material such as pornographic, scatological, racist, antisemitic, sexist, graphically violent, insulting, vulgar, profane, or otherwise some other provocative nature. Websites that are primarily fixated on real death and graphic violence are particularly referred to as gore sites. Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, video clip or small gallery, and are circulated via email or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a prank. Steven Jones distinguishes these sites from those that collect galleries where users search for shocking content, such as Rotten.com. Gallery sites can contain beheadings, execution, electrocution, suicide, murder, stoning, torching, police brutality, hangings, terrorism, cartel violence, drowning, vehicular accidents, war victims, rape, necrophilia, genital mutilation and other sexual crimes. Some shock sites have also gained their own subcultures and have become internet memes on their own. Goatse.cx featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site's hello.jpg, and a parody of the image was unwittingly shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then-recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics. A 2007 shock video known as 2 Girls 1 Cup also quickly became an Internet phenomenon, with videos of reactions, homages, and parodies widely posted on video sharing sites such as YouTube. | 2001-10-04T18:02:46Z | 2023-12-06T15:30:04Z | [
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Pp-pc1",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Asof",
"Template:Cite news"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_site |
12,691 | Geography of Albania | Albania, its a country in Southeastern Europe, lies along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, with a coastline spanning approximately 476 km (296 mi). Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. It is bounded by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the southeast and south.
Most of Albania rises into mountains and hills, tending to run the length of the country from north to south, as for instance the Albanian Alps in the north, the Sharr Mountains in the northeast, the Skanderbeg Mountains in the center, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, and the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest. Plains and plateaus extend in the west along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast.
Some of the most considerable and oldest bodies of freshwater of Europe can be found in Albania. The second largest lake of Southern Europe, the Lake of Shkodër, is located in the northwest surrounded by the Albanian Alps and the Adriatic Sea. And one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world, the Lake of Ohrid, lies in the southeast, while the highest tectonic lakes of the Balkan Peninsula, the Large and Small Lake of Prespa, are well hidden among high mountains in the southeast.
Rivers originate in the east of Albania and loop towards the west into the sea. They are encompassed by the drainage basins of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea. The longest river in the country, measured from its mouth to its source, is the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin, though also notable is the Vjosë, one of the last intact large river systems in Europe.
For a small country, Albania is characterized for its biological diversity and abundance of contrasting ecosystems and habitats, defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres. This great diversity derives from Albania's geographic location on the Mediterranean Sea, with typical climatic conditions, varied topography, as well as the wealth of terrestrial and marine ecosystems providing a variety of habitats, each with its own typical flora and fauna.
There are 799 Albanian protected areas covering a surface of 5,216.96 square kilometres. These include two strict nature reserves, 14 national parks, one marine park, eight archaeological parks, 750 natural monuments, 22 habitat/species management areas, five protected landscapes, 4 protected landscapes, four managed resources areas and four ramsar wetlands. The national parks cover a surface area of 210,668.48 hectares (2,106.6848 km) or roughly 13.65% of the overall territory.
A total surface area of 28.748 square kilometres (11,100 sq mi), the country is located in the southeastern part of the Adriatic and the northeastern part of the Ionian Sea, both located within the Mediterranean Sea. It has a length of borders of about 1,094 kilometres (680 mi), 657 kilometres (408 mi) of which are taken by terrestrial borders, 316 kilometres (196 mi) of shore borders, 48 kilometres (30 mi) river borders and 73 kilometres (45 mi) of lake borders. Inland water surface is 1,350 square kilometres (520 sq mi), composed by natural lakes 325 square kilometres (125 sq mi), coastal lagoons 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi), artificial lakes 174 square kilometres (67 sq mi) and rivers 721 kilometres (448 mi).
The countries of Montenegro (173 kilometres (107 mi)) and Kosovo (114 kilometres (71 mi)) border the country in the north and northeast, respectively. A significant portion of this border connects high points and follows mountain ridges through the largely inaccessible Albanian Alps. The eastern border is shared with North Macedonia, which stretches 151 kilometres (94 mi). This border is located at the tripoint between Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia passing through the Sharr and Korab Mountains and continues until it reaches Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa. The southern and southeastern border with Greece is 282 kilometres (175 mi) long. The border is located at the tripoint border between Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece running across the Large and Small Lake Prespa until it reaches the Ionian Sea at the Strait of Corfu.
The most significant feature of Albania is possibly its relief, with numerous successive mountain ranges and its average altitude, more than 700 metres above sea level. Much of the mountains lie to the north, east and south of the western lowlands in the northern, eastern and southern mountain ranges.
The Albanian Alps extend over 90 kilometres through the north of Albania, traversing an area of 2,000 square kilometres. These mountains represent an extension of the Dinaric Alps and no wider than 40 kilometres. They are deeply fragmented and often inaccessible. It holds the Maja Jezercë, which is the highest point of the Dinarides and simultaneously the second highest point of Albania.
The Korab Mountains dominate the east of the country and expand 40 kilometres along the eastern border of the country, where peaks can clearly reach 2,500 metres. The mountains offer the country's most prominent peak at Mount Korab, which is fragmented by many deep structural depressions. Another distinguishing feature remains the evidence of the last ice age in form of glacial lakes at relatively low altitudes.
One of the most remarkable features about the south of Albania is the presence of the Ceraunian Mountains that cut across the landscape for nearly 100 kilometres. Thousand meter high mountains fall vertically into the Mediterranean Sea constituting at least the first barrier to communication between the sea and the country's southern inland.
The country has a dense network of rivers and streams characterized by a high flow rate. They belong to the drainage basins of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea. They mostly rise in the mountainous eastern half of the country and have their mouths in the west along the coasts. They are sustained from snowmelt of the snow-capped mountains or from the abundant precipitation that falls at loftier elevations.
Eight notable rivers, along with their numerous tributaries, make up the river system of the country. The longest river is the Drin, which flows for 285 kilometres (177 mi) within the country. Its catchment area is one of the most biodiverse places in Europe and encompasses the lakes of Shkodër, Ohrid and Prespa. Of particular concern represent the river of Vjosa as it is considered as the last remaining wild river in Europe. The country's other rivers are Fan, Ishëm, Erzen, Mat, Seman and Shkumbin.
With more than 250 lakes, the country is home to two of the largest lakes in Southern Europe and one of the oldest in the World. The lakes of the country are predominantly of karstic or glacial origin. The largest lake in Southern Europe is the Lake of Shkodër geographically located in the north, shared with Montenegro. One of the ancientest lakes in the world is the Lake of Ohrid located in the southeast, shared with North Macedonia. The highest positioned lakes in Southern Europe are the Large and Small Lake of Prespa in the southeast, shared with North Macedonia and Greece.
The country is also home to many lagoons of varied shape, size and structure. They are primarily positioned along the coast in the west of the country and also in the southeast. They contribute to the overall productivity of the coastal waters by supporting a variety of habitats and ecosystems. The largest lagoon in the country is the Lagoon of Karavasta located between the mouth of Shkumbin and Seman. Another significant lagoons are the lagoons of Patoku, Narta, Kunë-Vain and Butrint.
The proximity to the Mediterranean Sea and the convergence of exceptional climatic, geological and hydrological conditions, have contributed for the development of a diverse biodiversity, making Albania one of the biodiversity hotspots of Europe.
In terms of phytogeography, the land area of Albania extends within the Boreal Kingdom, specifically within the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region. Its territory can be subdivided into four terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic realm – the Illyrian, Balkan, Pindus and Dinaric forests.
Forests and woodlands are the most widespread terrestrial ecosystem in Albania. That of the northern edge of the country has an affinity for those of Continental Europe, while those of the southern edge refer to the affinity with that of the Mediterranean Basin. They are substantial because they provide shelter for a vast array of rare and endangered species of animals, among others the brown bear, Balkan lynx, grey wolf, golden jackal, Egyptian vulture and golden eagle. Albania had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.77/10, ranking it 64th globally out of 172 countries.
The Mediterranean monk seal, short-beaked common dolphin and common bottlenose dolphin can frequently be seen in the coastal waters of the country. Outstanding is the presence of the Dalmatian pelican, the rarest pelican in the world. The biodiversity of Albania is conserved in its protected areas, which provide protection to hundreds of threatened and endangered species.
Numerous parts of Albania are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations due to their natural, historical or cultural value. Protected areas belong to the most principal instruments of conservation which in turn contributes effectively to the maintenance of species, habitats and ecosystems.
The country has currently fifteen designated national parks, whereby one is specified as a marine park. Ranging from the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea to the Albanian Alps and the Ceraunian Mountains, they possess outstanding landscapes constituting habitats to thousands of plant and animal species. Butrint, Divjakë-Karavasta, Karaburun-Sazan, Llogara, Prespa, Shebenik-Jabllanicë, Theth and Valbonë are among the most spectacular national parks of the country.
Albania has a combination of a mediterranean climate and a continental climate, with four distinct seasons. The climatic conditions are highly variable and modified locally by altitude and latitude. Its climate is strongly influenced by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the mountains that raise in every corner around the country.
Its diverse regions have a remarkable range of microclimates, with the weather system on the coasts contrasting with that prevailing in the interior. Moreover, the weather varies from the north and towards the south and the west to the east. Albania occupies the climate ranges from temperate climate on the coasts to continental climate in the interior. The warmest areas of the country are at the coasts, which are characterized by a Mediterranean climate (Csa, Csb and Cfa) as defined by the Köppen climate classification. The highlands experiences an Oceanic climate. Winters in Albania are characteristically mild and wet while summers are warm and dry. The northern areas of country such as the Albanian Alps experiences a subarctic climate with frequently very cold winters, and short, mild summers.
The lowlands of Albania have mild winters, averaging about 7 °C (45 °F). The summer temperatures average 32 °C (90 °F), however, humidity is low. In the southern lowlands, specifically the areas on the Ionian sea, temperatures average about 5 °C (41 °F) in the winter and 30 °C (86 °F) during the summer.
The country is divided into four physiographic regions, the Northern Mountain Range, Central Mountain Range, Southern Mountain Range and Western Lowlands with two subdivisions corresponding roughly to the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast.
Except for its sea coast in the west, the western lowlands are ringed by a great arc-shaped line of mountains spreading in the north, east and south. The predominantly flat and regular landscape is morphologically characterized by the sea and rivers, in terms of topography and soil, and also in its climate and biodiversity. The region experiences mild and short winters, with low rainfalls, and long hot and dry summers. It is mostly dominated by the extensive Myzeqe plain, a large alluvial plain traversed by three main rivers, the Shkumbin, Seman and Vjosë.
The Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast stretches from the mouth of the River of Buna nearby the Lake of Shkodër in the north, across the Gulf of Drin, to the Bay of Vlorë in the south. The two largest coastal cities Durrës and Vlorë are located in the northern and the southern part of the region, respectively. The total length of the coastline is approximately 274 kilometres (170 mi), mostly of which are taken up by sandy beaches, wetlands and alluvial deposits, occurred by quaternary sediments of the main rivers of the country.
The coastline is lined with different habitats and ecosystems, providing optimal conditions for a rich biodiversity. Of particular importance is the presence of numerous lagoons and ponds, representing one of the wealthiest scenery of the country, in terms of biology. Likely, the lagoons of Karavasta and Narta, in the immediate proximity to the sea, are among the most important ones in the Mediterranean Sea.
While the Adriatic coast is relatively low, the Ionian coast is, with few exceptions, rugged and mountainous. The Albanian Ionian Sea Coast stretches from the Peninsula of Karaburun in the north, through the Albanian Riviera, to the Straits of Corfu in the south. The largest coastal city Sarandë is located in the southern part of the region, while smaller villages include Borsh, Dhermi, Himara, Qeparo, Piqeras, and Lukovë. The total length of the coastline is approximately 172 kilometres (107 mi).
The most characteristic features of the coastline are the Ceraunian Mountains, which extend nearly 100 kilometres (62 mi) along the Albanian Riviera roughly in a southeast–northwest direction. The region is particular fertile and known for its citrus fruits and viticulture, that has a long and special tradition in the region. The coastline is abundant in dolomite from the triassic period, the carbonate rocks follows with limestone from the jurassic period and bituminous schists, cretaceous porcelain and phosphate limestone.
The northern mountain range is the most mountainous region in the country and its physical geography and shape is distinguished by the convergence of two distinct geological regions, the Albanian Alps and Mirdita Highlands. A dominant feature of the region's landscape is the presence of several u-shaped valleys, such as the Valley of Valbonë, formed by the process of glaciation.
The Albanian Alps are the southernmost extension of the Dinaric Alps and simultaneously the highest and most imposing mountains of the country. Despite the fact that the ice ages had relatively little geological influence on the alps, the southernmost glaciers of Europe were recently discovered on the alps.
The Albanian Alps are home to many important rivers of Western Balkans. The main drainage basins of the Alps are those of the Drin and Danube Rivers. Rivers on the Alps fall roughly into two categories, those that flow into the Lim and those that enter the White Drin and meet the Black Drin downstream at the Drin confluence. However, Drin dominates, draining most of the Alps with its tributaries and when measured from the source of the White Drin to the mouth of the Drin near Lezhë. But not all of the Drin flows near or parallel to the Alps. One Drin tributary is the Valbona River, which drains into the Adriatic Sea, and its eastern tributary the Gashi River.
The terrain of the central mountain range is predominantly mountainous and extremely fragmented carved into its present shape by the glaciers of the last ice age. The region is dominated by three mountain ranges, each running from north-northeast to south-southwest, roughly parallel to the eastern border of Albania.
The Korab Mountains are certainly the most striking feature of the physical geography of the region. They offer simultaneously the highest mountain of the country, the Mount Korab. The mountains extends over 40 kilometres and covers an area of 560 square kilometres. Between the valleys of Shkumbin and Devoll rise the mountains that constitute to the Valamara Mountains, while farther north stretches the connected mountain massifs of Shebenik and Jabllanicë.
The vast majority of the region's natural lakes are located in the southern half of the region and most of them are the product of a long contiguous history. The Lake of Ohrid lie adjacent to the border shared with North Macedonia. It is one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world with a unique biodiversity. Further south, well hidden among high mountains, extend the Lake of Prespa that is linked by a small channel with a sluice that separates the two lakes.
The Ceraunian Mountains, a coastal mountain range in southwestern Albania, stretches about 100 kilometres (62 mi) besides the Ionian Sea from Sarandë in south-east-northwest direction along the Albanian Riviera to Orikum. The relief is varied, with many mountain passes, canyons, gorges, hills and other landforms. The mountains are characterized by housing Black pines, Bulgarian firs, Bosnian pines and Ash trees. The mountain chain is home to many large mammals, including brown bears, grey wolves, lynx, golden eagles and others. The highest point on the chain is Maja e Çikës, that rises to an elevation of 2,045 metres (6,709 ft) above the Adriatic. From the peak, there is a view of the Albanian Riviera, the northern Ionian Islands as well as the Italian coast of Apulia and Otranto. The section has wide and long beaches, with a number of bays and headlands.
Stretching until the Llogara Pass at 1,027 metres (3,369 ft), the mountain chain gets separated into the Ceraunians in the west and the Akroceraunians (or Reza e Kanalit) in the east within the Karaburun Peninsula. The villages of Palasë, Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Qeparo, Borsh, Pilur, Kudhës and Ilias are located on the Ceraunian range. The Llogara National Park covers an area of 10,100 square metres (109,000 sq ft) and
The Karaburun Peninsula is situated at the eastern side of Strait of Otranto, where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea. Its area is 62 square kilometres (24 sq mi), having a length of 16 kilometres (9.9 mi), and a width of only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). The Mesokanali is the narrow channel, that separates the peninsula from the Sazan Island. Geologically, it is made up of carbonic limestone, dating back to the Mesozoic period, while in the northwestern it is composed of terrigenous sediment. Furthermore, these formations have been continuously under the effect of Karst and are exploited as marble. The relief of the peninsula comprises a number of hills with an average altitude of about 800 metres (2,600 ft) above the Adriatic. The highest summits are Maja e Ilqës 733 metres (2,405 ft), Maja e Flamurit 826 metres (2,710 ft) and Maja Çadëri 839 metres (2,753 ft).
The coastal landscape is characterized by a rough relief, that dips vertically into the Ionian Sea, it features several solitary peaks, large canyons, bays, caves and gulfs. Examples of typical landforms include Gjipe Canyon, Gjiri i Arushës, Gjiri i Dafinës, Gjiri i Gramës and so on. The geological evolution has formed also capes such as Haxhi Aliu, Galloveci and Kepi i Gjuhëzës, and other of 20 caves along the entire shoreline. The climate is Mediterranean, having hot summers and generally warm to cool, dry winters. Due to its climatic, hydrological and geological conditions, the area is characterized by its unique flora and fauna. Most of the territory consists of forests and is relatively well preserved, it includes many types of trees, such as Mediterranean oak, Manna ash, Kermes oak, and Field maple. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Albania, its a country in Southeastern Europe, lies along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, with a coastline spanning approximately 476 km (296 mi). Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. It is bounded by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the southeast and south.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Most of Albania rises into mountains and hills, tending to run the length of the country from north to south, as for instance the Albanian Alps in the north, the Sharr Mountains in the northeast, the Skanderbeg Mountains in the center, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, and the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest. Plains and plateaus extend in the west along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Some of the most considerable and oldest bodies of freshwater of Europe can be found in Albania. The second largest lake of Southern Europe, the Lake of Shkodër, is located in the northwest surrounded by the Albanian Alps and the Adriatic Sea. And one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world, the Lake of Ohrid, lies in the southeast, while the highest tectonic lakes of the Balkan Peninsula, the Large and Small Lake of Prespa, are well hidden among high mountains in the southeast.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Rivers originate in the east of Albania and loop towards the west into the sea. They are encompassed by the drainage basins of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea. The longest river in the country, measured from its mouth to its source, is the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin, though also notable is the Vjosë, one of the last intact large river systems in Europe.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "For a small country, Albania is characterized for its biological diversity and abundance of contrasting ecosystems and habitats, defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres. This great diversity derives from Albania's geographic location on the Mediterranean Sea, with typical climatic conditions, varied topography, as well as the wealth of terrestrial and marine ecosystems providing a variety of habitats, each with its own typical flora and fauna.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "There are 799 Albanian protected areas covering a surface of 5,216.96 square kilometres. These include two strict nature reserves, 14 national parks, one marine park, eight archaeological parks, 750 natural monuments, 22 habitat/species management areas, five protected landscapes, 4 protected landscapes, four managed resources areas and four ramsar wetlands. The national parks cover a surface area of 210,668.48 hectares (2,106.6848 km) or roughly 13.65% of the overall territory.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A total surface area of 28.748 square kilometres (11,100 sq mi), the country is located in the southeastern part of the Adriatic and the northeastern part of the Ionian Sea, both located within the Mediterranean Sea. It has a length of borders of about 1,094 kilometres (680 mi), 657 kilometres (408 mi) of which are taken by terrestrial borders, 316 kilometres (196 mi) of shore borders, 48 kilometres (30 mi) river borders and 73 kilometres (45 mi) of lake borders. Inland water surface is 1,350 square kilometres (520 sq mi), composed by natural lakes 325 square kilometres (125 sq mi), coastal lagoons 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi), artificial lakes 174 square kilometres (67 sq mi) and rivers 721 kilometres (448 mi).",
"title": "Borders"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The countries of Montenegro (173 kilometres (107 mi)) and Kosovo (114 kilometres (71 mi)) border the country in the north and northeast, respectively. A significant portion of this border connects high points and follows mountain ridges through the largely inaccessible Albanian Alps. The eastern border is shared with North Macedonia, which stretches 151 kilometres (94 mi). This border is located at the tripoint between Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia passing through the Sharr and Korab Mountains and continues until it reaches Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa. The southern and southeastern border with Greece is 282 kilometres (175 mi) long. The border is located at the tripoint border between Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece running across the Large and Small Lake Prespa until it reaches the Ionian Sea at the Strait of Corfu.",
"title": "Borders"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The most significant feature of Albania is possibly its relief, with numerous successive mountain ranges and its average altitude, more than 700 metres above sea level. Much of the mountains lie to the north, east and south of the western lowlands in the northern, eastern and southern mountain ranges.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Albanian Alps extend over 90 kilometres through the north of Albania, traversing an area of 2,000 square kilometres. These mountains represent an extension of the Dinaric Alps and no wider than 40 kilometres. They are deeply fragmented and often inaccessible. It holds the Maja Jezercë, which is the highest point of the Dinarides and simultaneously the second highest point of Albania.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Korab Mountains dominate the east of the country and expand 40 kilometres along the eastern border of the country, where peaks can clearly reach 2,500 metres. The mountains offer the country's most prominent peak at Mount Korab, which is fragmented by many deep structural depressions. Another distinguishing feature remains the evidence of the last ice age in form of glacial lakes at relatively low altitudes.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "One of the most remarkable features about the south of Albania is the presence of the Ceraunian Mountains that cut across the landscape for nearly 100 kilometres. Thousand meter high mountains fall vertically into the Mediterranean Sea constituting at least the first barrier to communication between the sea and the country's southern inland.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The country has a dense network of rivers and streams characterized by a high flow rate. They belong to the drainage basins of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea. They mostly rise in the mountainous eastern half of the country and have their mouths in the west along the coasts. They are sustained from snowmelt of the snow-capped mountains or from the abundant precipitation that falls at loftier elevations.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Eight notable rivers, along with their numerous tributaries, make up the river system of the country. The longest river is the Drin, which flows for 285 kilometres (177 mi) within the country. Its catchment area is one of the most biodiverse places in Europe and encompasses the lakes of Shkodër, Ohrid and Prespa. Of particular concern represent the river of Vjosa as it is considered as the last remaining wild river in Europe. The country's other rivers are Fan, Ishëm, Erzen, Mat, Seman and Shkumbin.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "With more than 250 lakes, the country is home to two of the largest lakes in Southern Europe and one of the oldest in the World. The lakes of the country are predominantly of karstic or glacial origin. The largest lake in Southern Europe is the Lake of Shkodër geographically located in the north, shared with Montenegro. One of the ancientest lakes in the world is the Lake of Ohrid located in the southeast, shared with North Macedonia. The highest positioned lakes in Southern Europe are the Large and Small Lake of Prespa in the southeast, shared with North Macedonia and Greece.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The country is also home to many lagoons of varied shape, size and structure. They are primarily positioned along the coast in the west of the country and also in the southeast. They contribute to the overall productivity of the coastal waters by supporting a variety of habitats and ecosystems. The largest lagoon in the country is the Lagoon of Karavasta located between the mouth of Shkumbin and Seman. Another significant lagoons are the lagoons of Patoku, Narta, Kunë-Vain and Butrint.",
"title": "Physical geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The proximity to the Mediterranean Sea and the convergence of exceptional climatic, geological and hydrological conditions, have contributed for the development of a diverse biodiversity, making Albania one of the biodiversity hotspots of Europe.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In terms of phytogeography, the land area of Albania extends within the Boreal Kingdom, specifically within the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region. Its territory can be subdivided into four terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic realm – the Illyrian, Balkan, Pindus and Dinaric forests.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Forests and woodlands are the most widespread terrestrial ecosystem in Albania. That of the northern edge of the country has an affinity for those of Continental Europe, while those of the southern edge refer to the affinity with that of the Mediterranean Basin. They are substantial because they provide shelter for a vast array of rare and endangered species of animals, among others the brown bear, Balkan lynx, grey wolf, golden jackal, Egyptian vulture and golden eagle. Albania had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.77/10, ranking it 64th globally out of 172 countries.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The Mediterranean monk seal, short-beaked common dolphin and common bottlenose dolphin can frequently be seen in the coastal waters of the country. Outstanding is the presence of the Dalmatian pelican, the rarest pelican in the world. The biodiversity of Albania is conserved in its protected areas, which provide protection to hundreds of threatened and endangered species.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Numerous parts of Albania are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations due to their natural, historical or cultural value. Protected areas belong to the most principal instruments of conservation which in turn contributes effectively to the maintenance of species, habitats and ecosystems.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The country has currently fifteen designated national parks, whereby one is specified as a marine park. Ranging from the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea to the Albanian Alps and the Ceraunian Mountains, they possess outstanding landscapes constituting habitats to thousands of plant and animal species. Butrint, Divjakë-Karavasta, Karaburun-Sazan, Llogara, Prespa, Shebenik-Jabllanicë, Theth and Valbonë are among the most spectacular national parks of the country.",
"title": "Biodiversity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Albania has a combination of a mediterranean climate and a continental climate, with four distinct seasons. The climatic conditions are highly variable and modified locally by altitude and latitude. Its climate is strongly influenced by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the mountains that raise in every corner around the country.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Its diverse regions have a remarkable range of microclimates, with the weather system on the coasts contrasting with that prevailing in the interior. Moreover, the weather varies from the north and towards the south and the west to the east. Albania occupies the climate ranges from temperate climate on the coasts to continental climate in the interior. The warmest areas of the country are at the coasts, which are characterized by a Mediterranean climate (Csa, Csb and Cfa) as defined by the Köppen climate classification. The highlands experiences an Oceanic climate. Winters in Albania are characteristically mild and wet while summers are warm and dry. The northern areas of country such as the Albanian Alps experiences a subarctic climate with frequently very cold winters, and short, mild summers.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The lowlands of Albania have mild winters, averaging about 7 °C (45 °F). The summer temperatures average 32 °C (90 °F), however, humidity is low. In the southern lowlands, specifically the areas on the Ionian sea, temperatures average about 5 °C (41 °F) in the winter and 30 °C (86 °F) during the summer.",
"title": "Climate"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The country is divided into four physiographic regions, the Northern Mountain Range, Central Mountain Range, Southern Mountain Range and Western Lowlands with two subdivisions corresponding roughly to the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Except for its sea coast in the west, the western lowlands are ringed by a great arc-shaped line of mountains spreading in the north, east and south. The predominantly flat and regular landscape is morphologically characterized by the sea and rivers, in terms of topography and soil, and also in its climate and biodiversity. The region experiences mild and short winters, with low rainfalls, and long hot and dry summers. It is mostly dominated by the extensive Myzeqe plain, a large alluvial plain traversed by three main rivers, the Shkumbin, Seman and Vjosë.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast stretches from the mouth of the River of Buna nearby the Lake of Shkodër in the north, across the Gulf of Drin, to the Bay of Vlorë in the south. The two largest coastal cities Durrës and Vlorë are located in the northern and the southern part of the region, respectively. The total length of the coastline is approximately 274 kilometres (170 mi), mostly of which are taken up by sandy beaches, wetlands and alluvial deposits, occurred by quaternary sediments of the main rivers of the country.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The coastline is lined with different habitats and ecosystems, providing optimal conditions for a rich biodiversity. Of particular importance is the presence of numerous lagoons and ponds, representing one of the wealthiest scenery of the country, in terms of biology. Likely, the lagoons of Karavasta and Narta, in the immediate proximity to the sea, are among the most important ones in the Mediterranean Sea.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "While the Adriatic coast is relatively low, the Ionian coast is, with few exceptions, rugged and mountainous. The Albanian Ionian Sea Coast stretches from the Peninsula of Karaburun in the north, through the Albanian Riviera, to the Straits of Corfu in the south. The largest coastal city Sarandë is located in the southern part of the region, while smaller villages include Borsh, Dhermi, Himara, Qeparo, Piqeras, and Lukovë. The total length of the coastline is approximately 172 kilometres (107 mi).",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The most characteristic features of the coastline are the Ceraunian Mountains, which extend nearly 100 kilometres (62 mi) along the Albanian Riviera roughly in a southeast–northwest direction. The region is particular fertile and known for its citrus fruits and viticulture, that has a long and special tradition in the region. The coastline is abundant in dolomite from the triassic period, the carbonate rocks follows with limestone from the jurassic period and bituminous schists, cretaceous porcelain and phosphate limestone.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The northern mountain range is the most mountainous region in the country and its physical geography and shape is distinguished by the convergence of two distinct geological regions, the Albanian Alps and Mirdita Highlands. A dominant feature of the region's landscape is the presence of several u-shaped valleys, such as the Valley of Valbonë, formed by the process of glaciation.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The Albanian Alps are the southernmost extension of the Dinaric Alps and simultaneously the highest and most imposing mountains of the country. Despite the fact that the ice ages had relatively little geological influence on the alps, the southernmost glaciers of Europe were recently discovered on the alps.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The Albanian Alps are home to many important rivers of Western Balkans. The main drainage basins of the Alps are those of the Drin and Danube Rivers. Rivers on the Alps fall roughly into two categories, those that flow into the Lim and those that enter the White Drin and meet the Black Drin downstream at the Drin confluence. However, Drin dominates, draining most of the Alps with its tributaries and when measured from the source of the White Drin to the mouth of the Drin near Lezhë. But not all of the Drin flows near or parallel to the Alps. One Drin tributary is the Valbona River, which drains into the Adriatic Sea, and its eastern tributary the Gashi River.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The terrain of the central mountain range is predominantly mountainous and extremely fragmented carved into its present shape by the glaciers of the last ice age. The region is dominated by three mountain ranges, each running from north-northeast to south-southwest, roughly parallel to the eastern border of Albania.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The Korab Mountains are certainly the most striking feature of the physical geography of the region. They offer simultaneously the highest mountain of the country, the Mount Korab. The mountains extends over 40 kilometres and covers an area of 560 square kilometres. Between the valleys of Shkumbin and Devoll rise the mountains that constitute to the Valamara Mountains, while farther north stretches the connected mountain massifs of Shebenik and Jabllanicë.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The vast majority of the region's natural lakes are located in the southern half of the region and most of them are the product of a long contiguous history. The Lake of Ohrid lie adjacent to the border shared with North Macedonia. It is one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world with a unique biodiversity. Further south, well hidden among high mountains, extend the Lake of Prespa that is linked by a small channel with a sluice that separates the two lakes.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The Ceraunian Mountains, a coastal mountain range in southwestern Albania, stretches about 100 kilometres (62 mi) besides the Ionian Sea from Sarandë in south-east-northwest direction along the Albanian Riviera to Orikum. The relief is varied, with many mountain passes, canyons, gorges, hills and other landforms. The mountains are characterized by housing Black pines, Bulgarian firs, Bosnian pines and Ash trees. The mountain chain is home to many large mammals, including brown bears, grey wolves, lynx, golden eagles and others. The highest point on the chain is Maja e Çikës, that rises to an elevation of 2,045 metres (6,709 ft) above the Adriatic. From the peak, there is a view of the Albanian Riviera, the northern Ionian Islands as well as the Italian coast of Apulia and Otranto. The section has wide and long beaches, with a number of bays and headlands.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Stretching until the Llogara Pass at 1,027 metres (3,369 ft), the mountain chain gets separated into the Ceraunians in the west and the Akroceraunians (or Reza e Kanalit) in the east within the Karaburun Peninsula. The villages of Palasë, Dhërmi, Vuno, Himarë, Qeparo, Borsh, Pilur, Kudhës and Ilias are located on the Ceraunian range. The Llogara National Park covers an area of 10,100 square metres (109,000 sq ft) and",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The Karaburun Peninsula is situated at the eastern side of Strait of Otranto, where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea. Its area is 62 square kilometres (24 sq mi), having a length of 16 kilometres (9.9 mi), and a width of only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). The Mesokanali is the narrow channel, that separates the peninsula from the Sazan Island. Geologically, it is made up of carbonic limestone, dating back to the Mesozoic period, while in the northwestern it is composed of terrigenous sediment. Furthermore, these formations have been continuously under the effect of Karst and are exploited as marble. The relief of the peninsula comprises a number of hills with an average altitude of about 800 metres (2,600 ft) above the Adriatic. The highest summits are Maja e Ilqës 733 metres (2,405 ft), Maja e Flamurit 826 metres (2,710 ft) and Maja Çadëri 839 metres (2,753 ft).",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The coastal landscape is characterized by a rough relief, that dips vertically into the Ionian Sea, it features several solitary peaks, large canyons, bays, caves and gulfs. Examples of typical landforms include Gjipe Canyon, Gjiri i Arushës, Gjiri i Dafinës, Gjiri i Gramës and so on. The geological evolution has formed also capes such as Haxhi Aliu, Galloveci and Kepi i Gjuhëzës, and other of 20 caves along the entire shoreline. The climate is Mediterranean, having hot summers and generally warm to cool, dry winters. Due to its climatic, hydrological and geological conditions, the area is characterized by its unique flora and fauna. Most of the territory consists of forests and is relatively well preserved, it includes many types of trees, such as Mediterranean oak, Manna ash, Kermes oak, and Field maple.",
"title": "Physiographic regions"
}
]
| Albania, its a country in Southeastern Europe, lies along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, with a coastline spanning approximately 476 km (296 mi). Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. It is bounded by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the southeast and south. Most of Albania rises into mountains and hills, tending to run the length of the country from north to south, as for instance the Albanian Alps in the north, the Sharr Mountains in the northeast, the Skanderbeg Mountains in the center, the Korab Mountains in the east, the Pindus Mountains in the southeast, and the Ceraunian Mountains in the southwest. Plains and plateaus extend in the west along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast. Some of the most considerable and oldest bodies of freshwater of Europe can be found in Albania. The second largest lake of Southern Europe, the Lake of Shkodër, is located in the northwest surrounded by the Albanian Alps and the Adriatic Sea. And one of the oldest continuously existing lakes in the world, the Lake of Ohrid, lies in the southeast, while the highest tectonic lakes of the Balkan Peninsula, the Large and Small Lake of Prespa, are well hidden among high mountains in the southeast. Rivers originate in the east of Albania and loop towards the west into the sea. They are encompassed by the drainage basins of the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Sea. The longest river in the country, measured from its mouth to its source, is the Drin that starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, the Black and White Drin, though also notable is the Vjosë, one of the last intact large river systems in Europe. For a small country, Albania is characterized for its biological diversity and abundance of contrasting ecosystems and habitats, defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres. This great diversity derives from Albania's geographic location on the Mediterranean Sea, with typical climatic conditions, varied topography, as well as the wealth of terrestrial and marine ecosystems providing a variety of habitats, each with its own typical flora and fauna. There are 799 Albanian protected areas covering a surface of 5,216.96 square kilometres. These include two strict nature reserves, 14 national parks, one marine park, eight archaeological parks, 750 natural monuments, 22 habitat/species management areas, five protected landscapes, 4 protected landscapes, four managed resources areas and four ramsar wetlands. The national parks cover a surface area of 210,668.48 hectares (2,106.6848 km2) or roughly 13.65% of the overall territory. | 2001-01-25T00:49:55Z | 2023-12-30T15:17:47Z | [
"Template:Geography of Europe",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Albania topics",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Europe topic",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Infobox place geography",
"Template:Wide image",
"Template:Commons"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Albania |
12,692 | Gimp | Gimp or GIMP may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gimp or GIMP may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Gimp or GIMP may refer to: | 2001-10-05T11:27:51Z | 2023-10-31T19:14:06Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:TOC right",
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimp |
12,694 | Gymnosphaerid | The gymnosphaerids (or Gymnosphaerida) are a small group of heliozoan protists found in marine environments. They tend to be roughly spherical with radially directed axopods, supported by microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array arising from an amorphous central granule.
There are only three genera, each with a single species: Gymnosphaera albida, Hedraiophrys hovassei, and Actinocoryne contractilis.
Gymnosphaerids were originally considered centrohelids, which also have microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array, but are set apart from the others by the structure of the central granule and the mitochondria, which have tubular cristae. The two groups have been treated as separate orders (Axoplasthelida and Centroplasthelida) in a common class, but this has lost support. Instead the gymnosphaerids may be allied with the desmothoracids, and on account of this have been placed in the Cercozoa, but this is somewhat tentative. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The gymnosphaerids (or Gymnosphaerida) are a small group of heliozoan protists found in marine environments. They tend to be roughly spherical with radially directed axopods, supported by microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array arising from an amorphous central granule.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "There are only three genera, each with a single species: Gymnosphaera albida, Hedraiophrys hovassei, and Actinocoryne contractilis.",
"title": "Genera"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Gymnosphaerids were originally considered centrohelids, which also have microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array, but are set apart from the others by the structure of the central granule and the mitochondria, which have tubular cristae. The two groups have been treated as separate orders (Axoplasthelida and Centroplasthelida) in a common class, but this has lost support. Instead the gymnosphaerids may be allied with the desmothoracids, and on account of this have been placed in the Cercozoa, but this is somewhat tentative.",
"title": "Classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "",
"title": "References"
}
]
| The gymnosphaerids are a small group of heliozoan protists found in marine environments. They tend to be roughly spherical with radially directed axopods, supported by microtubules in a triangular-hexagonal array arising from an amorphous central granule. | 2021-12-13T10:20:24Z | [
"Template:Cercozoa-stub",
"Template:Automatic taxobox",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Rhizaria",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Wikispecies",
"Template:Taxonbar"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosphaerid |
|
12,695 | Group representation | In the mathematical field of representation theory, group representations describe abstract groups in terms of bijective linear transformations of a vector space to itself (i.e. vector space automorphisms); in particular, they can be used to represent group elements as invertible matrices so that the group operation can be represented by matrix multiplication.
In chemistry, a group representation can relate mathematical group elements to symmetric rotations and reflections of molecules.
Representations of groups are important because they allow many group-theoretic problems to be reduced to problems in linear algebra, which is well understood. They are also important in physics because, for example, they describe how the symmetry group of a physical system affects the solutions of equations describing that system.
The term representation of a group is also used in a more general sense to mean any "description" of a group as a group of transformations of some mathematical object. More formally, a "representation" means a homomorphism from the group to the automorphism group of an object. If the object is a vector space we have a linear representation. Some people use realization for the general notion and reserve the term representation for the special case of linear representations. The bulk of this article describes linear representation theory; see the last section for generalizations.
The representation theory of groups divides into subtheories depending on the kind of group being represented. The various theories are quite different in detail, though some basic definitions and concepts are similar. The most important divisions are:
Representation theory also depends heavily on the type of vector space on which the group acts. One distinguishes between finite-dimensional representations and infinite-dimensional ones. In the infinite-dimensional case, additional structures are important (e.g. whether or not the space is a Hilbert space, Banach space, etc.).
One must also consider the type of field over which the vector space is defined. The most important case is the field of complex numbers. The other important cases are the field of real numbers, finite fields, and fields of p-adic numbers. In general, algebraically closed fields are easier to handle than non-algebraically closed ones. The characteristic of the field is also significant; many theorems for finite groups depend on the characteristic of the field not dividing the order of the group.
A representation of a group G on a vector space V over a field K is a group homomorphism from G to GL(V), the general linear group on V. That is, a representation is a map
such that
Here V is called the representation space and the dimension of V is called the dimension of the representation. It is common practice to refer to V itself as the representation when the homomorphism is clear from the context.
In the case where V is of finite dimension n it is common to choose a basis for V and identify GL(V) with GL(n, K), the group of n-by-n invertible matrices on the field K.
Consider the complex number u = e which has the property u = 1. The set C3 = {1, u, u} forms a cyclic group under multiplication. This group has a representation ρ on C 2 {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{2}} given by:
This representation is faithful because ρ is a one-to-one map.
Another representation for C3 on C 2 {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{2}} , isomorphic to the previous one, is σ given by:
The group C3 may also be faithfully represented on R 2 {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{2}} by τ given by:
where
Another example:
Let V {\displaystyle V} be the space of homogeneous degree-3 polynomials over the complex numbers in variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 . {\displaystyle x_{1},x_{2},x_{3}.}
Then S 3 {\displaystyle S_{3}} acts on V {\displaystyle V} by permutation of the three variables.
For instance, ( 12 ) {\displaystyle (12)} sends x 1 3 {\displaystyle x_{1}^{3}} to x 2 3 {\displaystyle x_{2}^{3}} .
A subspace W of V that is invariant under the group action is called a subrepresentation. If V has exactly two subrepresentations, namely the zero-dimensional subspace and V itself, then the representation is said to be irreducible; if it has a proper subrepresentation of nonzero dimension, the representation is said to be reducible. The representation of dimension zero is considered to be neither reducible nor irreducible, just as the number 1 is considered to be neither composite nor prime.
Under the assumption that the characteristic of the field K does not divide the size of the group, representations of finite groups can be decomposed into a direct sum of irreducible subrepresentations (see Maschke's theorem). This holds in particular for any representation of a finite group over the complex numbers, since the characteristic of the complex numbers is zero, which never divides the size of a group.
In the example above, the first two representations given (ρ and σ) are both decomposable into two 1-dimensional subrepresentations (given by span{(1,0)} and span{(0,1)}), while the third representation (τ) is irreducible.
A set-theoretic representation (also known as a group action or permutation representation) of a group G on a set X is given by a function ρ : G → X, the set of functions from X to X, such that for all g1, g2 in G and all x in X:
where 1 {\displaystyle 1} is the identity element of G. This condition and the axioms for a group imply that ρ(g) is a bijection (or permutation) for all g in G. Thus we may equivalently define a permutation representation to be a group homomorphism from G to the symmetric group SX of X.
For more information on this topic see the article on group action.
Every group G can be viewed as a category with a single object; morphisms in this category are just the elements of G. Given an arbitrary category C, a representation of G in C is a functor from G to C. Such a functor selects an object X in C and a group homomorphism from G to Aut(X), the automorphism group of X.
In the case where C is VectK, the category of vector spaces over a field K, this definition is equivalent to a linear representation. Likewise, a set-theoretic representation is just a representation of G in the category of sets.
When C is Ab, the category of abelian groups, the objects obtained are called G-modules.
For another example consider the category of topological spaces, Top. Representations in Top are homomorphisms from G to the homeomorphism group of a topological space X.
Two types of representations closely related to linear representations are: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In the mathematical field of representation theory, group representations describe abstract groups in terms of bijective linear transformations of a vector space to itself (i.e. vector space automorphisms); in particular, they can be used to represent group elements as invertible matrices so that the group operation can be represented by matrix multiplication.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In chemistry, a group representation can relate mathematical group elements to symmetric rotations and reflections of molecules.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Representations of groups are important because they allow many group-theoretic problems to be reduced to problems in linear algebra, which is well understood. They are also important in physics because, for example, they describe how the symmetry group of a physical system affects the solutions of equations describing that system.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term representation of a group is also used in a more general sense to mean any \"description\" of a group as a group of transformations of some mathematical object. More formally, a \"representation\" means a homomorphism from the group to the automorphism group of an object. If the object is a vector space we have a linear representation. Some people use realization for the general notion and reserve the term representation for the special case of linear representations. The bulk of this article describes linear representation theory; see the last section for generalizations.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The representation theory of groups divides into subtheories depending on the kind of group being represented. The various theories are quite different in detail, though some basic definitions and concepts are similar. The most important divisions are:",
"title": "Branches of group representation theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Representation theory also depends heavily on the type of vector space on which the group acts. One distinguishes between finite-dimensional representations and infinite-dimensional ones. In the infinite-dimensional case, additional structures are important (e.g. whether or not the space is a Hilbert space, Banach space, etc.).",
"title": "Branches of group representation theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "One must also consider the type of field over which the vector space is defined. The most important case is the field of complex numbers. The other important cases are the field of real numbers, finite fields, and fields of p-adic numbers. In general, algebraically closed fields are easier to handle than non-algebraically closed ones. The characteristic of the field is also significant; many theorems for finite groups depend on the characteristic of the field not dividing the order of the group.",
"title": "Branches of group representation theory"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "A representation of a group G on a vector space V over a field K is a group homomorphism from G to GL(V), the general linear group on V. That is, a representation is a map",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "such that",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Here V is called the representation space and the dimension of V is called the dimension of the representation. It is common practice to refer to V itself as the representation when the homomorphism is clear from the context.",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the case where V is of finite dimension n it is common to choose a basis for V and identify GL(V) with GL(n, K), the group of n-by-n invertible matrices on the field K.",
"title": "Definitions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Consider the complex number u = e which has the property u = 1. The set C3 = {1, u, u} forms a cyclic group under multiplication. This group has a representation ρ on C 2 {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {C} ^{2}} given by:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "This representation is faithful because ρ is a one-to-one map.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Another representation for C3 on C 2 {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {C} ^{2}} , isomorphic to the previous one, is σ given by:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The group C3 may also be faithfully represented on R 2 {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {R} ^{2}} by τ given by:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "where",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Another example:",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Let V {\\displaystyle V} be the space of homogeneous degree-3 polynomials over the complex numbers in variables x 1 , x 2 , x 3 . {\\displaystyle x_{1},x_{2},x_{3}.}",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Then S 3 {\\displaystyle S_{3}} acts on V {\\displaystyle V} by permutation of the three variables.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "For instance, ( 12 ) {\\displaystyle (12)} sends x 1 3 {\\displaystyle x_{1}^{3}} to x 2 3 {\\displaystyle x_{2}^{3}} .",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "A subspace W of V that is invariant under the group action is called a subrepresentation. If V has exactly two subrepresentations, namely the zero-dimensional subspace and V itself, then the representation is said to be irreducible; if it has a proper subrepresentation of nonzero dimension, the representation is said to be reducible. The representation of dimension zero is considered to be neither reducible nor irreducible, just as the number 1 is considered to be neither composite nor prime.",
"title": "Reducibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Under the assumption that the characteristic of the field K does not divide the size of the group, representations of finite groups can be decomposed into a direct sum of irreducible subrepresentations (see Maschke's theorem). This holds in particular for any representation of a finite group over the complex numbers, since the characteristic of the complex numbers is zero, which never divides the size of a group.",
"title": "Reducibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In the example above, the first two representations given (ρ and σ) are both decomposable into two 1-dimensional subrepresentations (given by span{(1,0)} and span{(0,1)}), while the third representation (τ) is irreducible.",
"title": "Reducibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "A set-theoretic representation (also known as a group action or permutation representation) of a group G on a set X is given by a function ρ : G → X, the set of functions from X to X, such that for all g1, g2 in G and all x in X:",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "where 1 {\\displaystyle 1} is the identity element of G. This condition and the axioms for a group imply that ρ(g) is a bijection (or permutation) for all g in G. Thus we may equivalently define a permutation representation to be a group homomorphism from G to the symmetric group SX of X.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "For more information on this topic see the article on group action.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Every group G can be viewed as a category with a single object; morphisms in this category are just the elements of G. Given an arbitrary category C, a representation of G in C is a functor from G to C. Such a functor selects an object X in C and a group homomorphism from G to Aut(X), the automorphism group of X.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In the case where C is VectK, the category of vector spaces over a field K, this definition is equivalent to a linear representation. Likewise, a set-theoretic representation is just a representation of G in the category of sets.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "When C is Ab, the category of abelian groups, the objects obtained are called G-modules.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "For another example consider the category of topological spaces, Top. Representations in Top are homomorphisms from G to the homeomorphism group of a topological space X.",
"title": "Generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Two types of representations closely related to linear representations are:",
"title": "Generalizations"
}
]
| In the mathematical field of representation theory, group representations describe abstract groups in terms of bijective linear transformations of a vector space to itself; in particular, they can be used to represent group elements as invertible matrices so that the group operation can be represented by matrix multiplication. In chemistry, a group representation can relate mathematical group elements to symmetric rotations and reflections of molecules. Representations of groups are important because they allow many group-theoretic problems to be reduced to problems in linear algebra, which is well understood. They are also important in physics because, for example, they describe how the symmetry group of a physical system affects the solutions of equations describing that system. The term representation of a group is also used in a more general sense to mean any "description" of a group as a group of transformations of some mathematical object. More formally, a "representation" means a homomorphism from the group to the automorphism group of an object. If the object is a vector space we have a linear representation. Some people use realization for the general notion and reserve the term representation for the special case of linear representations. The bulk of this article describes linear representation theory; see the last section for generalizations. | 2001-10-08T21:37:29Z | 2023-12-24T09:34:07Z | [
"Template:Dubious",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Fulton-Harris",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_representation |
12,696 | GRE Physics Test | The GRE physics test is an examination administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test attempts to determine the extent of the examinees' understanding of fundamental principles of physics and their ability to apply them to problem solving. Many graduate schools require applicants to take the exam and base admission decisions in part on the results.
The scope of the test is largely that of the first three years of a standard United States undergraduate physics curriculum, since many students who plan to continue to graduate school apply during the first half of the fourth year. It consists of 100 five-option multiple-choice questions covering subject areas including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, wave phenomena and optics, thermal physics, relativity, atomic and nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, laboratory techniques, and mathematical methods. The table below indicates the relative weights, as asserted by ETS, and detailed contents of the major topics. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The GRE physics test is an examination administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test attempts to determine the extent of the examinees' understanding of fundamental principles of physics and their ability to apply them to problem solving. Many graduate schools require applicants to take the exam and base admission decisions in part on the results.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The scope of the test is largely that of the first three years of a standard United States undergraduate physics curriculum, since many students who plan to continue to graduate school apply during the first half of the fourth year. It consists of 100 five-option multiple-choice questions covering subject areas including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, wave phenomena and optics, thermal physics, relativity, atomic and nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, laboratory techniques, and mathematical methods. The table below indicates the relative weights, as asserted by ETS, and detailed contents of the major topics.",
"title": ""
}
]
| The GRE physics test is an examination administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test attempts to determine the extent of the examinees' understanding of fundamental principles of physics and their ability to apply them to problem solving. Many graduate schools require applicants to take the exam and base admission decisions in part on the results. The scope of the test is largely that of the first three years of a standard
United States undergraduate physics curriculum, since many students who plan to continue to graduate school apply during the first half of the fourth year. It consists of 100 five-option multiple-choice questions covering subject areas including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, wave phenomena and optics, thermal physics, relativity, atomic and nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, laboratory techniques, and mathematical methods. The table below indicates the relative weights, as asserted by ETS, and detailed contents of the major topics. | 2001-10-10T08:40:06Z | 2023-10-07T16:56:22Z | [
"Template:Infobox examination",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRE_Physics_Test |
12,697 | Gardnerian Wicca | Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian witchcraft, is a tradition in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and amateur scholar of magic. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself left that tradition to found his own.
Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practices that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest coven, who allegedly initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest created tradition of Wicca, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.
From the supposed New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven, and in turn initiated many Witches, including a series of High Priestesses, founding further covens and continuing the initiation of more Wiccans into the tradition. In the UK, Europe and most Commonwealth countries someone self-defined as Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca. Elsewhere, these original lineaged traditions are termed "British Traditional Wicca".
Gardnerian Wiccans organize into covens, that traditionally, though not always, are limited to thirteen members. Covens are led by a High Priestess and the High Priest of her choice, and celebrate both a Goddess and a God.
Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca operate as an initiatory mystery cult; membership is gained only through initiation by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to Gerald Gardner, and through him back to the New Forest coven.
Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans maintain secrecy regarding their membership in the religion. Whether any individual Wiccan chooses secrecy or openness often depends on their location, career, and life circumstances. In all cases, Gardnerian Wicca absolutely forbids any member to share the name, personal information, fact of membership, and so on without advanced individual consent of that member for that specific instance of sharing.
In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. Ronald Hutton suggests that "the outlines of the first two [initiation] rituals are very clearly Masonic."
In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the Horned God and the Mother Goddess. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. Doreen Valiente, a Gardnerian High Priestess, revealed that there were more than one.
The Gardnerian tradition teaches a core ethical guideline, often referred to as "The Rede" or "The Wiccan Rede". In the archaic language often retained in some Gardnerian lore, the Rede states, "An it harm none, do as thou wilt."
Witches [...] are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol, "Do what you like so long as you harm no one". But they believe a certain law to be important, "You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm."
A second ethical guideline is often called the Law of Return, sometimes the Rule of Three. Like the Rede, this guideline teaches Gardnerians that whatever energy or intention one puts out into the world, whether magical or not, will return to that person multiplied by three. This law is controversial, as discussed by John Coughlin, author of The Pagan Resource Guide, in an essay, "The Three-Fold Law."
The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for themselves what the ritual experience means by using the basic language of the shared ritual tradition, to be discovered through the Mysteries. The tradition is often characterized as an orthopraxy (correct practice) rather than an orthodoxy (correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.
In the early 20th century, Margaret Murray promoted the theory that persecuted witches had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion, but this theory is now rejected by academia. Nevertheless, it was an influence on some neo-pagans. On retirement from the British Colonial Service, Gerald Gardner moved to London but then before World War II moved to Highcliffe, east of Bournemouth and near the New Forest on the south coast of England. After attending a performance staged by the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, he reports meeting a group of people who had preserved their historic occult practices. They recognised him as being "one of them" and convinced him to be initiated. It was only halfway through the initiation, he says, that it dawned on him what kind of group it was, and that witchcraft was still being practised in England.
The group into which Gardner was initiated, known as the New Forest coven, was small and utterly secret as the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made it illegal to claim to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells; it likewise made an accusation of witchcraft a criminal offence. Gardner's enthusiasm for the coven led him to wish to document it, but both the witchcraft laws and the coven's secrecy forbade that, despite his excitement. After World War II, Gardner's High Priestess and coven leader relented sufficiently to allow a fictional treatment that did not expose them to prosecution, "High Magic's Aid":
Anyhow, I soon found myself in the circle and took the usual oaths of secrecy which bound me not to reveal any secrets of the cult. But, as it is a dying cult, I thought it was a pity that all the knowledge should be lost, so in the end I was permitted to write, as fiction, something of what a witch believes in the novel High Magic's Aid.
After the witchcraft laws were repealed in 1951, and replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, publishing his first non-fiction book, "Witchcraft Today", in 1954. Gardner continued, as the text often iterates, to respect his oaths and the wishes of his High Priestess in his writing. Gardner said that the "Witchcraft" religion was dying out, and he pursued publicity and welcomed new initiates during the last years of his life. Gardner even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some more conservative members of the tradition. In Gardner's own words, "Witchcraft doesn't pay for broken windows!"
Gardner knew many famous occultists. Ross Nichols was a friend and fellow Druid (until 1964 member of the Ancient Order of Druids, when he left to found his own Druidic Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids). Nichols edited Gardner's "Witchcraft Today" and is mentioned extensively in Gardner's "The Meaning of Witchcraft". Near the end of Aleister Crowley's life, Gardner met with him for the first time on 1 May 1947 and visited him twice more before Crowley's death that autumn; at some point, Crowley gave Gardner an Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) charter and the 4th OTO degree—the lowest degree authorising use of the charter.
Doreen Valiente, one of Gardner's priestesses, identified the woman who initiated Gardner as Dorothy Clutterbuck, referenced in "A Witches' Bible" by Janet and Stewart Farrar. Valiente's identification was based on references Gardner made to a woman he called "Old Dorothy" whom Valiente remembered. Biographer Philip Heselton corrects Valiente, clarifying that Clutterbuck (Dorothy St. Quintin-Fordham, née Clutterbuck), a Pagan-minded woman, owned the Mill House, where the New Forest coven performed Gardner's initiation ritual. Scholar Ronald Hutton argues in his Triumph of the Moon that Gardner's tradition was largely the inspiration of members of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship and especially that of a woman known by the magical name of "Dafo". Dr. Leo Ruickbie, in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, analysed the documented evidence and concluded that Aleister Crowley played a crucial role in inspiring Gardner to establish a new pagan religion. Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known, was written by Blake, Yeats, Valiente and Crowley and contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.
The witches Gardner was originally introduced to were originally referred to by him as "the Wica" and he would often use the term "Witch Cult" to describe the religion. Other terms used, included "Witchcraft" or "the Old Religion." Later publications standardised the spelling to "Wicca" and it came to be used as the term for the Craft, rather than its followers. "Gardnerian" was originally a pejorative term used by Gardner's contemporary Roy Bowers (also known as Robert Cochrane), a British cunning man, who nonetheless was initiated into Gardnerian Wicca a couple of years following Gardner's death.
Gardner stated that the rituals of the existing group were fragmentary at best, and he set about fleshing them out, drawing on his library and knowledge as an occultist and amateur folklorist. Gardner borrowed and wove together appropriate material from other artists and occultists, most notably Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, the Key of Solomon as published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, Masonic ritual, Crowley, and Rudyard Kipling. Doreen Valiente wrote much of the best-known poetry, including the much-quoted Charge of the Goddess.
In 1948–1949, Gardner and Dafo were running a coven separate from the original New Forest coven at a naturist club near Bricket Wood to the north of London. By 1952 Dafo's health had begun to decline, and she was increasingly wary of Gardner's publicity-seeking. In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente who was to become his High Priestess in succession to Dafo. The question of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft', which included restrictions on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws which led to some of his members, including Valiente, leaving the coven.
Gardner reported that witches were taught that the power of the human body can be released, for use in a coven's circle, by various means, and released more easily without clothing. A simple method was dancing round the circle singing or chanting; another method was the traditional "binding and scourging." In addition to raising power, "binding and scourging" can heighten the initiates' sensitivity and spiritual experience.
Following the time Gardner spent on the Isle of Man, the coven began to experiment with circle dancing as an alternative. It was also about this time that the lesser 4 of the 8 Sabbats were given greater prominence. Bricket Wood coven members liked the Sabbat celebrations so much, they decided that there was no reason to keep them confined to the closest full moon meeting, and made them festivities in their own right. As Gardner had no objection to this change suggested by the Bricket Wood coven, this collective decision resulted in what is now the standard eight festivities in the Wiccan Wheel of the year.
The split with Valiente led to the Bricket Wood coven being led by Jack Bracelin and a new High Priestess, Dayonis. This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups, but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly. Certain others also helped fuel this publicity, such as Alex Sanders (real name Orrell Alexander Carter) and Raymond Buckland. Sanders started his own separate tradition, together with his wife Maxine, known as Alexandrian Wicca and frequently were covered by the press. Buckland, who authored dozens of books on the subject, brought the Gardnerian tradition to the United States in 1964, later to start his own tradition known as Seax Wicca.
On July 18, 2022, an open letter titled “A Declaration of the Traditional Gardnerian Wica” was electronically published by 47 Third-degree and autonomous Second-degree Gardnerian initiates, representing coven leaders and Gardnerian Elders, who identified themselves as practicing Gardnerian Wicca within the framework of male/female polarity. The letter’s signatories claimed that biological gender essentialism was fundamental to Gardnerian practice, and that initiates who disagreed with this view of gender had effectively left the Gardnerian tradition. These claims met with accusations of transphobia from three members of the Gardnerian community. Pagan blog site The Wild Hunt noted that because of Gardnerian Wicca’s decentralized structure and emphasis on coven autonomy, “the proclamation effectively only applies to covens that are led by or hive from the documents’ signers.” | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian witchcraft, is a tradition in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and amateur scholar of magic. The term \"Gardnerian\" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself left that tradition to found his own.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practices that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest coven, who allegedly initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest created tradition of Wicca, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "From the supposed New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven, and in turn initiated many Witches, including a series of High Priestesses, founding further covens and continuing the initiation of more Wiccans into the tradition. In the UK, Europe and most Commonwealth countries someone self-defined as Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca. Elsewhere, these original lineaged traditions are termed \"British Traditional Wicca\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Gardnerian Wiccans organize into covens, that traditionally, though not always, are limited to thirteen members. Covens are led by a High Priestess and the High Priest of her choice, and celebrate both a Goddess and a God.",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca operate as an initiatory mystery cult; membership is gained only through initiation by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to Gerald Gardner, and through him back to the New Forest coven.",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans maintain secrecy regarding their membership in the religion. Whether any individual Wiccan chooses secrecy or openness often depends on their location, career, and life circumstances. In all cases, Gardnerian Wicca absolutely forbids any member to share the name, personal information, fact of membership, and so on without advanced individual consent of that member for that specific instance of sharing.",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. Ronald Hutton suggests that \"the outlines of the first two [initiation] rituals are very clearly Masonic.\"",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the Horned God and the Mother Goddess. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. Doreen Valiente, a Gardnerian High Priestess, revealed that there were more than one.",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Gardnerian tradition teaches a core ethical guideline, often referred to as \"The Rede\" or \"The Wiccan Rede\". In the archaic language often retained in some Gardnerian lore, the Rede states, \"An it harm none, do as thou wilt.\"",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Witches [...] are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol, \"Do what you like so long as you harm no one\". But they believe a certain law to be important, \"You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm.\"",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A second ethical guideline is often called the Law of Return, sometimes the Rule of Three. Like the Rede, this guideline teaches Gardnerians that whatever energy or intention one puts out into the world, whether magical or not, will return to that person multiplied by three. This law is controversial, as discussed by John Coughlin, author of The Pagan Resource Guide, in an essay, \"The Three-Fold Law.\"",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for themselves what the ritual experience means by using the basic language of the shared ritual tradition, to be discovered through the Mysteries. The tradition is often characterized as an orthopraxy (correct practice) rather than an orthodoxy (correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.",
"title": "Beliefs and practices"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In the early 20th century, Margaret Murray promoted the theory that persecuted witches had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion, but this theory is now rejected by academia. Nevertheless, it was an influence on some neo-pagans. On retirement from the British Colonial Service, Gerald Gardner moved to London but then before World War II moved to Highcliffe, east of Bournemouth and near the New Forest on the south coast of England. After attending a performance staged by the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, he reports meeting a group of people who had preserved their historic occult practices. They recognised him as being \"one of them\" and convinced him to be initiated. It was only halfway through the initiation, he says, that it dawned on him what kind of group it was, and that witchcraft was still being practised in England.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The group into which Gardner was initiated, known as the New Forest coven, was small and utterly secret as the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made it illegal to claim to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells; it likewise made an accusation of witchcraft a criminal offence. Gardner's enthusiasm for the coven led him to wish to document it, but both the witchcraft laws and the coven's secrecy forbade that, despite his excitement. After World War II, Gardner's High Priestess and coven leader relented sufficiently to allow a fictional treatment that did not expose them to prosecution, \"High Magic's Aid\":",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Anyhow, I soon found myself in the circle and took the usual oaths of secrecy which bound me not to reveal any secrets of the cult. But, as it is a dying cult, I thought it was a pity that all the knowledge should be lost, so in the end I was permitted to write, as fiction, something of what a witch believes in the novel High Magic's Aid.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "After the witchcraft laws were repealed in 1951, and replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, publishing his first non-fiction book, \"Witchcraft Today\", in 1954. Gardner continued, as the text often iterates, to respect his oaths and the wishes of his High Priestess in his writing. Gardner said that the \"Witchcraft\" religion was dying out, and he pursued publicity and welcomed new initiates during the last years of his life. Gardner even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some more conservative members of the tradition. In Gardner's own words, \"Witchcraft doesn't pay for broken windows!\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Gardner knew many famous occultists. Ross Nichols was a friend and fellow Druid (until 1964 member of the Ancient Order of Druids, when he left to found his own Druidic Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids). Nichols edited Gardner's \"Witchcraft Today\" and is mentioned extensively in Gardner's \"The Meaning of Witchcraft\". Near the end of Aleister Crowley's life, Gardner met with him for the first time on 1 May 1947 and visited him twice more before Crowley's death that autumn; at some point, Crowley gave Gardner an Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) charter and the 4th OTO degree—the lowest degree authorising use of the charter.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Doreen Valiente, one of Gardner's priestesses, identified the woman who initiated Gardner as Dorothy Clutterbuck, referenced in \"A Witches' Bible\" by Janet and Stewart Farrar. Valiente's identification was based on references Gardner made to a woman he called \"Old Dorothy\" whom Valiente remembered. Biographer Philip Heselton corrects Valiente, clarifying that Clutterbuck (Dorothy St. Quintin-Fordham, née Clutterbuck), a Pagan-minded woman, owned the Mill House, where the New Forest coven performed Gardner's initiation ritual. Scholar Ronald Hutton argues in his Triumph of the Moon that Gardner's tradition was largely the inspiration of members of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship and especially that of a woman known by the magical name of \"Dafo\". Dr. Leo Ruickbie, in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, analysed the documented evidence and concluded that Aleister Crowley played a crucial role in inspiring Gardner to establish a new pagan religion. Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known, was written by Blake, Yeats, Valiente and Crowley and contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The witches Gardner was originally introduced to were originally referred to by him as \"the Wica\" and he would often use the term \"Witch Cult\" to describe the religion. Other terms used, included \"Witchcraft\" or \"the Old Religion.\" Later publications standardised the spelling to \"Wicca\" and it came to be used as the term for the Craft, rather than its followers. \"Gardnerian\" was originally a pejorative term used by Gardner's contemporary Roy Bowers (also known as Robert Cochrane), a British cunning man, who nonetheless was initiated into Gardnerian Wicca a couple of years following Gardner's death.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Gardner stated that the rituals of the existing group were fragmentary at best, and he set about fleshing them out, drawing on his library and knowledge as an occultist and amateur folklorist. Gardner borrowed and wove together appropriate material from other artists and occultists, most notably Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, the Key of Solomon as published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, Masonic ritual, Crowley, and Rudyard Kipling. Doreen Valiente wrote much of the best-known poetry, including the much-quoted Charge of the Goddess.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1948–1949, Gardner and Dafo were running a coven separate from the original New Forest coven at a naturist club near Bricket Wood to the north of London. By 1952 Dafo's health had begun to decline, and she was increasingly wary of Gardner's publicity-seeking. In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente who was to become his High Priestess in succession to Dafo. The question of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft', which included restrictions on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws which led to some of his members, including Valiente, leaving the coven.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Gardner reported that witches were taught that the power of the human body can be released, for use in a coven's circle, by various means, and released more easily without clothing. A simple method was dancing round the circle singing or chanting; another method was the traditional \"binding and scourging.\" In addition to raising power, \"binding and scourging\" can heighten the initiates' sensitivity and spiritual experience.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Following the time Gardner spent on the Isle of Man, the coven began to experiment with circle dancing as an alternative. It was also about this time that the lesser 4 of the 8 Sabbats were given greater prominence. Bricket Wood coven members liked the Sabbat celebrations so much, they decided that there was no reason to keep them confined to the closest full moon meeting, and made them festivities in their own right. As Gardner had no objection to this change suggested by the Bricket Wood coven, this collective decision resulted in what is now the standard eight festivities in the Wiccan Wheel of the year.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The split with Valiente led to the Bricket Wood coven being led by Jack Bracelin and a new High Priestess, Dayonis. This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups, but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly. Certain others also helped fuel this publicity, such as Alex Sanders (real name Orrell Alexander Carter) and Raymond Buckland. Sanders started his own separate tradition, together with his wife Maxine, known as Alexandrian Wicca and frequently were covered by the press. Buckland, who authored dozens of books on the subject, brought the Gardnerian tradition to the United States in 1964, later to start his own tradition known as Seax Wicca.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "On July 18, 2022, an open letter titled “A Declaration of the Traditional Gardnerian Wica” was electronically published by 47 Third-degree and autonomous Second-degree Gardnerian initiates, representing coven leaders and Gardnerian Elders, who identified themselves as practicing Gardnerian Wicca within the framework of male/female polarity. The letter’s signatories claimed that biological gender essentialism was fundamental to Gardnerian practice, and that initiates who disagreed with this view of gender had effectively left the Gardnerian tradition. These claims met with accusations of transphobia from three members of the Gardnerian community. Pagan blog site The Wild Hunt noted that because of Gardnerian Wicca’s decentralized structure and emphasis on coven autonomy, “the proclamation effectively only applies to covens that are led by or hive from the documents’ signers.”",
"title": "History"
}
]
| Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian witchcraft, is a tradition in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and amateur scholar of magic. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself left that tradition to found his own. Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practices that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest coven, who allegedly initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest created tradition of Wicca, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived. From the supposed New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven, and in turn initiated many Witches, including a series of High Priestesses, founding further covens and continuing the initiation of more Wiccans into the tradition. In the UK, Europe and most Commonwealth countries someone self-defined as Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca. Elsewhere, these original lineaged traditions are termed "British Traditional Wicca". | 2001-10-08T13:34:42Z | 2023-11-18T01:38:16Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox religion",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:By whom",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Request quotation",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:WiccaandWitchcraft"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardnerian_Wicca |
12,701 | Greenwich Mean Time | Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term GMT is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.
Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky there. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, a discrepancy described by the equation of time. Noon GMT is the annual average (the arithmetic mean) moment of this event, which accounts for the word "mean" in "Greenwich Mean Time".
Originally, astronomers considered a GMT day to start at noon, while for almost everyone else it started at midnight. To avoid confusion, the name Universal Time was introduced in 1928 to denote GMT as counted from midnight. Today, Universal Time usually refers to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or UT1; English speakers often use GMT as a synonym for UTC. For navigation, it is considered equivalent to UT1 (the modern form of mean solar time at 0° longitude); but this meaning can differ from UTC by up to 0.9 s. The term GMT should thus not be used for purposes that require precision.
The term GMT is especially used by United Kingdom bodies, such as the BBC World Service, the Royal Navy, and the Met Office; and others particularly in Arab countries, such as the Middle East Broadcasting Centre and OSN.
As the United Kingdom developed into an advanced maritime nation, British mariners kept at least one chronometer on GMT to calculate their longitude from the Greenwich meridian, which was considered to have longitude zero degrees, by a convention adopted in the International Meridian Conference of 1884. Synchronisation of the chronometer on GMT did not affect shipboard time, which was still solar time. But this practice, combined with mariners from other nations drawing from Nevil Maskelyne's method of lunar distances based on observations at Greenwich, led to GMT being used worldwide as a standard time independent of location. Most time zones were based upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours (and possibly half or quarter hours) "ahead of GMT" or "behind GMT".
Greenwich Mean Time was adopted across the island of Great Britain by the Railway Clearing House in 1847 and by almost all railway companies by the following year, from which the term railway time is derived. It was gradually adopted for other purposes, but a legal case in 1858 held "local mean time" to be the official time. On 14 May 1880, a letter signed by "Clerk to Justices" appeared in The Times, stating that "Greenwich time is now kept almost throughout England, but it appears that Greenwich time is not legal time. For example, our polling booths were opened, say, at 8 13 and closed at 4 13 p.m." This was changed later in 1880, when Greenwich Mean Time was legally adopted throughout the island of Great Britain. GMT was adopted in the Isle of Man in 1883, in Jersey in 1898 and in Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time. Hourly time signals from Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by shortwave radio on 5 February 1924 at 17:30:00 UTC, rendering the time ball at the observatory redundant.
The daily rotation of the Earth is irregular (see ΔT) and has a slowing trend; therefore atomic clocks constitute a much more stable timebase. On 1 January 1972, GMT as the international civil time standard was superseded by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), maintained by an ensemble of atomic clocks around the world. Universal Time (UT), a term introduced in 1928, initially represented mean time at Greenwich determined in the traditional way to accord with the originally defined universal day; from 1 January 1956 (as decided by the International Astronomical Union in Dublin in 1955, at the initiative of William Markowitz) this "raw" form of UT was re-labelled UT0 and effectively superseded by refined forms UT1 (UT0 equalised for the effects of polar wandering) and UT2 (UT1 further equalised for annual seasonal variations in Earth rotation rate).
Indeed, even the Greenwich meridian itself is not quite what it used to be—defined by "the centre of the transit instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich". Although that instrument still survives in working order, it is no longer in use and now the meridian of origin of the world's longitude and time is not strictly defined in material form but from a statistical solution resulting from observations of all time-determination stations which the BIPM takes into account when co-ordinating the world's time signals. Nevertheless, the line in the old observatory's courtyard today differs no more than a few metres from that imaginary line which is now the prime meridian of the world.
Historically, GMT has been used with two different conventions for numbering hours. The long-standing astronomical convention, dating from the work of Ptolemy, was to refer to noon as zero hours (see Julian day). This contrasted with the civil convention of referring to midnight as zero hours dating from the Roman Empire. The latter convention was adopted on and after 1 January 1925 for astronomical purposes, resulting in a discontinuity of 12 hours, or half a day. The instant that was designated as "December 31.5 GMT" in 1924 almanacs became "January 1.0 GMT" in 1925 almanacs. The term Greenwich Mean Astronomical Time (GMAT) was introduced to unambiguously refer to the previous noon-based astronomical convention for GMT. The more specific terms UT and UTC do not share this ambiguity, always referring to midnight as zero hours.
Legally, the civil time used in the UK is called "Greenwich mean time" (without capitalisation), with an exception made for those periods when the Summer Time Act 1972 orders an hour's shift for daylight saving. The Interpretation Act 1978, section 9, provides that whenever an expression of time occurs in any Act, the time referred to shall (unless otherwise specifically stated) be held to be Greenwich mean time. Under subsection 23, the same rule applies to deeds and other instruments.
During the experiment of 1968 to 1971, when the British Isles did not revert to Greenwich Mean Time during the winter, the all-year British Summer Time was called British Standard Time (BST).
In the UK, UTC+00:00 is disseminated to the general public in winter and UTC+01:00 in summer.
BBC radio stations broadcast the "six pips" of the Greenwich Time Signal. It is named from its original generation at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. If announced (such as near the start of summer time or of winter time), announcers on domestic channels declare the time as GMT or BST as appropriate. As the BBC World Service is broadcast to all time zones, the announcers use the term "Greenwich Mean Time" consistently throughout the year.
Several countries define their local time by reference to Greenwich Mean Time. Some examples are:
Greenwich Mean Time is defined in law as standard time in the following countries and areas, which also advance their clocks one hour (GMT+1) in summer.
Greenwich Mean Time is used as standard time all year round in the following countries and areas: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term GMT is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky there. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, a discrepancy described by the equation of time. Noon GMT is the annual average (the arithmetic mean) moment of this event, which accounts for the word \"mean\" in \"Greenwich Mean Time\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Originally, astronomers considered a GMT day to start at noon, while for almost everyone else it started at midnight. To avoid confusion, the name Universal Time was introduced in 1928 to denote GMT as counted from midnight. Today, Universal Time usually refers to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or UT1; English speakers often use GMT as a synonym for UTC. For navigation, it is considered equivalent to UT1 (the modern form of mean solar time at 0° longitude); but this meaning can differ from UTC by up to 0.9 s. The term GMT should thus not be used for purposes that require precision.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term GMT is especially used by United Kingdom bodies, such as the BBC World Service, the Royal Navy, and the Met Office; and others particularly in Arab countries, such as the Middle East Broadcasting Centre and OSN.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "As the United Kingdom developed into an advanced maritime nation, British mariners kept at least one chronometer on GMT to calculate their longitude from the Greenwich meridian, which was considered to have longitude zero degrees, by a convention adopted in the International Meridian Conference of 1884. Synchronisation of the chronometer on GMT did not affect shipboard time, which was still solar time. But this practice, combined with mariners from other nations drawing from Nevil Maskelyne's method of lunar distances based on observations at Greenwich, led to GMT being used worldwide as a standard time independent of location. Most time zones were based upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours (and possibly half or quarter hours) \"ahead of GMT\" or \"behind GMT\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Greenwich Mean Time was adopted across the island of Great Britain by the Railway Clearing House in 1847 and by almost all railway companies by the following year, from which the term railway time is derived. It was gradually adopted for other purposes, but a legal case in 1858 held \"local mean time\" to be the official time. On 14 May 1880, a letter signed by \"Clerk to Justices\" appeared in The Times, stating that \"Greenwich time is now kept almost throughout England, but it appears that Greenwich time is not legal time. For example, our polling booths were opened, say, at 8 13 and closed at 4 13 p.m.\" This was changed later in 1880, when Greenwich Mean Time was legally adopted throughout the island of Great Britain. GMT was adopted in the Isle of Man in 1883, in Jersey in 1898 and in Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time. Hourly time signals from Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by shortwave radio on 5 February 1924 at 17:30:00 UTC, rendering the time ball at the observatory redundant.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The daily rotation of the Earth is irregular (see ΔT) and has a slowing trend; therefore atomic clocks constitute a much more stable timebase. On 1 January 1972, GMT as the international civil time standard was superseded by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), maintained by an ensemble of atomic clocks around the world. Universal Time (UT), a term introduced in 1928, initially represented mean time at Greenwich determined in the traditional way to accord with the originally defined universal day; from 1 January 1956 (as decided by the International Astronomical Union in Dublin in 1955, at the initiative of William Markowitz) this \"raw\" form of UT was re-labelled UT0 and effectively superseded by refined forms UT1 (UT0 equalised for the effects of polar wandering) and UT2 (UT1 further equalised for annual seasonal variations in Earth rotation rate).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Indeed, even the Greenwich meridian itself is not quite what it used to be—defined by \"the centre of the transit instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich\". Although that instrument still survives in working order, it is no longer in use and now the meridian of origin of the world's longitude and time is not strictly defined in material form but from a statistical solution resulting from observations of all time-determination stations which the BIPM takes into account when co-ordinating the world's time signals. Nevertheless, the line in the old observatory's courtyard today differs no more than a few metres from that imaginary line which is now the prime meridian of the world.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Historically, GMT has been used with two different conventions for numbering hours. The long-standing astronomical convention, dating from the work of Ptolemy, was to refer to noon as zero hours (see Julian day). This contrasted with the civil convention of referring to midnight as zero hours dating from the Roman Empire. The latter convention was adopted on and after 1 January 1925 for astronomical purposes, resulting in a discontinuity of 12 hours, or half a day. The instant that was designated as \"December 31.5 GMT\" in 1924 almanacs became \"January 1.0 GMT\" in 1925 almanacs. The term Greenwich Mean Astronomical Time (GMAT) was introduced to unambiguously refer to the previous noon-based astronomical convention for GMT. The more specific terms UT and UTC do not share this ambiguity, always referring to midnight as zero hours.",
"title": "Ambiguity in the definition of GMT"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Legally, the civil time used in the UK is called \"Greenwich mean time\" (without capitalisation), with an exception made for those periods when the Summer Time Act 1972 orders an hour's shift for daylight saving. The Interpretation Act 1978, section 9, provides that whenever an expression of time occurs in any Act, the time referred to shall (unless otherwise specifically stated) be held to be Greenwich mean time. Under subsection 23, the same rule applies to deeds and other instruments.",
"title": "GMT in legislation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "During the experiment of 1968 to 1971, when the British Isles did not revert to Greenwich Mean Time during the winter, the all-year British Summer Time was called British Standard Time (BST).",
"title": "GMT in legislation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In the UK, UTC+00:00 is disseminated to the general public in winter and UTC+01:00 in summer.",
"title": "GMT in legislation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "BBC radio stations broadcast the \"six pips\" of the Greenwich Time Signal. It is named from its original generation at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. If announced (such as near the start of summer time or of winter time), announcers on domestic channels declare the time as GMT or BST as appropriate. As the BBC World Service is broadcast to all time zones, the announcers use the term \"Greenwich Mean Time\" consistently throughout the year.",
"title": "GMT in legislation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Several countries define their local time by reference to Greenwich Mean Time. Some examples are:",
"title": "GMT in legislation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Greenwich Mean Time is defined in law as standard time in the following countries and areas, which also advance their clocks one hour (GMT+1) in summer.",
"title": "Time zone"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Greenwich Mean Time is used as standard time all year round in the following countries and areas:",
"title": "Time zone"
}
]
| Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term GMT is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom. Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky there. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, a discrepancy described by the equation of time. Noon GMT is the annual average moment of this event, which accounts for the word "mean" in "Greenwich Mean Time". Originally, astronomers considered a GMT day to start at noon, while for almost everyone else it started at midnight. To avoid confusion, the name Universal Time was introduced in 1928 to denote GMT as counted from midnight. Today, Universal Time usually refers to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or UT1; English speakers often use GMT as a synonym for UTC. For navigation, it is considered equivalent to UT1; but this meaning can differ from UTC by up to 0.9 s. The term GMT should thus not be used for purposes that require precision. The term GMT is especially used by United Kingdom bodies, such as the BBC World Service, the Royal Navy, and the Met Office; and others particularly in Arab countries, such as the Middle East Broadcasting Centre and OSN. | 2001-10-09T18:17:46Z | 2023-12-24T17:10:49Z | [
"Template:Lang-ga",
"Template:Anli",
"Template:Cite dictionary",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox time zone",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Time zones of Europe",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite legislation UK",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Time measurement and standards",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Annotated link",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Pp-move-indef",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Time zones of Africa",
"Template:Nbsp",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cite journal"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Mean_Time |
12,702 | GIF | The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; /ɡɪf/ GHIF or /dʒɪf/ JIF, see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on June 15, 1987.
The format can contain up to 8 bits per pixel, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also can also represent multiple images in a file, which can be used for animations, and allows a separate palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make GIF less suitable for reproducing color photographs and other images with color gradients but well-suited for simpler images such as graphics or logos with solid areas of color.
GIF images are compressed using the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) lossless data compression technique to reduce the file size without degrading the visual quality.
While once in widespread usage on the World Wide Web because of its wide implementation and portability between applications and operating systems, usage of the format has declined for space and quality reasons, often being replaced with video formats such as the MP4 file format. These replacements, in turn, are often termed "GIFs" despite having no relation to the original file format.
CompuServe introduced GIF on 15 June 1987 to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas. This replaced their earlier run-length encoding format, which was black and white only. GIF became popular because it used Lempel–Ziv–Welch data compression. Since this was more efficient than the run-length encoding used by PCX and MacPaint, fairly large images could be downloaded reasonably quickly even with slow modems.
The original version of GIF was called 87a. This version already supported multiple images in a stream.
In 1989, CompuServe released an enhanced version, called 89a, This version added:
The two versions can be distinguished by looking at the first six bytes of the file (the "magic number" or signature), which, when interpreted as ASCII, read "GIF87a" or "GIF89a", respectively.
CompuServe encouraged the adoption of GIF by providing downloadable conversion utilities for many computers. By December 1987, for example, an Apple IIGS user could view pictures created on an Atari ST or Commodore 64. GIF was one of the first two image formats commonly used on Web sites, the other being the black-and-white XBM.
In September 1995 Netscape Navigator 2.0 added the ability for animated GIFs to loop.
While GIF was developed by CompuServe, it used the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) lossless data compression algorithm patented by Unisys in 1985. Controversy over the licensing agreement between Unisys and CompuServe in 1994 spurred the development of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) standard. In 2004, all patents relating to the proprietary compression used for GIF expired.
The feature of storing multiple images in one file, accompanied by control data, is used extensively on the Web to produce simple animations.
The optional interlacing feature, which stores image scan lines out of order in such a fashion that even a partially downloaded image was somewhat recognizable, also helped GIF's popularity, as a user could abort the download if it was not what was required.
In May 2015 Facebook added support for GIF. In January 2018 Instagram also added GIF stickers to the story mode.
As a noun, the word GIF is found in the newer editions of many dictionaries. In 2012, the American wing of the Oxford University Press recognized GIF as a verb as well, meaning "to create a GIF file", as in "GIFing was the perfect medium for sharing scenes from the Summer Olympics". The press's lexicographers voted it their word of the year, saying that GIFs have evolved into "a tool with serious applications including research and journalism".
The pronunciation of the first letter of GIF has been disputed since the 1990s. The most common pronunciations in English are /dʒɪf/ (with a soft g as in gin) and /ɡɪf/ (with a hard g as in gift), differing in the phoneme represented by the letter G. The creators of the format pronounced the acronym GIF as /dʒɪf/, with a soft g, with Wilhite stating that he intended for the pronunciation to deliberately echo the American peanut butter brand Jif, and CompuServe employees would often quip "choosy developers choose GIF", a spoof of Jif's television commercials. However, the word is widely pronounced as /ɡɪf/, with a hard g, and polls have generally shown that this hard g pronunciation is more prevalent.
Dictionary.com cites both pronunciations, indicating /dʒɪf/ as the primary pronunciation, while Cambridge Dictionary of American English offers only the hard-g pronunciation. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries cite both pronunciations, but place the hard g first: /ɡɪf, dʒɪf/. The New Oxford American Dictionary gave only /dʒɪf/ in its second edition but updated it to /dʒɪf, ɡɪf/ in the third edition.
The disagreement over the pronunciation has led to heated Internet debate. On the occasion of receiving a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Webby Awards ceremony, Wilhite publicly rejected the hard-g pronunciation; his speech led to more than 17,000 posts on Twitter and dozens of news articles. The White House and the TV program Jeopardy! also entered the debate in 2013. In February 2020, The J.M. Smucker Company, the owners of the Jif brand, partnered with the animated image database and search engine Giphy to release a limited-edition "Jif vs. GIF" (hashtagged as #JIFvsGIF) jar of peanut butter that had a label humorously declaring the soft-g pronunciation to refer exclusively to the peanut butter, and GIF to be exclusively pronounced with the hard-g pronunciation.
GIFs are suitable for sharp-edged line art with a limited number of colors, such as logos. This takes advantage of the format's lossless compression, which favors flat areas of uniform color with well defined edges. They can also be used to store low-color sprite data for games. GIFs can be used for small animations and low-resolution video clips, or as reactions in online messaging used to convey emotion and feelings instead of using words. They are popular on social media platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter.
Conceptually, a GIF file describes a fixed-sized graphical area (the "logical screen") populated with zero or more "images". Many GIF files have a single image that fills the entire logical screen. Others divide the logical screen into separate sub-images. The images may also function as animation frames in an animated GIF file, but again these need not fill the entire logical screen.
GIF files start with a fixed-length header ("GIF87a" or "GIF89a") giving the version, followed by a fixed-length Logical Screen Descriptor giving the pixel dimensions and other characteristics of the logical screen. The screen descriptor may also specify the presence and size of a Global Color Table (GCT), which follows next if present.
Thereafter, the file is divided into segments, each introduced by a 1-byte sentinel:
An image starts with a fixed-length Image Descriptor, which may specify the presence and size of a Local Color Table (which follows next if present). The image data follows: one byte giving the bit width of the unencoded symbols (which must be at least 2 bits wide, even for bi-color images), followed by a linked list of sub-blocks containing the LZW-encoded data.
Extension blocks (blocks that "extend" the 87a definition via a mechanism already defined in the 87a spec) consist of the sentinel, an additional byte specifying the type of extension, and a linked list of sub-blocks with the extension data. Extension blocks that modify an image (like the Graphic Control Extension that specifies the optional animation delay time and optional transparent background color) must immediately precede the segment with the image they refer to.
The linked lists used by the image data and the extension blocks consist of series of sub-blocks, each sub-block beginning with a byte giving the number of subsequent data bytes in the sub-block (1 to 255). The series of sub-blocks is terminated by an empty sub-block (a 0 byte).
This structure allows the file to be parsed even if not all parts are understood. A GIF marked 87a may contain extension blocks; the intent is that a decoder can read and display the file without the features covered in extensions it does not understand.
The full detail of the file format is covered in the GIF specification.
GIF is palette-based: the colors used in an image (a frame) in the file have their RGB values defined in a palette table that can hold up to 256 entries, and the data for the image refer to the colors by their indices (0–255) in the palette table. The color definitions in the palette can be drawn from a color space of millions of shades (2 shades, 8 bits for each primary), but the maximum number of colors a frame can use is 256. This limitation seemed reasonable when GIF was developed because few people could afford the hardware to display more colors simultaneously. Simple graphics, line drawings, cartoons, and grey-scale photographs typically need fewer than 256 colors.
Each frame can designate one index as a "transparent background color": any pixel assigned this index takes on the color of the pixel in the same position from the background, which may have been determined by a previous frame of animation.
Many techniques, collectively called dithering, have been developed to approximate a wider range of colors with a small color palette by using pixels of two or more colors to approximate in-between colors. These techniques sacrifice spatial resolution to approximate deeper color resolution. While not part of the GIF specification, dithering can be used in images subsequently encoded as GIF images. This is often not an ideal solution for GIF images, both because the loss of spatial resolution typically makes an image look fuzzy on the screen, and because the dithering patterns often interfere with the compressibility of the image data, working against GIF's main purpose.
In the early days of graphical web browsers, graphics cards with 8-bit buffers (allowing only 256 colors) were common and it was fairly common to make GIF images using the websafe palette. This ensured predictable display, but severely limited the choice of colors. When 24-bit color became the norm, palettes could instead be populated with the optimum colors for individual images.
A small color table may suffice for small images, and keeping the color table small allows the file to be downloaded faster. Both the 87a and 89a specifications allow color tables of 2 colors for any n from 1 through 8. Most graphics applications will read and display GIF images with any of these table sizes; but some do not support all sizes when creating images. Tables of 2, 16, and 256 colors are widely supported.
Although GIF is almost never used for true color images, it is possible to do so. A GIF image can include multiple image blocks, each of which can have its own 256-color palette, and the blocks can be tiled to create a complete image. Alternatively, the GIF89a specification introduced the idea of a "transparent" color where each image block can include its own palette of 255 visible colors plus one transparent color. A complete image can be created by layering image blocks with the visible portion of each layer showing through the transparent portions of the layers above.
To render a full-color image as a GIF, the original image must be broken down into smaller regions having no more than 255 or 256 different colors. Each of these regions is then stored as a separate image block with its own local palette and when the image blocks are displayed together (either by tiling or by layering partially transparent image blocks), the complete, full-color image appears. For example, breaking an image into tiles of 16 by 16 pixels (256 pixels in total) ensures that no tile has more than the local palette limit of 256 colors, although larger tiles may be used and similar colors merged resulting in some loss of color information.
Since each image block can have its own local color table, a GIF file having many image blocks can be very large, limiting the usefulness of full-color GIFs. Additionally, not all GIF rendering programs handle tiled or layered images correctly. Many rendering programs interpret tiles or layers as animation frames and display them in sequence as an animation with most web browsers automatically displaying the frames with a delay time of 0.1 seconds or more.
The hex numbers in the following tables are in little-endian byte order, as the format specification prescribes.
The image pixel data, scanned horizontally from top left, are converted by LZW encoding to codes that are then mapped into bytes for storing in the file. The pixel codes typically don't match the 8-bit size of the bytes, so the codes are packed into bytes by a "little-Endian" scheme: the least significant bit of the first code is stored in the least significant bit of the first byte, higher order bits of the code into higher order bits of the byte, spilling over into the low order bits of the next byte as necessary. Each subsequent code is stored starting at the least significant bit not already used.
This byte stream is stored in the file as a series of "sub-blocks". Each sub-block has a maximum length 255 bytes and is prefixed with a byte indicating the number of data bytes in the sub-block. The series of sub-blocks is terminated by an empty sub-block (a single 0 byte, indicating a sub-block with 0 data bytes).
For the sample image above the reversible mapping between 9-bit codes and bytes is shown below.
A slight compression is evident: pixel colors defined initially by 15 bytes are exactly represented by 12 code bytes including control codes. The encoding process that produces the 9-bit codes is shown below. A local string accumulates pixel color numbers from the palette, with no output action as long as the local string can be found in a code table. There is special treatment of the first two pixels that arrive before the table grows from its initial size by additions of strings. After each output code, the local string is initialized to the latest pixel color (that could not be included in the output code).
For clarity the table is shown above as being built of strings of increasing length. That scheme can function but the table consumes an unpredictable amount of memory. Memory can be saved in practice by noting that each new string to be stored consists of a previously stored string augmented by one character. It is economical to store at each address only two words: an existing address and one character.
The LZW algorithm requires a search of the table for each pixel. A linear search through up to 4096 addresses would make the coding slow. In practice the codes can be stored in order of numerical value; this allows each search to be done by a SAR (Successive Approximation Register, as used in some ADCs), with only 12 magnitude comparisons. For this efficiency an extra table is needed to convert between codes and actual memory addresses; the extra table upkeeping is needed only when a new code is stored which happens at much less than pixel rate.
Decoding begins by mapping the stored bytes back to 9-bit codes. These are decoded to recover the pixel colors as shown below. A table identical to the one used in the encoder is built by adding strings by this rule:
Shorter code lengths can be used for palettes smaller than the 256 colors in the example. If the palette is only 64 colors (so color indexes are 6 bits wide), the symbols can range from 0 to 63, and the symbol width can be taken to be 6 bits, with codes starting at 7 bits. In fact, the symbol width need not match the palette size: as long as the values decoded are always less than the number of colors in the palette, the symbols can be any width from 2 to 8, and the palette size any power of 2 from 2 to 256. For example, if only the first four colors (values 0 to 3) of the palette are used, the symbols can be taken to be 2 bits wide with codes starting at 3 bits.
Conversely, the symbol width could be set at 8, even if only values 0 and 1 are used; these data would only require a two-color table. Although there would be no point in encoding the file that way, something similar typically happens for bi-color images: the minimum symbol width is 2, even if only values 0 and 1 are used.
The code table initially contains codes that are one bit longer than the symbol size in order to accommodate the two special codes clr and end and codes for strings that are added during the process. When the table is full the code length increases to give space for more strings, up to a maximum code 4095 = FFF(hex). As the decoder builds its table it tracks these increases in code length and it is able to unpack incoming bytes accordingly.
The GIF encoding process can be modified to create a file without LZW compression that is still viewable as a GIF image. This technique was introduced originally as a way to avoid patent infringement. Uncompressed GIF can also be a useful intermediate format for a graphics programmer because individual pixels are accessible for reading or painting. An uncompressed GIF file can be converted to an ordinary GIF file simply by passing it through an image editor.
The modified encoding method ignores building the LZW table and emits only the root palette codes and the codes for CLEAR and STOP. This yields a simpler encoding (a 1-to-1 correspondence between code values and palette codes) but sacrifices all of the compression: each pixel in the image generates an output code indicating its color index. When processing an uncompressed GIF, a standard GIF decoder will not be prevented from writing strings to its dictionary table, but the code width must never increase since that triggers a different packing of bits to bytes.
If the symbol width is n, the codes of width n+1 fall naturally into two blocks: the lower block of 2 codes for coding single symbols, and the upper block of 2 codes that will be used by the decoder for sequences of length greater than one. Of that upper block, the first two codes are already taken: 2 for CLEAR and 2 + 1 for STOP. The decoder must also be prevented from using the last code in the upper block, 2 − 1, because when the decoder fills that slot, it will increase the code width. Thus in the upper block there are 2 − 3 codes available to the decoder that won't trigger an increase in code width. Because the decoder is always one step behind in maintaining the table, it does not generate a table entry upon receiving the first code from the encoder, but will generate one for each succeeding code. Thus the encoder can generate 2 − 2 codes without triggering an increase in code width. Therefore, the encoder must emit extra CLEAR codes at intervals of 2 − 2 codes or less to make the decoder reset the coding dictionary. The GIF standard allows such extra CLEAR codes to be inserted in the image data at any time. The composite data stream is partitioned into sub-blocks that each carry from 1 to 255 bytes.
For the sample 3×5 image above, the following 9-bit codes represent "clear" (100) followed by image pixels in scan order and "stop" (101).
After the above codes are mapped to bytes, the uncompressed file differs from the compressed file thus:
The trivial example of a large image of solid color demonstrates the variable-length LZW compression used in GIF files.
The code values shown are packed into bytes which are then packed into blocks of up to 255 bytes. A block of image data begins with a byte that declares the number of bytes to follow. The last block of data for an image is marked by a zero block-length byte.
The GIF Specification allows each image within the logical screen of a GIF file to specify that it is interlaced; i.e., that the order of the raster lines in its data block is not sequential. This allows a partial display of the image that can be recognized before the full image is painted.
An interlaced image is divided from top to bottom into strips 8 pixels high, and the rows of the image are presented in the following order:
The pixels within each line are not interlaced, but presented consecutively from left to right. As with non-interlaced images, there is no break between the data for one line and the data for the next. The indicator that an image is interlaced is a bit set in the corresponding Image Descriptor block.
Although GIF was not designed as an animation medium, its ability to store multiple images in one file naturally suggested using the format to store the frames of an animation sequence. To facilitate displaying animations, the GIF89a spec added the Graphic Control Extension (GCE), which allows the images (frames) in the file to be painted with time delays, forming a video clip. Each frame in an animation GIF is introduced by its own GCE specifying the time delay to wait after the frame is drawn. Global information at the start of the file applies by default to all frames. The data is stream-oriented, so the file offset of the start of each GCE depends on the length of preceding data. Within each frame the LZW-coded image data is arranged in sub-blocks of up to 255 bytes; the size of each sub-block is declared by the byte that precedes it.
By default, an animation displays the sequence of frames only once, stopping when the last frame is displayed. To enable an animation to loop, Netscape in the 1990s used the Application Extension block (intended to allow vendors to add application-specific information to the GIF file) to implement the Netscape Application Block (NAB). This block, placed immediately before the sequence of animation frames, specifies the number of times the sequence of frames should be played (1 to 65535 times) or that it should repeat continuously (zero indicates loop forever). Support for these repeating animations first appeared in Netscape Navigator version 2.0, and then spread to other browsers. Most browsers now recognize and support NAB, though it is not strictly part of the GIF89a specification.
The following example shows the structure of the animation file Rotating earth (large).gif shown (as a thumbnail) in the article's infobox.
The animation delay for each frame is specified in the GCE in hundredths of a second. Some economy of data is possible where a frame need only rewrite a portion of the pixels of the display, because the Image Descriptor can define a smaller rectangle to be rescanned instead of the whole image. Browsers or other displays that do not support animated GIFs typically show only the first frame.
The size and color quality of animated GIF files can vary significantly depending on the application used to create them. Strategies for minimizing file size include using a common global color table for all frames (rather than a complete local color table for each frame) and minimizing the number of pixels covered in successive frames (so that only the pixels that change from one frame to the next are included in the latter frame). More advanced techniques involve modifying color sequences to better match the existing LZW dictionary, a form of lossy compression. Simply packing a series of independent frame images into a composite animation tends to yield large file sizes. Tools are available to minimize the file size given an existing GIF.
Metadata can be stored in GIF files as a comment block, a plain text block, or an application-specific application extension block. Several graphics editors use unofficial application extension blocks to include the data used to generate the image, so that it can be recovered for further editing.
All of these methods technically require the metadata to be broken into sub-blocks so that applications can navigate the metadata block without knowing its internal structure.
The Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata standard introduced an unofficial but now widespread "XMP Data" application extension block for including XMP data in GIF files. Since the XMP data is encoded using UTF-8 without NUL characters, there are no 0 bytes in the data. Rather than break the data into formal sub-blocks, the extension block terminates with a "magic trailer" that routes any application treating the data as sub-blocks to a final 0 byte that terminates the sub-block chain.
In 1977 and 1978, Jacob Ziv and Abraham Lempel published a pair of papers on a new class of lossless data-compression algorithms, now collectively referred to as LZ77 and LZ78. In 1983, Terry Welch developed a fast variant of LZ78 which was named Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW).
Welch filed a patent application for the LZW method in June 1983. The resulting patent, US4558302, granted in December 1985, was assigned to Sperry Corporation who subsequently merged with Burroughs Corporation in 1986 and formed Unisys. Further patents were obtained in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.
In addition to the above patents, Welch's 1983 patent also includes citations to several other patents that influenced it, including:
In June 1984, an article by Welch was published in the IEEE magazine which publicly described the LZW technique for the first time. LZW became a popular data compression technique and, when the patent was granted, Unisys entered into licensing agreements with over a hundred companies.
The popularity of LZW led CompuServe to choose it as the compression technique for their version of GIF, developed in 1987. At the time, CompuServe was not aware of the patent. Unisys became aware that the version of GIF used the LZW compression technique and entered into licensing negotiations with CompuServe in January 1993. The subsequent agreement was announced on 24 December 1994. Unisys stated that they expected all major commercial on-line information services companies employing the LZW patent to license the technology from Unisys at a reasonable rate, but that they would not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line services.
Following this announcement, there was widespread condemnation of CompuServe and Unisys, and many software developers threatened to stop using GIF. The PNG format (see below) was developed in 1995 as an intended replacement. However, obtaining support from the makers of Web browsers and other software for the PNG format proved difficult and it was not possible to replace GIF, although PNG has gradually increased in popularity. Therefore, GIF variations without LZW compression were developed. For instance the libungif library, based on Eric S. Raymond's giflib, allows creation of GIFs that followed the data format but avoided the compression features, thus avoiding use of the Unisys LZW patent. A 2001 Dr. Dobb's article described a way to achieve LZW-compatible encoding without infringing on its patents.
In August 1999, Unisys changed the details of their licensing practice, announcing the option for owners of certain non-commercial and private websites to obtain licenses on payment of a one-time license fee of $5000 or $7500. Such licenses were not required for website owners or other GIF users who had used licensed software to generate GIFs. Nevertheless, Unisys was subjected to thousands of online attacks and abusive emails from users believing that they were going to be charged $5000 or sued for using GIFs on their websites. Despite giving free licenses to hundreds of non-profit organizations, schools and governments, Unisys was completely unable to generate any good publicity and continued to be condemned by individuals and organizations such as the League for Programming Freedom who started the "Burn All GIFs" campaign in 1999.
The United States LZW patent expired on 20 June 2003. The counterpart patents in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy expired on 18 June 2004, the Japanese patents expired on 20 June 2004, and the Canadian patent expired on 7 July 2004. Consequently, while Unisys has further patents and patent applications relating to improvements to the LZW technique, LZW itself (and consequently GIF) have been free to use since July 2004.
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) was designed as a replacement for GIF in order to avoid infringement of Unisys' patent on the LZW compression technique. PNG offers better compression and more features than GIF, animation being the only significant exception. PNG is more suitable than GIF in instances where true-color imaging and alpha transparency are required.
Although support for PNG format came slowly, new web browsers support PNG. Older versions of Internet Explorer do not support all features of PNG. Versions 6 and earlier do not support alpha channel transparency without using Microsoft-specific HTML extensions. Gamma correction of PNG images was not supported before version 8, and the display of these images in earlier versions may have the wrong tint.
For identical 8-bit (or lower) image data, PNG files are typically smaller than the equivalent GIFs, due to the more efficient compression techniques used in PNG encoding. Complete support for GIF is complicated chiefly by the complex canvas structure it allows, though this is what enables the compact animation features.
Videos resolve many issues that GIFs present through common usage on the web. They include drastically smaller file sizes, the ability to surpass the 8-bit color restriction, and better frame-handling and compression through codecs. Virtually universal support for the GIF format in web browsers and a lack of official support for video in the HTML standard caused GIF to rise to prominence for the purpose of displaying short video-like files on the web.
In April 2014, 4chan added support for silent WebM videos that are under 3 MB in size and 2 min in length, and in October 2014, Imgur started converting any GIF files uploaded to the site to video and giving the link to the HTML player the appearance of an actual file with a .gifv extension.
In January 2016, Telegram started re-encoding all GIFs to MPEG-4 videos that "require up to 95% less disk space for the same image quality." | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; /ɡɪf/ GHIF or /dʒɪf/ JIF, see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on June 15, 1987.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The format can contain up to 8 bits per pixel, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also can also represent multiple images in a file, which can be used for animations, and allows a separate palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make GIF less suitable for reproducing color photographs and other images with color gradients but well-suited for simpler images such as graphics or logos with solid areas of color.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "GIF images are compressed using the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) lossless data compression technique to reduce the file size without degrading the visual quality.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "While once in widespread usage on the World Wide Web because of its wide implementation and portability between applications and operating systems, usage of the format has declined for space and quality reasons, often being replaced with video formats such as the MP4 file format. These replacements, in turn, are often termed \"GIFs\" despite having no relation to the original file format.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "CompuServe introduced GIF on 15 June 1987 to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas. This replaced their earlier run-length encoding format, which was black and white only. GIF became popular because it used Lempel–Ziv–Welch data compression. Since this was more efficient than the run-length encoding used by PCX and MacPaint, fairly large images could be downloaded reasonably quickly even with slow modems.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The original version of GIF was called 87a. This version already supported multiple images in a stream.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In 1989, CompuServe released an enhanced version, called 89a, This version added:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The two versions can be distinguished by looking at the first six bytes of the file (the \"magic number\" or signature), which, when interpreted as ASCII, read \"GIF87a\" or \"GIF89a\", respectively.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "CompuServe encouraged the adoption of GIF by providing downloadable conversion utilities for many computers. By December 1987, for example, an Apple IIGS user could view pictures created on an Atari ST or Commodore 64. GIF was one of the first two image formats commonly used on Web sites, the other being the black-and-white XBM.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In September 1995 Netscape Navigator 2.0 added the ability for animated GIFs to loop.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "While GIF was developed by CompuServe, it used the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) lossless data compression algorithm patented by Unisys in 1985. Controversy over the licensing agreement between Unisys and CompuServe in 1994 spurred the development of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) standard. In 2004, all patents relating to the proprietary compression used for GIF expired.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The feature of storing multiple images in one file, accompanied by control data, is used extensively on the Web to produce simple animations.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The optional interlacing feature, which stores image scan lines out of order in such a fashion that even a partially downloaded image was somewhat recognizable, also helped GIF's popularity, as a user could abort the download if it was not what was required.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In May 2015 Facebook added support for GIF. In January 2018 Instagram also added GIF stickers to the story mode.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "As a noun, the word GIF is found in the newer editions of many dictionaries. In 2012, the American wing of the Oxford University Press recognized GIF as a verb as well, meaning \"to create a GIF file\", as in \"GIFing was the perfect medium for sharing scenes from the Summer Olympics\". The press's lexicographers voted it their word of the year, saying that GIFs have evolved into \"a tool with serious applications including research and journalism\".",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The pronunciation of the first letter of GIF has been disputed since the 1990s. The most common pronunciations in English are /dʒɪf/ (with a soft g as in gin) and /ɡɪf/ (with a hard g as in gift), differing in the phoneme represented by the letter G. The creators of the format pronounced the acronym GIF as /dʒɪf/, with a soft g, with Wilhite stating that he intended for the pronunciation to deliberately echo the American peanut butter brand Jif, and CompuServe employees would often quip \"choosy developers choose GIF\", a spoof of Jif's television commercials. However, the word is widely pronounced as /ɡɪf/, with a hard g, and polls have generally shown that this hard g pronunciation is more prevalent.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Dictionary.com cites both pronunciations, indicating /dʒɪf/ as the primary pronunciation, while Cambridge Dictionary of American English offers only the hard-g pronunciation. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries cite both pronunciations, but place the hard g first: /ɡɪf, dʒɪf/. The New Oxford American Dictionary gave only /dʒɪf/ in its second edition but updated it to /dʒɪf, ɡɪf/ in the third edition.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The disagreement over the pronunciation has led to heated Internet debate. On the occasion of receiving a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Webby Awards ceremony, Wilhite publicly rejected the hard-g pronunciation; his speech led to more than 17,000 posts on Twitter and dozens of news articles. The White House and the TV program Jeopardy! also entered the debate in 2013. In February 2020, The J.M. Smucker Company, the owners of the Jif brand, partnered with the animated image database and search engine Giphy to release a limited-edition \"Jif vs. GIF\" (hashtagged as #JIFvsGIF) jar of peanut butter that had a label humorously declaring the soft-g pronunciation to refer exclusively to the peanut butter, and GIF to be exclusively pronounced with the hard-g pronunciation.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "GIFs are suitable for sharp-edged line art with a limited number of colors, such as logos. This takes advantage of the format's lossless compression, which favors flat areas of uniform color with well defined edges. They can also be used to store low-color sprite data for games. GIFs can be used for small animations and low-resolution video clips, or as reactions in online messaging used to convey emotion and feelings instead of using words. They are popular on social media platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Conceptually, a GIF file describes a fixed-sized graphical area (the \"logical screen\") populated with zero or more \"images\". Many GIF files have a single image that fills the entire logical screen. Others divide the logical screen into separate sub-images. The images may also function as animation frames in an animated GIF file, but again these need not fill the entire logical screen.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "GIF files start with a fixed-length header (\"GIF87a\" or \"GIF89a\") giving the version, followed by a fixed-length Logical Screen Descriptor giving the pixel dimensions and other characteristics of the logical screen. The screen descriptor may also specify the presence and size of a Global Color Table (GCT), which follows next if present.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Thereafter, the file is divided into segments, each introduced by a 1-byte sentinel:",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "An image starts with a fixed-length Image Descriptor, which may specify the presence and size of a Local Color Table (which follows next if present). The image data follows: one byte giving the bit width of the unencoded symbols (which must be at least 2 bits wide, even for bi-color images), followed by a linked list of sub-blocks containing the LZW-encoded data.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Extension blocks (blocks that \"extend\" the 87a definition via a mechanism already defined in the 87a spec) consist of the sentinel, an additional byte specifying the type of extension, and a linked list of sub-blocks with the extension data. Extension blocks that modify an image (like the Graphic Control Extension that specifies the optional animation delay time and optional transparent background color) must immediately precede the segment with the image they refer to.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The linked lists used by the image data and the extension blocks consist of series of sub-blocks, each sub-block beginning with a byte giving the number of subsequent data bytes in the sub-block (1 to 255). The series of sub-blocks is terminated by an empty sub-block (a 0 byte).",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "This structure allows the file to be parsed even if not all parts are understood. A GIF marked 87a may contain extension blocks; the intent is that a decoder can read and display the file without the features covered in extensions it does not understand.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The full detail of the file format is covered in the GIF specification.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "GIF is palette-based: the colors used in an image (a frame) in the file have their RGB values defined in a palette table that can hold up to 256 entries, and the data for the image refer to the colors by their indices (0–255) in the palette table. The color definitions in the palette can be drawn from a color space of millions of shades (2 shades, 8 bits for each primary), but the maximum number of colors a frame can use is 256. This limitation seemed reasonable when GIF was developed because few people could afford the hardware to display more colors simultaneously. Simple graphics, line drawings, cartoons, and grey-scale photographs typically need fewer than 256 colors.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Each frame can designate one index as a \"transparent background color\": any pixel assigned this index takes on the color of the pixel in the same position from the background, which may have been determined by a previous frame of animation.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Many techniques, collectively called dithering, have been developed to approximate a wider range of colors with a small color palette by using pixels of two or more colors to approximate in-between colors. These techniques sacrifice spatial resolution to approximate deeper color resolution. While not part of the GIF specification, dithering can be used in images subsequently encoded as GIF images. This is often not an ideal solution for GIF images, both because the loss of spatial resolution typically makes an image look fuzzy on the screen, and because the dithering patterns often interfere with the compressibility of the image data, working against GIF's main purpose.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In the early days of graphical web browsers, graphics cards with 8-bit buffers (allowing only 256 colors) were common and it was fairly common to make GIF images using the websafe palette. This ensured predictable display, but severely limited the choice of colors. When 24-bit color became the norm, palettes could instead be populated with the optimum colors for individual images.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "A small color table may suffice for small images, and keeping the color table small allows the file to be downloaded faster. Both the 87a and 89a specifications allow color tables of 2 colors for any n from 1 through 8. Most graphics applications will read and display GIF images with any of these table sizes; but some do not support all sizes when creating images. Tables of 2, 16, and 256 colors are widely supported.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Although GIF is almost never used for true color images, it is possible to do so. A GIF image can include multiple image blocks, each of which can have its own 256-color palette, and the blocks can be tiled to create a complete image. Alternatively, the GIF89a specification introduced the idea of a \"transparent\" color where each image block can include its own palette of 255 visible colors plus one transparent color. A complete image can be created by layering image blocks with the visible portion of each layer showing through the transparent portions of the layers above.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "To render a full-color image as a GIF, the original image must be broken down into smaller regions having no more than 255 or 256 different colors. Each of these regions is then stored as a separate image block with its own local palette and when the image blocks are displayed together (either by tiling or by layering partially transparent image blocks), the complete, full-color image appears. For example, breaking an image into tiles of 16 by 16 pixels (256 pixels in total) ensures that no tile has more than the local palette limit of 256 colors, although larger tiles may be used and similar colors merged resulting in some loss of color information.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Since each image block can have its own local color table, a GIF file having many image blocks can be very large, limiting the usefulness of full-color GIFs. Additionally, not all GIF rendering programs handle tiled or layered images correctly. Many rendering programs interpret tiles or layers as animation frames and display them in sequence as an animation with most web browsers automatically displaying the frames with a delay time of 0.1 seconds or more.",
"title": "Palettes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The hex numbers in the following tables are in little-endian byte order, as the format specification prescribes.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The image pixel data, scanned horizontally from top left, are converted by LZW encoding to codes that are then mapped into bytes for storing in the file. The pixel codes typically don't match the 8-bit size of the bytes, so the codes are packed into bytes by a \"little-Endian\" scheme: the least significant bit of the first code is stored in the least significant bit of the first byte, higher order bits of the code into higher order bits of the byte, spilling over into the low order bits of the next byte as necessary. Each subsequent code is stored starting at the least significant bit not already used.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "This byte stream is stored in the file as a series of \"sub-blocks\". Each sub-block has a maximum length 255 bytes and is prefixed with a byte indicating the number of data bytes in the sub-block. The series of sub-blocks is terminated by an empty sub-block (a single 0 byte, indicating a sub-block with 0 data bytes).",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "For the sample image above the reversible mapping between 9-bit codes and bytes is shown below.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "A slight compression is evident: pixel colors defined initially by 15 bytes are exactly represented by 12 code bytes including control codes. The encoding process that produces the 9-bit codes is shown below. A local string accumulates pixel color numbers from the palette, with no output action as long as the local string can be found in a code table. There is special treatment of the first two pixels that arrive before the table grows from its initial size by additions of strings. After each output code, the local string is initialized to the latest pixel color (that could not be included in the output code).",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "For clarity the table is shown above as being built of strings of increasing length. That scheme can function but the table consumes an unpredictable amount of memory. Memory can be saved in practice by noting that each new string to be stored consists of a previously stored string augmented by one character. It is economical to store at each address only two words: an existing address and one character.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The LZW algorithm requires a search of the table for each pixel. A linear search through up to 4096 addresses would make the coding slow. In practice the codes can be stored in order of numerical value; this allows each search to be done by a SAR (Successive Approximation Register, as used in some ADCs), with only 12 magnitude comparisons. For this efficiency an extra table is needed to convert between codes and actual memory addresses; the extra table upkeeping is needed only when a new code is stored which happens at much less than pixel rate.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Decoding begins by mapping the stored bytes back to 9-bit codes. These are decoded to recover the pixel colors as shown below. A table identical to the one used in the encoder is built by adding strings by this rule:",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Shorter code lengths can be used for palettes smaller than the 256 colors in the example. If the palette is only 64 colors (so color indexes are 6 bits wide), the symbols can range from 0 to 63, and the symbol width can be taken to be 6 bits, with codes starting at 7 bits. In fact, the symbol width need not match the palette size: as long as the values decoded are always less than the number of colors in the palette, the symbols can be any width from 2 to 8, and the palette size any power of 2 from 2 to 256. For example, if only the first four colors (values 0 to 3) of the palette are used, the symbols can be taken to be 2 bits wide with codes starting at 3 bits.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Conversely, the symbol width could be set at 8, even if only values 0 and 1 are used; these data would only require a two-color table. Although there would be no point in encoding the file that way, something similar typically happens for bi-color images: the minimum symbol width is 2, even if only values 0 and 1 are used.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The code table initially contains codes that are one bit longer than the symbol size in order to accommodate the two special codes clr and end and codes for strings that are added during the process. When the table is full the code length increases to give space for more strings, up to a maximum code 4095 = FFF(hex). As the decoder builds its table it tracks these increases in code length and it is able to unpack incoming bytes accordingly.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The GIF encoding process can be modified to create a file without LZW compression that is still viewable as a GIF image. This technique was introduced originally as a way to avoid patent infringement. Uncompressed GIF can also be a useful intermediate format for a graphics programmer because individual pixels are accessible for reading or painting. An uncompressed GIF file can be converted to an ordinary GIF file simply by passing it through an image editor.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The modified encoding method ignores building the LZW table and emits only the root palette codes and the codes for CLEAR and STOP. This yields a simpler encoding (a 1-to-1 correspondence between code values and palette codes) but sacrifices all of the compression: each pixel in the image generates an output code indicating its color index. When processing an uncompressed GIF, a standard GIF decoder will not be prevented from writing strings to its dictionary table, but the code width must never increase since that triggers a different packing of bits to bytes.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "If the symbol width is n, the codes of width n+1 fall naturally into two blocks: the lower block of 2 codes for coding single symbols, and the upper block of 2 codes that will be used by the decoder for sequences of length greater than one. Of that upper block, the first two codes are already taken: 2 for CLEAR and 2 + 1 for STOP. The decoder must also be prevented from using the last code in the upper block, 2 − 1, because when the decoder fills that slot, it will increase the code width. Thus in the upper block there are 2 − 3 codes available to the decoder that won't trigger an increase in code width. Because the decoder is always one step behind in maintaining the table, it does not generate a table entry upon receiving the first code from the encoder, but will generate one for each succeeding code. Thus the encoder can generate 2 − 2 codes without triggering an increase in code width. Therefore, the encoder must emit extra CLEAR codes at intervals of 2 − 2 codes or less to make the decoder reset the coding dictionary. The GIF standard allows such extra CLEAR codes to be inserted in the image data at any time. The composite data stream is partitioned into sub-blocks that each carry from 1 to 255 bytes.",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "For the sample 3×5 image above, the following 9-bit codes represent \"clear\" (100) followed by image pixels in scan order and \"stop\" (101).",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "After the above codes are mapped to bytes, the uncompressed file differs from the compressed file thus:",
"title": "Example GIF file"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The trivial example of a large image of solid color demonstrates the variable-length LZW compression used in GIF files.",
"title": "Compression example"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The code values shown are packed into bytes which are then packed into blocks of up to 255 bytes. A block of image data begins with a byte that declares the number of bytes to follow. The last block of data for an image is marked by a zero block-length byte.",
"title": "Compression example"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The GIF Specification allows each image within the logical screen of a GIF file to specify that it is interlaced; i.e., that the order of the raster lines in its data block is not sequential. This allows a partial display of the image that can be recognized before the full image is painted.",
"title": "Interlacing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "An interlaced image is divided from top to bottom into strips 8 pixels high, and the rows of the image are presented in the following order:",
"title": "Interlacing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "The pixels within each line are not interlaced, but presented consecutively from left to right. As with non-interlaced images, there is no break between the data for one line and the data for the next. The indicator that an image is interlaced is a bit set in the corresponding Image Descriptor block.",
"title": "Interlacing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Although GIF was not designed as an animation medium, its ability to store multiple images in one file naturally suggested using the format to store the frames of an animation sequence. To facilitate displaying animations, the GIF89a spec added the Graphic Control Extension (GCE), which allows the images (frames) in the file to be painted with time delays, forming a video clip. Each frame in an animation GIF is introduced by its own GCE specifying the time delay to wait after the frame is drawn. Global information at the start of the file applies by default to all frames. The data is stream-oriented, so the file offset of the start of each GCE depends on the length of preceding data. Within each frame the LZW-coded image data is arranged in sub-blocks of up to 255 bytes; the size of each sub-block is declared by the byte that precedes it.",
"title": "Animated GIF"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "By default, an animation displays the sequence of frames only once, stopping when the last frame is displayed. To enable an animation to loop, Netscape in the 1990s used the Application Extension block (intended to allow vendors to add application-specific information to the GIF file) to implement the Netscape Application Block (NAB). This block, placed immediately before the sequence of animation frames, specifies the number of times the sequence of frames should be played (1 to 65535 times) or that it should repeat continuously (zero indicates loop forever). Support for these repeating animations first appeared in Netscape Navigator version 2.0, and then spread to other browsers. Most browsers now recognize and support NAB, though it is not strictly part of the GIF89a specification.",
"title": "Animated GIF"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "The following example shows the structure of the animation file Rotating earth (large).gif shown (as a thumbnail) in the article's infobox.",
"title": "Animated GIF"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "The animation delay for each frame is specified in the GCE in hundredths of a second. Some economy of data is possible where a frame need only rewrite a portion of the pixels of the display, because the Image Descriptor can define a smaller rectangle to be rescanned instead of the whole image. Browsers or other displays that do not support animated GIFs typically show only the first frame.",
"title": "Animated GIF"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The size and color quality of animated GIF files can vary significantly depending on the application used to create them. Strategies for minimizing file size include using a common global color table for all frames (rather than a complete local color table for each frame) and minimizing the number of pixels covered in successive frames (so that only the pixels that change from one frame to the next are included in the latter frame). More advanced techniques involve modifying color sequences to better match the existing LZW dictionary, a form of lossy compression. Simply packing a series of independent frame images into a composite animation tends to yield large file sizes. Tools are available to minimize the file size given an existing GIF.",
"title": "Animated GIF"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Metadata can be stored in GIF files as a comment block, a plain text block, or an application-specific application extension block. Several graphics editors use unofficial application extension blocks to include the data used to generate the image, so that it can be recovered for further editing.",
"title": "Metadata"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "All of these methods technically require the metadata to be broken into sub-blocks so that applications can navigate the metadata block without knowing its internal structure.",
"title": "Metadata"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "The Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata standard introduced an unofficial but now widespread \"XMP Data\" application extension block for including XMP data in GIF files. Since the XMP data is encoded using UTF-8 without NUL characters, there are no 0 bytes in the data. Rather than break the data into formal sub-blocks, the extension block terminates with a \"magic trailer\" that routes any application treating the data as sub-blocks to a final 0 byte that terminates the sub-block chain.",
"title": "Metadata"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "In 1977 and 1978, Jacob Ziv and Abraham Lempel published a pair of papers on a new class of lossless data-compression algorithms, now collectively referred to as LZ77 and LZ78. In 1983, Terry Welch developed a fast variant of LZ78 which was named Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW).",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Welch filed a patent application for the LZW method in June 1983. The resulting patent, US4558302, granted in December 1985, was assigned to Sperry Corporation who subsequently merged with Burroughs Corporation in 1986 and formed Unisys. Further patents were obtained in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In addition to the above patents, Welch's 1983 patent also includes citations to several other patents that influenced it, including:",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "In June 1984, an article by Welch was published in the IEEE magazine which publicly described the LZW technique for the first time. LZW became a popular data compression technique and, when the patent was granted, Unisys entered into licensing agreements with over a hundred companies.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "The popularity of LZW led CompuServe to choose it as the compression technique for their version of GIF, developed in 1987. At the time, CompuServe was not aware of the patent. Unisys became aware that the version of GIF used the LZW compression technique and entered into licensing negotiations with CompuServe in January 1993. The subsequent agreement was announced on 24 December 1994. Unisys stated that they expected all major commercial on-line information services companies employing the LZW patent to license the technology from Unisys at a reasonable rate, but that they would not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line services.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Following this announcement, there was widespread condemnation of CompuServe and Unisys, and many software developers threatened to stop using GIF. The PNG format (see below) was developed in 1995 as an intended replacement. However, obtaining support from the makers of Web browsers and other software for the PNG format proved difficult and it was not possible to replace GIF, although PNG has gradually increased in popularity. Therefore, GIF variations without LZW compression were developed. For instance the libungif library, based on Eric S. Raymond's giflib, allows creation of GIFs that followed the data format but avoided the compression features, thus avoiding use of the Unisys LZW patent. A 2001 Dr. Dobb's article described a way to achieve LZW-compatible encoding without infringing on its patents.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "In August 1999, Unisys changed the details of their licensing practice, announcing the option for owners of certain non-commercial and private websites to obtain licenses on payment of a one-time license fee of $5000 or $7500. Such licenses were not required for website owners or other GIF users who had used licensed software to generate GIFs. Nevertheless, Unisys was subjected to thousands of online attacks and abusive emails from users believing that they were going to be charged $5000 or sued for using GIFs on their websites. Despite giving free licenses to hundreds of non-profit organizations, schools and governments, Unisys was completely unable to generate any good publicity and continued to be condemned by individuals and organizations such as the League for Programming Freedom who started the \"Burn All GIFs\" campaign in 1999.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The United States LZW patent expired on 20 June 2003. The counterpart patents in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy expired on 18 June 2004, the Japanese patents expired on 20 June 2004, and the Canadian patent expired on 7 July 2004. Consequently, while Unisys has further patents and patent applications relating to improvements to the LZW technique, LZW itself (and consequently GIF) have been free to use since July 2004.",
"title": "Unisys and LZW patent enforcement"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Portable Network Graphics (PNG) was designed as a replacement for GIF in order to avoid infringement of Unisys' patent on the LZW compression technique. PNG offers better compression and more features than GIF, animation being the only significant exception. PNG is more suitable than GIF in instances where true-color imaging and alpha transparency are required.",
"title": "Alternatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Although support for PNG format came slowly, new web browsers support PNG. Older versions of Internet Explorer do not support all features of PNG. Versions 6 and earlier do not support alpha channel transparency without using Microsoft-specific HTML extensions. Gamma correction of PNG images was not supported before version 8, and the display of these images in earlier versions may have the wrong tint.",
"title": "Alternatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "For identical 8-bit (or lower) image data, PNG files are typically smaller than the equivalent GIFs, due to the more efficient compression techniques used in PNG encoding. Complete support for GIF is complicated chiefly by the complex canvas structure it allows, though this is what enables the compact animation features.",
"title": "Alternatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "Videos resolve many issues that GIFs present through common usage on the web. They include drastically smaller file sizes, the ability to surpass the 8-bit color restriction, and better frame-handling and compression through codecs. Virtually universal support for the GIF format in web browsers and a lack of official support for video in the HTML standard caused GIF to rise to prominence for the purpose of displaying short video-like files on the web.",
"title": "Alternatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "In April 2014, 4chan added support for silent WebM videos that are under 3 MB in size and 2 min in length, and in October 2014, Imgur started converting any GIF files uploaded to the site to video and giving the link to the HTML player the appearance of an actual file with a .gifv extension.",
"title": "Alternatives"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In January 2016, Telegram started re-encoding all GIFs to MPEG-4 videos that \"require up to 95% less disk space for the same image quality.\"",
"title": "Alternatives"
}
]
| The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on June 15, 1987. The format can contain up to 8 bits per pixel, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It also can also represent multiple images in a file, which can be used for animations, and allows a separate palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. These palette limitations make GIF less suitable for reproducing color photographs and other images with color gradients but well-suited for simpler images such as graphics or logos with solid areas of color. GIF images are compressed using the Lempel–Ziv–Welch (LZW) lossless data compression technique to reduce the file size without degrading the visual quality. While once in widespread usage on the World Wide Web because of its wide implementation and portability between applications and operating systems, usage of the format has declined for space and quality reasons, often being replaced with video formats such as the MP4 file format. These replacements, in turn, are often termed "GIFs" despite having no relation to the original file format. | 2001-10-09T05:09:22Z | 2023-12-30T20:27:24Z | [
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:No",
"Template:Math",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Font color",
"Template:Pb",
"Template:Sfrac",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Graphics file formats",
"Template:Small",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite patent",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Infobox file format",
"Template:Respell",
"Template:According to whom",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Compression formats",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Resx",
"Template:US patent",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Sub",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Better source",
"Template:Yes",
"Template:Cite conference",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Code",
"Template:When",
"Template:Color",
"Template:Mvar",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF |
12,706 | Greg Egan | Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.
Egan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Western Australia.
He published his first work in 1983. He specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology themes, including the nature of consciousness. Other themes include genetics, simulated reality, posthumanism, mind uploading, sexuality, artificial intelligence, and the superiority of rational naturalism to religion. He often deals with complex technical material, like new physics and epistemology. He is a Hugo Award winner (with eight other works shortlisted for the Hugos) and has also won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. His early stories feature strong elements of supernatural horror.
Egan's short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including regular appearances in Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction.
In 2014, Egan conjectured a generalization of the Grace–Danielsson Inequality about the relation of the radii of two spheres and the distance of their respective centers to fit a simplex between them to also hold in higher dimensions, which later became known as the Egan conjecture. A proof of the inequality being sufficient was published by him on 16 April 2018 under a blog post of John Baez. A proof of the inequality also being necessary was published by Sergei Drozdov on 16 October 2023 on ArXiv.
In 2018, Egan described a construction of superpermutations, thus giving an upper bound to their length. On 27 February 2019, using ideas developed by Robin Houston and others, Egan produced a superpermutation of n = 7 symbols of length 5906, breaking previous records.
As of 2015, Egan lives in Perth. He is a vegetarian and an atheist.
Egan does not attend science fiction conventions, does not sign books, and has stated that he appears in no photographs on the web, though both SF fan sites and Google Search have at times mistakenly represented photos of other people with the same name as those of the writer.
Egan's work has won the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated fiction seven times.
Teranesia was named the winner of the 2000 Ditmar Award for best novel, but Egan declined the award.
Axiomatic (1995), ISBN 1-85798-281-9
Our Lady of Chernobyl (1995), ISBN 0-646-23230-4
Luminous (1998), ISBN 1-85798-551-6
Dark Integers and Other Stories (2008), ISBN 978-1-59606-155-2
Crystal Nights and Other Stories (2009), ISBN 978-1-59606-240-5
Oceanic (2009), ISBN 978-0-575-08652-4
The Best of Greg Egan (2019), ISBN 978-1-59606-942-8
Instantiation (2020)
Sleep and The Soul (2023)
Phoresis and Other Journeys (2023)
The production of a short film inspired by the story "Axiomatic" commenced in 2015, and the film was released online in October 2017. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Egan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Western Australia.",
"title": "Life and work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "He published his first work in 1983. He specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology themes, including the nature of consciousness. Other themes include genetics, simulated reality, posthumanism, mind uploading, sexuality, artificial intelligence, and the superiority of rational naturalism to religion. He often deals with complex technical material, like new physics and epistemology. He is a Hugo Award winner (with eight other works shortlisted for the Hugos) and has also won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. His early stories feature strong elements of supernatural horror.",
"title": "Life and work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Egan's short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including regular appearances in Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction.",
"title": "Life and work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In 2014, Egan conjectured a generalization of the Grace–Danielsson Inequality about the relation of the radii of two spheres and the distance of their respective centers to fit a simplex between them to also hold in higher dimensions, which later became known as the Egan conjecture. A proof of the inequality being sufficient was published by him on 16 April 2018 under a blog post of John Baez. A proof of the inequality also being necessary was published by Sergei Drozdov on 16 October 2023 on ArXiv.",
"title": "Life and work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 2018, Egan described a construction of superpermutations, thus giving an upper bound to their length. On 27 February 2019, using ideas developed by Robin Houston and others, Egan produced a superpermutation of n = 7 symbols of length 5906, breaking previous records.",
"title": "Life and work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "As of 2015, Egan lives in Perth. He is a vegetarian and an atheist.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Egan does not attend science fiction conventions, does not sign books, and has stated that he appears in no photographs on the web, though both SF fan sites and Google Search have at times mistakenly represented photos of other people with the same name as those of the writer.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Egan's work has won the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated fiction seven times.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Teranesia was named the winner of the 2000 Ditmar Award for best novel, but Egan declined the award.",
"title": "Awards"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Axiomatic (1995), ISBN 1-85798-281-9",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Our Lady of Chernobyl (1995), ISBN 0-646-23230-4",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Luminous (1998), ISBN 1-85798-551-6",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Dark Integers and Other Stories (2008), ISBN 978-1-59606-155-2",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Crystal Nights and Other Stories (2009), ISBN 978-1-59606-240-5",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Oceanic (2009), ISBN 978-0-575-08652-4",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The Best of Greg Egan (2019), ISBN 978-1-59606-942-8",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Instantiation (2020)",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Sleep and The Soul (2023)",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Phoresis and Other Journeys (2023)",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The production of a short film inspired by the story \"Axiomatic\" commenced in 2015, and the film was released online in October 2017.",
"title": "Short movies"
}
]
| Greg Egan is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award. | 2001-11-07T22:08:44Z | 2023-12-25T23:28:04Z | [
"Template:Locus Award Best Novella",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox writer",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Sfadb",
"Template:IMDb title",
"Template:Hugo Award Best Novella",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Columns-list",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Use Australian English",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Isfdb name"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Egan |
12,707 | Guy Fawkes | Guy Fawkes (/fɔːks/; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic.
Fawkes converted to Catholicism and left for mainland Europe, where he fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years' War against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England without success. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced him to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords; Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder that they stockpiled there. The authorities were prompted by an anonymous letter to search Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and they found Fawkes guarding the explosives. He was questioned and tortured over the next few days and confessed to wanting to blow up the House of Lords.
Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, at his execution on 31 January, he died when his neck was broken as he was hanged, with some sources claiming that he deliberately jumped to make this happen; he thus avoided the agony of his sentence. He became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in the UK as Guy Fawkes Night since 5 November 1605, when his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by fireworks.
Guy Fawkes was born in 1570 in Stonegate, York. He was the second of four children born to Edward Fawkes, a proctor and an advocate of the consistory court at York, and his wife, Edith. Guy's parents were regular communicants of the Church of England, as were his paternal grandparents; his grandmother, born Ellen Harrington, was the daughter of a prominent merchant, who served as Lord Mayor of York in 1536. Guy's mother's family were recusant Catholics, and his cousin, Richard Cowling, became a Jesuit priest. Guy was an uncommon name in England, but may have been popular in York on account of a local notable, Sir Guy Fairfax of Steeton.
The date of Fawkes's birth is unknown, but he was baptised in the church of St Michael le Belfrey, York on 16 April. As the customary gap between birth and baptism was three days, he was probably born about 13 April. In 1568, Edith had given birth to a daughter named Anne, but the child died aged about seven weeks, in November that year. She bore two more children after Guy: Anne (b. 1572), and Elizabeth (b. 1575). Both were married, in 1599 and 1594 respectively.
In 1579, when Guy was eight years old, his father died. His mother remarried several years later, to the Catholic Dionis Baynbrigge (or Denis Bainbridge) of Scotton, Harrogate. Fawkes may have become a Catholic through the Baynbrigge family's recusant tendencies, and also the Catholic branches of the Pulleyn and Percy families of Scotton, but also from his time at St. Peter's School in York. A governor of the school had spent about 20 years in prison for recusancy, and its headmaster, John Pulleyn, came from a family of noted Yorkshire recusants, the Pulleyns of Blubberhouses. In her 1915 work The Pulleynes of Yorkshire, author Catharine Pullein suggested that Fawkes's Catholic education came from his Harrington relatives, who were known for harbouring priests, one of whom later accompanied Fawkes to Flanders in 1592–1593. Fawkes's fellow students included John Wright and his brother Christopher (both later involved with Fawkes in the Gunpowder Plot) and Oswald Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne and Robert Middleton, who became priests (the latter executed in 1601).
After leaving school Fawkes entered the service of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. The Viscount took a dislike to Fawkes and after a short time dismissed him; he was subsequently employed by Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu, who succeeded his grandfather at the age of 18. At least one source claims that Fawkes married and had a son, but no known contemporary accounts confirm this.
In October 1591 Fawkes sold the estate in Clifton in York that he had inherited from his father. He travelled to the continent to fight in the Eighty Years War for Catholic Spain against the new Dutch Republic and, from 1595 until the Peace of Vervins in 1598, France. Although England was not by then engaged in land operations against Spain, the two countries were still at war, and the attempted invasion of England, led by the Spanish Armada in 1588, was only five years in the past. He joined Sir William Stanley, an English Catholic and veteran commander in his mid-forties who had raised an army in Ireland to fight in Leicester's expedition to the Netherlands. Stanley had been held in high regard by Elizabeth I, but following his surrender of Deventer to the Spanish in 1587 he, and most of his troops, had switched sides to serve Spain. Fawkes became an alférez or junior officer, fought well at the siege of Calais in 1596, and by 1603 had been recommended for a captaincy. That year, he travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England. He used the occasion to adopt the Italian version of his name, Guido, and in his memorandum described James I (who became king of England that year) as "a heretic", who intended "to have all of the Papist sect driven out of England." He denounced Scotland, and the King's favourites among the Scottish nobles, writing "it will not be possible to reconcile these two nations, as they are, for very long". Although he was received politely, the court of Philip III was unwilling to offer him any support.
In 1604 Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate the Protestant King James and replace him with his daughter, third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth. Fawkes was described by the Jesuit priest and former school friend Oswald Tesimond as "pleasant of approach and cheerful of manner, opposed to quarrels and strife ... loyal to his friends". Tesimond also claimed Fawkes was "a man highly skilled in matters of war", and that it was this mixture of piety and professionalism that endeared him to his fellow conspirators. The author Antonia Fraser describes Fawkes as "a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard", and that he was "a man of action ... capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies."
The first meeting of the five central conspirators took place on Sunday 20 May 1604, at an inn called the Duck and Drake, in the fashionable Strand district of London. Catesby had already proposed at an earlier meeting with Thomas Wintour and John Wright to kill the King and his government by blowing up "the Parliament House with gunpowder". Wintour, who at first objected to the plan, was convinced by Catesby to travel to the continent to seek help. Wintour met with the Constable of Castile, the exiled Welsh spy Hugh Owen, and Sir William Stanley, who said that Catesby would receive no support from Spain. Owen did, however, introduce Wintour to Fawkes, who had by then been away from England for many years, and thus was largely unknown in the country. Wintour and Fawkes were contemporaries; each was militant, and had first-hand experience of the unwillingness of the Spaniards to help. Wintour told Fawkes of their plan to "doe some whatt in Ingland if the pece with Spaine healped us nott", and thus in April 1604 the two men returned to England. Wintour's news did not surprise Catesby; despite positive noises from the Spanish authorities, he feared that "the deeds would nott answere".
One of the conspirators, Thomas Percy, was appointed a Gentleman Pensioner in June 1604, gaining access to a house in London that belonged to John Whynniard, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe. Fawkes was installed as a caretaker and began using the pseudonym John Johnson, servant to Percy. The contemporaneous account of the prosecution (taken from Thomas Wintour's confession) claimed that the conspirators attempted to dig a tunnel from beneath Whynniard's house to Parliament, although this story may have been a government fabrication; no evidence for the existence of a tunnel was presented by the prosecution, and no trace of one has ever been found; Fawkes himself did not admit the existence of such a scheme until his fifth interrogation, but even then he could not locate the tunnel. If the story is true, however, by December 1604 the conspirators were busy tunnelling from their rented house to the House of Lords. They ceased their efforts when, during tunnelling, they heard a noise from above. Fawkes was sent out to investigate, and returned with the news that the tenant's widow was clearing out a nearby undercroft, directly beneath the House of Lords.
The plotters purchased the lease to the room, which also belonged to John Whynniard. Unused and filthy, it was considered an ideal hiding place for the gunpowder the plotters planned to store. According to Fawkes, 20 barrels of gunpowder were brought in at first, followed by 16 more on 20 July. On 28 July however, the ever-present threat of the plague delayed the opening of Parliament until Tuesday, 5 November.
In an attempt to gain foreign support, in May 1605 Fawkes travelled overseas and informed Hugh Owen of the plotters' plan. At some point during this trip his name made its way into the files of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, who employed a network of spies across Europe. One of these spies, Captain William Turner, may have been responsible. Although the information he provided to Salisbury usually amounted to no more than a vague pattern of invasion reports, and included nothing which regarded the Gunpowder Plot, on 21 April he told how Fawkes was to be brought by Tesimond to England. Fawkes was a well-known Flemish mercenary, and would be introduced to "Mr Catesby" and "honourable friends of the nobility and others who would have arms and horses in readiness". Turner's report did not, however, mention Fawkes's pseudonym in England, John Johnson, and did not reach Cecil until late in November, well after the plot had been discovered.
It is uncertain when Fawkes returned to England, but he was back in London by late August 1605, when he and Wintour discovered that the gunpowder stored in the undercroft had decayed. More gunpowder was brought into the room, along with firewood to conceal it. Fawkes's final role in the plot was settled during a series of meetings in October. He was to light the fuse and then escape across the Thames. Simultaneously, a revolt in the Midlands would help to ensure the capture of Princess Elizabeth. Acts of regicide were frowned upon, and Fawkes would therefore head to the continent, where he would explain to the Catholic powers his holy duty to kill the King and his retinue.
A few of the conspirators were concerned about fellow Catholics who would be present at Parliament during the opening. On the evening of 26 October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away, and to "retyre youre self into yowre contee whence yow maye expect the event in safti for ... they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament". Despite quickly becoming aware of the letter – informed by one of Monteagle's servants – the conspirators resolved to continue with their plans, as it appeared that it "was clearly thought to be a hoax". Fawkes checked the undercroft on 30 October, and reported that nothing had been disturbed. Monteagle's suspicions had been aroused, however, and the letter was shown to King James. The King ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he did in the early hours of 5 November. Fawkes had taken up his station late on the previous night, armed with a slow match and a watch given to him by Percy "becaus he should knowe howe the time went away". He was found leaving the cellar, shortly after midnight, and arrested. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.
Fawkes gave his name as John Johnson and was first interrogated by members of the King's Privy chamber, where he remained defiant. When asked by one of the lords what he was doing in possession of so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered that his intention was "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains." He identified himself as a 36-year-old Catholic from Netherdale in Yorkshire, and gave his father's name as Thomas and his mother's as Edith Jackson. Wounds on his body noted by his questioners he explained as the effects of pleurisy. Fawkes admitted his intention to blow up the House of Lords, and expressed regret at his failure to do so. His steadfast manner earned him the admiration of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing "a Roman resolution".
James's admiration did not, however, prevent him from ordering on 6 November that "John Johnson" be tortured, to reveal the names of his co-conspirators. He directed that the torture be light at first, referring to the use of manacles, but more severe if necessary, authorising the use of the rack: "the gentler Tortures are to be first used unto him et sic per gradus ad ima tenditur [and so by degrees proceeding to the worst]". Fawkes was transferred to the Tower of London. The King composed a list of questions to be put to "Johnson", such as "as to what he is, For I can never yet hear of any man that knows him", "When and where he learned to speak French?", and "If he was a Papist, who brought him up in it?" The room in which Fawkes was interrogated subsequently became known as the Guy Fawkes Room.
Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, supervised the torture and obtained Fawkes's confession. He searched his prisoner, and found a letter addressed to Guy Fawkes. To Waad's surprise, "Johnson" remained silent, revealing nothing about the plot or its authors. On the night of 6 November he spoke with Waad, who reported to Salisbury "He [Johnson] told us that since he undertook this action he did every day pray to God he might perform that which might be for the advancement of the Catholic Faith and saving his own soul". According to Waad, Fawkes managed to rest through the night, despite his being warned that he would be interrogated until "I had gotton the inwards secret of his thoughts and all his complices". His composure was broken at some point during the following day.
The observer Sir Edward Hoby remarked "Since Johnson's being in the Tower, he beginneth to speak English". Fawkes revealed his true identity on 7 November, and told his interrogators that there were five people involved in the plot to kill the King. He began to reveal their names on 8 November, and told how they intended to place Princess Elizabeth on the throne. His third confession, on 9 November, implicated Francis Tresham. Following the Ridolfi plot of 1571, prisoners were made to dictate their confessions, before copying and signing them, if they still could. Although it is uncertain if he was tortured on the rack, Fawkes's scrawled signature suggests the suffering he endured at the hands of his interrogators.
The trial of eight of the plotters began on Monday 27 January 1606. Fawkes shared the barge from the Tower to Westminster Hall with seven of his co-conspirators. They were kept in the Star Chamber before being taken to Westminster Hall, where they were displayed on a purpose-built scaffold. The King and his close family, watching in secret, were among the spectators as the Lords Commissioners read out the list of charges. Fawkes was identified as Guido Fawkes, "otherwise called Guido Johnson". He pleaded not guilty, despite his apparent acceptance of guilt from the moment he was captured.
The jury found all the defendants guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popham pronounced them guilty of high treason. The Attorney General Sir Edward Coke told the court that each of the condemned would be drawn backwards to his death, by a horse, his head near the ground. They were to be "put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the fowls of the air". Fawkes's and Tresham's testimony regarding the Spanish treason was read aloud, as well as confessions related specifically to the Gunpowder Plot. The last piece of evidence offered was a conversation between Fawkes and Wintour, who had been kept in adjacent cells. The two men apparently thought they had been speaking in private, but their conversation was intercepted by a government spy. When the prisoners were allowed to speak, Fawkes explained his not guilty plea as ignorance of certain aspects of the indictment.
On 31 January 1606, Fawkes and three others – Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood, and Robert Keyes – were dragged from the Tower on wattled hurdles to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, opposite the building they had attempted to destroy. His fellow plotters were then hanged and quartered. Fawkes was the last to stand on the scaffold. He asked for forgiveness of the King and state, while keeping up his "crosses and idle ceremonies" (Catholic practices). Weakened by torture and aided by the hangman, Fawkes began to climb the ladder to the noose, but either through jumping to his death or climbing too high so the rope was incorrectly set, he managed to avoid the agony of the latter part of his execution by breaking his neck. His lifeless body was nevertheless quartered and, as was the custom, his body parts were then distributed to "the four corners of the kingdom", to be displayed as a warning to other would-be traitors.
On 5 November 1605, Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, provided that "this testemonye of joy be carefull done without any danger or disorder". An Act of Parliament designated each 5 November as a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of deliverance", and remained in force until 1859. Fawkes was one of 13 conspirators, but he is the individual most associated with the plot.
In Britain, 5 November has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night, and Bonfire Night (which can be traced directly back to the original celebration of 5 November 1605). Bonfires were accompanied by fireworks from the 1650s onwards, and it became the custom after 1673 to burn an effigy (usually of the pope) when heir presumptive James, Duke of York, converted to Catholicism. Effigies of other notable figures have found their way onto the bonfires, such as Paul Kruger, Margaret Thatcher, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Vladimir Putin. The "guy" is normally created by children from old clothes, newspapers, and a mask. During the 19th century, "guy" came to mean an oddly dressed person, while in many places it has lost any pejorative connotation and instead refers to any male person and the plural form can refer to people of any gender (as in "you guys").
James Sharpe, professor of history at the University of York, has described how Guy Fawkes came to be toasted as "the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions". William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical romance Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason portrays Fawkes in a generally sympathetic light, and his novel transformed Fawkes in the public perception into an "acceptable fictional character". Fawkes subsequently appeared as "essentially an action hero" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such as The Boyhood Days of Guy Fawkes; or, The Conspirators of Old London, published around 1905. According to historian Lewis Call, Fawkes is now "a major icon in modern political culture" whose face has become "a potentially powerful instrument for the articulation of postmodern anarchism" in the late 20th century. Fawkes is regarded by some as a martyr, political rebel or freedom-fighter, especially amongst a minority of Catholics in the United Kingdom.
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Guy Fawkes (/fɔːks/; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Fawkes converted to Catholicism and left for mainland Europe, where he fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years' War against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England without success. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced him to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords; Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder that they stockpiled there. The authorities were prompted by an anonymous letter to search Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and they found Fawkes guarding the explosives. He was questioned and tortured over the next few days and confessed to wanting to blow up the House of Lords.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, at his execution on 31 January, he died when his neck was broken as he was hanged, with some sources claiming that he deliberately jumped to make this happen; he thus avoided the agony of his sentence. He became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in the UK as Guy Fawkes Night since 5 November 1605, when his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by fireworks.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Guy Fawkes was born in 1570 in Stonegate, York. He was the second of four children born to Edward Fawkes, a proctor and an advocate of the consistory court at York, and his wife, Edith. Guy's parents were regular communicants of the Church of England, as were his paternal grandparents; his grandmother, born Ellen Harrington, was the daughter of a prominent merchant, who served as Lord Mayor of York in 1536. Guy's mother's family were recusant Catholics, and his cousin, Richard Cowling, became a Jesuit priest. Guy was an uncommon name in England, but may have been popular in York on account of a local notable, Sir Guy Fairfax of Steeton.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The date of Fawkes's birth is unknown, but he was baptised in the church of St Michael le Belfrey, York on 16 April. As the customary gap between birth and baptism was three days, he was probably born about 13 April. In 1568, Edith had given birth to a daughter named Anne, but the child died aged about seven weeks, in November that year. She bore two more children after Guy: Anne (b. 1572), and Elizabeth (b. 1575). Both were married, in 1599 and 1594 respectively.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1579, when Guy was eight years old, his father died. His mother remarried several years later, to the Catholic Dionis Baynbrigge (or Denis Bainbridge) of Scotton, Harrogate. Fawkes may have become a Catholic through the Baynbrigge family's recusant tendencies, and also the Catholic branches of the Pulleyn and Percy families of Scotton, but also from his time at St. Peter's School in York. A governor of the school had spent about 20 years in prison for recusancy, and its headmaster, John Pulleyn, came from a family of noted Yorkshire recusants, the Pulleyns of Blubberhouses. In her 1915 work The Pulleynes of Yorkshire, author Catharine Pullein suggested that Fawkes's Catholic education came from his Harrington relatives, who were known for harbouring priests, one of whom later accompanied Fawkes to Flanders in 1592–1593. Fawkes's fellow students included John Wright and his brother Christopher (both later involved with Fawkes in the Gunpowder Plot) and Oswald Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne and Robert Middleton, who became priests (the latter executed in 1601).",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "After leaving school Fawkes entered the service of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. The Viscount took a dislike to Fawkes and after a short time dismissed him; he was subsequently employed by Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu, who succeeded his grandfather at the age of 18. At least one source claims that Fawkes married and had a son, but no known contemporary accounts confirm this.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In October 1591 Fawkes sold the estate in Clifton in York that he had inherited from his father. He travelled to the continent to fight in the Eighty Years War for Catholic Spain against the new Dutch Republic and, from 1595 until the Peace of Vervins in 1598, France. Although England was not by then engaged in land operations against Spain, the two countries were still at war, and the attempted invasion of England, led by the Spanish Armada in 1588, was only five years in the past. He joined Sir William Stanley, an English Catholic and veteran commander in his mid-forties who had raised an army in Ireland to fight in Leicester's expedition to the Netherlands. Stanley had been held in high regard by Elizabeth I, but following his surrender of Deventer to the Spanish in 1587 he, and most of his troops, had switched sides to serve Spain. Fawkes became an alférez or junior officer, fought well at the siege of Calais in 1596, and by 1603 had been recommended for a captaincy. That year, he travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England. He used the occasion to adopt the Italian version of his name, Guido, and in his memorandum described James I (who became king of England that year) as \"a heretic\", who intended \"to have all of the Papist sect driven out of England.\" He denounced Scotland, and the King's favourites among the Scottish nobles, writing \"it will not be possible to reconcile these two nations, as they are, for very long\". Although he was received politely, the court of Philip III was unwilling to offer him any support.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1604 Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate the Protestant King James and replace him with his daughter, third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth. Fawkes was described by the Jesuit priest and former school friend Oswald Tesimond as \"pleasant of approach and cheerful of manner, opposed to quarrels and strife ... loyal to his friends\". Tesimond also claimed Fawkes was \"a man highly skilled in matters of war\", and that it was this mixture of piety and professionalism that endeared him to his fellow conspirators. The author Antonia Fraser describes Fawkes as \"a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard\", and that he was \"a man of action ... capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies.\"",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The first meeting of the five central conspirators took place on Sunday 20 May 1604, at an inn called the Duck and Drake, in the fashionable Strand district of London. Catesby had already proposed at an earlier meeting with Thomas Wintour and John Wright to kill the King and his government by blowing up \"the Parliament House with gunpowder\". Wintour, who at first objected to the plan, was convinced by Catesby to travel to the continent to seek help. Wintour met with the Constable of Castile, the exiled Welsh spy Hugh Owen, and Sir William Stanley, who said that Catesby would receive no support from Spain. Owen did, however, introduce Wintour to Fawkes, who had by then been away from England for many years, and thus was largely unknown in the country. Wintour and Fawkes were contemporaries; each was militant, and had first-hand experience of the unwillingness of the Spaniards to help. Wintour told Fawkes of their plan to \"doe some whatt in Ingland if the pece with Spaine healped us nott\", and thus in April 1604 the two men returned to England. Wintour's news did not surprise Catesby; despite positive noises from the Spanish authorities, he feared that \"the deeds would nott answere\".",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "One of the conspirators, Thomas Percy, was appointed a Gentleman Pensioner in June 1604, gaining access to a house in London that belonged to John Whynniard, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe. Fawkes was installed as a caretaker and began using the pseudonym John Johnson, servant to Percy. The contemporaneous account of the prosecution (taken from Thomas Wintour's confession) claimed that the conspirators attempted to dig a tunnel from beneath Whynniard's house to Parliament, although this story may have been a government fabrication; no evidence for the existence of a tunnel was presented by the prosecution, and no trace of one has ever been found; Fawkes himself did not admit the existence of such a scheme until his fifth interrogation, but even then he could not locate the tunnel. If the story is true, however, by December 1604 the conspirators were busy tunnelling from their rented house to the House of Lords. They ceased their efforts when, during tunnelling, they heard a noise from above. Fawkes was sent out to investigate, and returned with the news that the tenant's widow was clearing out a nearby undercroft, directly beneath the House of Lords.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The plotters purchased the lease to the room, which also belonged to John Whynniard. Unused and filthy, it was considered an ideal hiding place for the gunpowder the plotters planned to store. According to Fawkes, 20 barrels of gunpowder were brought in at first, followed by 16 more on 20 July. On 28 July however, the ever-present threat of the plague delayed the opening of Parliament until Tuesday, 5 November.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In an attempt to gain foreign support, in May 1605 Fawkes travelled overseas and informed Hugh Owen of the plotters' plan. At some point during this trip his name made its way into the files of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, who employed a network of spies across Europe. One of these spies, Captain William Turner, may have been responsible. Although the information he provided to Salisbury usually amounted to no more than a vague pattern of invasion reports, and included nothing which regarded the Gunpowder Plot, on 21 April he told how Fawkes was to be brought by Tesimond to England. Fawkes was a well-known Flemish mercenary, and would be introduced to \"Mr Catesby\" and \"honourable friends of the nobility and others who would have arms and horses in readiness\". Turner's report did not, however, mention Fawkes's pseudonym in England, John Johnson, and did not reach Cecil until late in November, well after the plot had been discovered.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "It is uncertain when Fawkes returned to England, but he was back in London by late August 1605, when he and Wintour discovered that the gunpowder stored in the undercroft had decayed. More gunpowder was brought into the room, along with firewood to conceal it. Fawkes's final role in the plot was settled during a series of meetings in October. He was to light the fuse and then escape across the Thames. Simultaneously, a revolt in the Midlands would help to ensure the capture of Princess Elizabeth. Acts of regicide were frowned upon, and Fawkes would therefore head to the continent, where he would explain to the Catholic powers his holy duty to kill the King and his retinue.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A few of the conspirators were concerned about fellow Catholics who would be present at Parliament during the opening. On the evening of 26 October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away, and to \"retyre youre self into yowre contee whence yow maye expect the event in safti for ... they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament\". Despite quickly becoming aware of the letter – informed by one of Monteagle's servants – the conspirators resolved to continue with their plans, as it appeared that it \"was clearly thought to be a hoax\". Fawkes checked the undercroft on 30 October, and reported that nothing had been disturbed. Monteagle's suspicions had been aroused, however, and the letter was shown to King James. The King ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he did in the early hours of 5 November. Fawkes had taken up his station late on the previous night, armed with a slow match and a watch given to him by Percy \"becaus he should knowe howe the time went away\". He was found leaving the cellar, shortly after midnight, and arrested. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Fawkes gave his name as John Johnson and was first interrogated by members of the King's Privy chamber, where he remained defiant. When asked by one of the lords what he was doing in possession of so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered that his intention was \"to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains.\" He identified himself as a 36-year-old Catholic from Netherdale in Yorkshire, and gave his father's name as Thomas and his mother's as Edith Jackson. Wounds on his body noted by his questioners he explained as the effects of pleurisy. Fawkes admitted his intention to blow up the House of Lords, and expressed regret at his failure to do so. His steadfast manner earned him the admiration of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing \"a Roman resolution\".",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "James's admiration did not, however, prevent him from ordering on 6 November that \"John Johnson\" be tortured, to reveal the names of his co-conspirators. He directed that the torture be light at first, referring to the use of manacles, but more severe if necessary, authorising the use of the rack: \"the gentler Tortures are to be first used unto him et sic per gradus ad ima tenditur [and so by degrees proceeding to the worst]\". Fawkes was transferred to the Tower of London. The King composed a list of questions to be put to \"Johnson\", such as \"as to what he is, For I can never yet hear of any man that knows him\", \"When and where he learned to speak French?\", and \"If he was a Papist, who brought him up in it?\" The room in which Fawkes was interrogated subsequently became known as the Guy Fawkes Room.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, supervised the torture and obtained Fawkes's confession. He searched his prisoner, and found a letter addressed to Guy Fawkes. To Waad's surprise, \"Johnson\" remained silent, revealing nothing about the plot or its authors. On the night of 6 November he spoke with Waad, who reported to Salisbury \"He [Johnson] told us that since he undertook this action he did every day pray to God he might perform that which might be for the advancement of the Catholic Faith and saving his own soul\". According to Waad, Fawkes managed to rest through the night, despite his being warned that he would be interrogated until \"I had gotton the inwards secret of his thoughts and all his complices\". His composure was broken at some point during the following day.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The observer Sir Edward Hoby remarked \"Since Johnson's being in the Tower, he beginneth to speak English\". Fawkes revealed his true identity on 7 November, and told his interrogators that there were five people involved in the plot to kill the King. He began to reveal their names on 8 November, and told how they intended to place Princess Elizabeth on the throne. His third confession, on 9 November, implicated Francis Tresham. Following the Ridolfi plot of 1571, prisoners were made to dictate their confessions, before copying and signing them, if they still could. Although it is uncertain if he was tortured on the rack, Fawkes's scrawled signature suggests the suffering he endured at the hands of his interrogators.",
"title": "Gunpowder Plot"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The trial of eight of the plotters began on Monday 27 January 1606. Fawkes shared the barge from the Tower to Westminster Hall with seven of his co-conspirators. They were kept in the Star Chamber before being taken to Westminster Hall, where they were displayed on a purpose-built scaffold. The King and his close family, watching in secret, were among the spectators as the Lords Commissioners read out the list of charges. Fawkes was identified as Guido Fawkes, \"otherwise called Guido Johnson\". He pleaded not guilty, despite his apparent acceptance of guilt from the moment he was captured.",
"title": "Trial and execution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The jury found all the defendants guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popham pronounced them guilty of high treason. The Attorney General Sir Edward Coke told the court that each of the condemned would be drawn backwards to his death, by a horse, his head near the ground. They were to be \"put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both\". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become \"prey for the fowls of the air\". Fawkes's and Tresham's testimony regarding the Spanish treason was read aloud, as well as confessions related specifically to the Gunpowder Plot. The last piece of evidence offered was a conversation between Fawkes and Wintour, who had been kept in adjacent cells. The two men apparently thought they had been speaking in private, but their conversation was intercepted by a government spy. When the prisoners were allowed to speak, Fawkes explained his not guilty plea as ignorance of certain aspects of the indictment.",
"title": "Trial and execution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "On 31 January 1606, Fawkes and three others – Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood, and Robert Keyes – were dragged from the Tower on wattled hurdles to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, opposite the building they had attempted to destroy. His fellow plotters were then hanged and quartered. Fawkes was the last to stand on the scaffold. He asked for forgiveness of the King and state, while keeping up his \"crosses and idle ceremonies\" (Catholic practices). Weakened by torture and aided by the hangman, Fawkes began to climb the ladder to the noose, but either through jumping to his death or climbing too high so the rope was incorrectly set, he managed to avoid the agony of the latter part of his execution by breaking his neck. His lifeless body was nevertheless quartered and, as was the custom, his body parts were then distributed to \"the four corners of the kingdom\", to be displayed as a warning to other would-be traitors.",
"title": "Trial and execution"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "On 5 November 1605, Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, provided that \"this testemonye of joy be carefull done without any danger or disorder\". An Act of Parliament designated each 5 November as a day of thanksgiving for \"the joyful day of deliverance\", and remained in force until 1859. Fawkes was one of 13 conspirators, but he is the individual most associated with the plot.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In Britain, 5 November has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night, and Bonfire Night (which can be traced directly back to the original celebration of 5 November 1605). Bonfires were accompanied by fireworks from the 1650s onwards, and it became the custom after 1673 to burn an effigy (usually of the pope) when heir presumptive James, Duke of York, converted to Catholicism. Effigies of other notable figures have found their way onto the bonfires, such as Paul Kruger, Margaret Thatcher, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Vladimir Putin. The \"guy\" is normally created by children from old clothes, newspapers, and a mask. During the 19th century, \"guy\" came to mean an oddly dressed person, while in many places it has lost any pejorative connotation and instead refers to any male person and the plural form can refer to people of any gender (as in \"you guys\").",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "James Sharpe, professor of history at the University of York, has described how Guy Fawkes came to be toasted as \"the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions\". William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical romance Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason portrays Fawkes in a generally sympathetic light, and his novel transformed Fawkes in the public perception into an \"acceptable fictional character\". Fawkes subsequently appeared as \"essentially an action hero\" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such as The Boyhood Days of Guy Fawkes; or, The Conspirators of Old London, published around 1905. According to historian Lewis Call, Fawkes is now \"a major icon in modern political culture\" whose face has become \"a potentially powerful instrument for the articulation of postmodern anarchism\" in the late 20th century. Fawkes is regarded by some as a martyr, political rebel or freedom-fighter, especially amongst a minority of Catholics in the United Kingdom.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Footnotes",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Citations",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Bibliography",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes converted to Catholicism and left for mainland Europe, where he fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years' War against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England without success. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced him to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords; Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder that they stockpiled there. The authorities were prompted by an anonymous letter to search Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and they found Fawkes guarding the explosives. He was questioned and tortured over the next few days and confessed to wanting to blow up the House of Lords. Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, at his execution on 31 January, he died when his neck was broken as he was hanged, with some sources claiming that he deliberately jumped to make this happen; he thus avoided the agony of his sentence. He became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in the UK as Guy Fawkes Night since 5 November 1605, when his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by fireworks. | 2001-10-10T00:25:57Z | 2023-12-11T03:08:35Z | [
"Template:Bots",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Spaced ndash",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Library resources box",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Infobox gunpowder plot",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Gunpowder Plot",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Curlie",
"Template:Pp-semi-indef",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Sisterlinks",
"Template:Featured article",
"Template:About",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:ODNBsub",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Main"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes |
12,709 | Goodtimes virus | The Goodtimes virus, also styled as Good Times virus, was a computer virus hoax that spread during the early years of the Internet's popularity. Warnings about a computer virus named "Good Times" began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header "Good Times" or "Goodtimes", hence the virus's name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread. The virus described in the warnings did not exist, but the warnings themselves were, in effect, virus-like. In 1997 the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective announced that they had been responsible for the perpetration of the "Good Times" virus hoax as an exercise to "prove the gullibility of self-proclaimed 'experts' on the Internet".
The first recorded email warnings about the Good Times virus showed up on 15 November 1994. The first message was brief, a simple five sentence email with a Christmas greeting, advising recipients not to open email messages with the subject "GOOD TIMES!!", as doing so would "ruin" their files. Later messages became more intricate. The most common versions—the "Infinite loop" and "ASCII buffer" editions—were much longer, containing descriptions of what exactly Good Times would do to the computer of someone who opened it, as well as comparisons to other viruses of the time, and references to a U.S. Federal Communications Commission warning. The warning emails themselves usually contained the very subject line warned against.
FYI, a file, going under the name "Good Times" is being sent to some Internet users who subscribe to on-line services (Compuserve, Prodigy and America On Line). If you should receive this file, do not download it! Delete it immediately. I understand that there is a virus included in that file, which if downloaded to your personal computer, will ruin all of your files.
The longer version of the Good Times warning contained descriptions of what Good Times was supposedly capable of doing to computers. In addition to sending itself to every email address in a recipient's received or sent mail, the Good Times virus caused a wide variety of other effects. For example, one version said that if an infected computer contained a hard drive, it could be destroyed. If Good Times was not stopped in time, an infected computer would enter an "nth-complexity infinite binary loop" (a meaningless term), damaging the processor. The "ASCII" buffer email described the mechanism of Good Times as a buffer overflow.
A number of computer virus hoaxes appeared after the Good Times hoax had begun to be widely shared. These messages were similar in form to Good Times, warning users not to open messages bearing particular subject lines. Subject lines mentioned in these emails include "Penpal greetings", "Free Money", "Deeyenda", "Invitation", and "Win a Holiday".
The Bad Times computer virus warning is generally considered to be a spoof of the Good Times warning.
Developments in mail systems, such as Microsoft Outlook, without sufficient thought for security implications, made viruses that indeed propagate themselves via email possible. Notable examples include the Melissa worm, the ILOVEYOU virus, and the Anna Kournikova virus. In some cases, a user must open a document or program contained in an email message in order to spread the virus; in others, notably the Kak worm, merely opening or previewing an email message itself will trigger the virus.
Some e-mail viruses written after the Good Times scare contained text announcing that "This virus is called 'Good Times'", presumably hoping to gain kudos amongst other virus writers by appearing to have created a worldwide scare. In general, virus researchers avoided naming these viruses as "Good Times", but an obvious potential for confusion exists, and some anti-virus tools may well detect a real virus they identify as "Good Times", though this will not be the cause of the original scare.
Weird Al Yankovic made a song parody of the virus titled "Virus Alert".
The Bad Times virus hoax was created years later. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Goodtimes virus, also styled as Good Times virus, was a computer virus hoax that spread during the early years of the Internet's popularity. Warnings about a computer virus named \"Good Times\" began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header \"Good Times\" or \"Goodtimes\", hence the virus's name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread. The virus described in the warnings did not exist, but the warnings themselves were, in effect, virus-like. In 1997 the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective announced that they had been responsible for the perpetration of the \"Good Times\" virus hoax as an exercise to \"prove the gullibility of self-proclaimed 'experts' on the Internet\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The first recorded email warnings about the Good Times virus showed up on 15 November 1994. The first message was brief, a simple five sentence email with a Christmas greeting, advising recipients not to open email messages with the subject \"GOOD TIMES!!\", as doing so would \"ruin\" their files. Later messages became more intricate. The most common versions—the \"Infinite loop\" and \"ASCII buffer\" editions—were much longer, containing descriptions of what exactly Good Times would do to the computer of someone who opened it, as well as comparisons to other viruses of the time, and references to a U.S. Federal Communications Commission warning. The warning emails themselves usually contained the very subject line warned against.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "FYI, a file, going under the name \"Good Times\" is being sent to some Internet users who subscribe to on-line services (Compuserve, Prodigy and America On Line). If you should receive this file, do not download it! Delete it immediately. I understand that there is a virus included in that file, which if downloaded to your personal computer, will ruin all of your files.",
"title": "Sample email"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The longer version of the Good Times warning contained descriptions of what Good Times was supposedly capable of doing to computers. In addition to sending itself to every email address in a recipient's received or sent mail, the Good Times virus caused a wide variety of other effects. For example, one version said that if an infected computer contained a hard drive, it could be destroyed. If Good Times was not stopped in time, an infected computer would enter an \"nth-complexity infinite binary loop\" (a meaningless term), damaging the processor. The \"ASCII\" buffer email described the mechanism of Good Times as a buffer overflow.",
"title": "Purported effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "A number of computer virus hoaxes appeared after the Good Times hoax had begun to be widely shared. These messages were similar in form to Good Times, warning users not to open messages bearing particular subject lines. Subject lines mentioned in these emails include \"Penpal greetings\", \"Free Money\", \"Deeyenda\", \"Invitation\", and \"Win a Holiday\".",
"title": "Hoaxes similar to Good Times"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Bad Times computer virus warning is generally considered to be a spoof of the Good Times warning.",
"title": "Hoaxes similar to Good Times"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Developments in mail systems, such as Microsoft Outlook, without sufficient thought for security implications, made viruses that indeed propagate themselves via email possible. Notable examples include the Melissa worm, the ILOVEYOU virus, and the Anna Kournikova virus. In some cases, a user must open a document or program contained in an email message in order to spread the virus; in others, notably the Kak worm, merely opening or previewing an email message itself will trigger the virus.",
"title": "Viruses that function like Good Times"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Some e-mail viruses written after the Good Times scare contained text announcing that \"This virus is called 'Good Times'\", presumably hoping to gain kudos amongst other virus writers by appearing to have created a worldwide scare. In general, virus researchers avoided naming these viruses as \"Good Times\", but an obvious potential for confusion exists, and some anti-virus tools may well detect a real virus they identify as \"Good Times\", though this will not be the cause of the original scare.",
"title": "Viruses that function like Good Times"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Weird Al Yankovic made a song parody of the virus titled \"Virus Alert\".",
"title": "Spoofs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Bad Times virus hoax was created years later.",
"title": "Spoofs"
}
]
| The Goodtimes virus, also styled as Good Times virus, was a computer virus hoax that spread during the early years of the Internet's popularity. Warnings about a computer virus named "Good Times" began being passed around among Internet users in 1994. The Goodtimes virus was supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header "Good Times" or "Goodtimes", hence the virus's name, and the warning recommended deleting any such email unread. The virus described in the warnings did not exist, but the warnings themselves were, in effect, virus-like. In 1997 the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective announced that they had been responsible for the perpetration of the "Good Times" virus hoax as an exercise to "prove the gullibility of self-proclaimed 'experts' on the Internet". | 2022-01-15T17:53:12Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:' \"",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodtimes_virus |
|
12,710 | Gary Snyder | Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology". Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. He has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis, and for a time served as a member of the California Arts Council.
Snyder was born in San Francisco, California, to Harold and Lois Hennessy Snyder. Snyder is of German, Scottish, Irish and English ancestry. His family, impoverished by the Great Depression, moved to King County, Washington, when he was two years old. There, they tended dairy-cows, kept laying-hens, had a small orchard, and made cedar-wood shingles. At the age of seven, Snyder was laid up for four months by an accident. "So my folks brought me piles of books from the Seattle Public Library," he recalled in an interview, "and it was then I really learned to read and from that time on was voracious — I figure that accident changed my life. At the end of four months, I had read more than most kids do by the time they're eighteen. And I didn't stop." Also during his ten childhood years in Washington, Snyder became aware of the presence of the Coast Salish people and developed an interest in the Native American peoples in general and their traditional relationship with nature.
In 1942, following his parents' divorce, Snyder moved to Portland, Oregon, with his mother and his younger sister, Anthea. Their mother, Lois Snyder Hennessy (born Wilkey), worked during this period as a reporter for The Oregonian. One of his boyhood jobs was as a newspaper copy-boy at the Oregonian. During his teen years, he attended Lincoln High School, worked as a camp counselor, and went mountain-climbing with the Mazamas youth-group. Climbing remained an interest of his, especially during his twenties and thirties. In 1947, he started attending Reed College on a scholarship. Here, he met, and, for a time, roomed with the writer Carl Proujan, and became acquainted with the young poets Philip Whalen and Lew Welch. During his time at Reed, Snyder published his first poems in a student journal. In 1948 he spent the summer working as a seaman. To get this job, he joined the now-defunct Marine Cooks and Stewards union, and would later work as a seaman in the mid-1950s to gain experience of other cultures in port cities. Snyder married Alison Gass in 1950; they separated after seven months, and divorced in 1952.
While attending Reed, Snyder conducted folklore research on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in central Oregon. He graduated with a dual degree in anthropology and literature in 1951. Snyder's senior thesis, entitled The Dimensions of a Myth, employed perspectives from anthropology, folklore, psychology, and literature to examine a myth of the Pacific Northwest's Haida people. He spent the following few summers working as a timber scaler at Warm Springs, developing relationships with its people that were rooted less in academia. This experience formed the basis for some of his earliest published poems (including "A Berry Feast"), later collected in the book The Back Country. He also encountered the basic ideas of Buddhism and, through its arts, some East Asian traditional attitudes toward nature. He went to Indiana University with a graduate fellowship to study anthropology. (Snyder also began practicing self-taught Zen meditation.) He left after a single semester to return to San Francisco and to 'sink or swim as a poet'. Snyder worked for two summers in the North Cascades in Washington as a fire lookout, on Crater Mountain in 1952 and Sourdough Mountain in 1953 (both locations on the upper Skagit River). His attempts to get another lookout stint in 1954 (at the peak of McCarthyism), however, failed. He found himself barred from working for the government due to his association with the Marine Cooks and Stewards. Instead, he went back to Warm Springs to work in logging as a choker setter. This experience contributed to his Myths and Texts and the essay Ancient Forests of the Far West.
Back in San Francisco, Snyder lived with Whalen, who shared his growing interest in Zen. Snyder's reading of the writings of D. T. Suzuki had in fact been a factor in his decision not to continue as a graduate student in anthropology, and in 1953 he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, to study Asian culture and languages. He studied ink and wash painting under Chiura Obata and Tang dynasty poetry under Ch'en Shih-hsiang. Snyder continued to spend summers working in the forests, including one summer as a trail-builder in Yosemite. He spent some months in 1955 and 1956 living in a cabin (which he dubbed "Marin-an") outside Mill Valley, California with Jack Kerouac. It was also at this time that Snyder was an occasional student at the American Academy of Asian Studies, where Saburo Hasegawa and Alan Watts, among others, were teaching. Hasegawa introduced Snyder to the treatment of landscape painting as a meditative practice. This inspired Snyder to attempt something equivalent in poetry, and with Hasegawa's encouragement, he began work on Mountains and Rivers Without End, which would be completed and published 40 years later. During these years, Snyder was writing and collecting his own work, as well as embarking on the translation of the "Cold Mountain" poems by the 8th-century Chinese recluse Han Shan; this work appeared in chapbook form in 1959, under the title Riprap & Cold Mountain Poems.
Snyder met Allen Ginsberg when the latter sought Snyder out on the recommendation of Kenneth Rexroth. Then, through Ginsberg, Snyder and Kerouac came to know each other. This period provided the materials for Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums, and Snyder was the inspiration for the novel's main character, Japhy Ryder, in the same way Neal Cassady had inspired Dean Moriarty in On the Road. As the large majority of people in the Beat movement had urban backgrounds, writers like Ginsberg and Kerouac found Snyder, with his backcountry and manual-labor experience and interest in things rural, a refreshing and almost exotic individual. Lawrence Ferlinghetti later referred to Snyder as 'the Thoreau of the Beat Generation'.
Snyder read his poem "A Berry Feast" at the poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco (October 7, 1955) that heard the first reading of Ginsberg's poem "Howl" and marked the emergence into mainstream publicity of the Beats. This also marked Snyder's first involvement with the Beats, although he was not a member of the original New York circle, having entered the scene through his association with Whalen and Welch. As recounted in Kerouac's Dharma Bums, even at age 25 Snyder felt he could have a role in the fateful future meeting of West and East. Snyder's first book, Riprap, which drew on his experiences as a forest lookout and on the trail crew in Yosemite, was published in 1959.
Independently, some of the Beats, including Whalen, had become interested in Zen, but Snyder was one of the more serious scholars of the subject among them, preparing in every way he could think of for eventual study in Japan. In 1955, the First Zen Institute of America offered him a scholarship for a year of Zen training in Japan, but the State Department refused to issue him a passport, informing him that "it has been alleged you are a Communist." A subsequent District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruling forced a change in policy, and Snyder got his passport. In the end, his expenses were paid by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, for whom he was supposed to work; but initially he served as personal attendant and English tutor to Zen abbot Miura Isshu, at Rinko-in, a temple in Shokoku-ji in Kyoto, where American Buddhist popularizer Dwight Goddard and British author and Japanese culture devotee R. H. Blyth had preceded him. Mornings, after zazen, sutta chanting, and chores for the abbot, he took Japanese classes, bringing his spoken Japanese up to a level sufficient for kōan study. He developed a friendship with Philip Yampolsky an eminent translator and scholar of Zen Buddhism, who took him around Kyoto. In early July 1955, he took refuge and requested to become Miura's disciple, thus formally becoming a Buddhist.
In 1958, he returned to California via the Persian Gulf, Turkey, Sri Lanka and various Pacific Islands, voyaging as a crewman in the engine room on the oil tanker Sappa Creek, and took up residence at Marin-an again. He turned one room into a zendo, with about six regular participants. In early June, he met the poet Joanne Kyger. She became his girlfriend, and eventually his wife. In 1959, he shipped for Japan again, where he rented a cottage outside Kyoto. He became the first foreign disciple of Rinzai Rōshi Oda Sesso, the new abbot of Daitoku-ji. He married Kyger on February 28, 1960, immediately after her arrival in Japan, which Fuller Sasaki insisted they do, if they were to live together and be associated with the Nichibei Daiichi Zen Kyokai,. Snyder and Kyger were married from 1960 to 1965.
During the period between 1956 and 1969, Snyder went back and forth between California and Japan, studying Zen, working on translations with Fuller Sasaki, and finally living for a while with a group of other people on the small, volcanic island of Suwanosejima. His previous study of written Chinese assisted his immersion in the Zen tradition, which has its roots in Tang dynasty China, and enabled him to support himself while he was living in Japan. Snyder received the Zen precepts and his dharma name of Chofu ("Listen to the Wind"), and lived occasionally as a de facto monk, but never registered to become a priest, planning eventually to return to the United States to "turn the wheel of the dharma". During this time, he published two collections of his poems from the early to mid 1950s, Myths & Texts (1960), and Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers Without End (1965). This last was the beginning of a project that he was to continue working on until the late 1990s. Much of Snyder's poetry expresses experiences, environments, and insights involved with the work he has done for a living: logger, fire-lookout, steam-freighter crew, translator, carpenter, and itinerant poet, among other things. During his years in Japan, Snyder was also initiated into Shugendo, a highly syncretic ascetic religious cult.
In the early 1960s he traveled for six months through India with Kyger, Ginsberg, and Ginsberg's partner, the poet and actor Peter Orlovsky. Their sojourn took them to Sri Lanka, then to south India, and eventually travelling up into the north. They observed the folkways of the various peoples, went on hikes, stopped at landmarks, temples, burning ghats, monastic caves, and ashrams. As they went, they learned in part through conversations with many Indians and Europeans who could speak English. They visited numerous cities, including Madras, Calcutta, Mumbai, Banaras, Old Delhi and New Delhi, as well as Rishikesh and Hardwar, and Bodh Gaya (where Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, attained enlightenment). Especially important to Snyder and Ginsberg, in Dharamashala the Dalai Lama met with them and they discussed Buddhist principles and practices.
Snyder and Kyger separated soon after their trip to India, and divorced in 1965.
In the 1950s, Snyder took part in the rise of a strand of Buddhist anarchism emerging from the Beat movement. Snyder was the inspiration for the Japhy Ryder character in Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums (1958). Snyder had spent considerable time in Japan studying Zen Buddhism, and in 1961 published an essay, "Buddhist Anarchism", where he described the connection he saw between these two traditions, originating in different parts of the world: "The mercy of the West has been social revolution; the mercy of the East has been individual insight into the basic self/void." He advocated "using such means as civil disobedience, outspoken criticism, protest, pacifism, voluntary poverty and even gentle violence" and defended "the right of individuals to smoke ganja, eat peyote, be polygynous, polyandrous or homosexual" which he saw as being banned by "the Judaeo-Capitalist-Christian-Marxist West".
In 1966, Snyder joined Allen Ginsberg, Richard Baker, future Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center, and Kriyananda aka Donald J Walters, to buy 100 acres (40 ha) in the San Juan Ridge area of the Sierra-Nevada foothills, north of Nevada City, Northern California. In 1967 Snyder's book The Back Country appeared, again mainly a collection of poems stretching back over about fifteen years. Snyder devoted a section at the end of the book to his translations of eighteen poems by Kenji Miyazawa. In 1970, Kitkitdizze (as he named his portion of the San Juan Ridge property) would become his home. By that point, Snyder had already spent the summers of 1967 and 1968 with a group of Japanese back-to-the-land drop-outs known as "the Tribe" on Suwanosejima (a small Japanese island in the East China Sea), where they combed the beaches, gathered edible plants, and fished. On the island, on August 6, 1967, he married Masa Uehara, whom he had met in Osaka a year earlier. In 1968, they moved to California with their infant son, Kai (born April 1968). Their second son, Gen, was born a year later. They were shortly able to move onto the San Juan Ridge property, near the South Yuba River, where they and friends built a house that drew on rural-Japanese and Native-American architectural ideas.
Regarding Wave appeared in January 1970, a stylistic departure offering poems that were more emotional, metaphoric, and lyrical. From the late 1960s, the content of Snyder's poetry increasingly had to do with family, friends, and community. He continued to publish poetry throughout the 1970s, much of it reflecting his re-immersion in life on the American continent and his involvement in the back-to-the-land movement in the Sierra foothills. His 1974 book Turtle Island, titled after a Native American name for the North American continent, won a Pulitzer Prize. It also influenced numerous West Coast Generation X writers, including Alex Steffen, Bruce Barcott and Mark Morford. His 1983 book Axe Handles, won an American Book Award. Snyder wrote numerous essays setting forth his views on poetry, culture, social experimentation, and the environment. Many of these were collected in Earth House Hold (1969), The Old Ways (1977), The Real Work (1980), The Practice of the Wild (1990), A Place in Space (1995), and The Gary Snyder Reader (1999). In 1979, Snyder published He Who Hunted Birds in His Father's Village: The Dimensions of a Haida Myth, based on his Reed thesis. Snyder's journals from his travel in India in the mid-1960s appeared in 1983 under the title Passage Through India. In these, his wide-ranging interests in cultures, natural history, religions, social critique, contemporary America, and hands-on aspects of rural life, as well as his ideas on literature, were given full-blown articulation.
In 1986, Snyder became a professor in the writing program at the University of California, Davis. Snyder is now professor emeritus of English.
Snyder was married to Uehara for twenty-two years; the couple divorced in 1989. Snyder married Carole Lynn Koda (October 3, 1947 – June 29, 2006), who would write Homegrown: Thirteen brothers and sisters, a century in America, in 1991, and remained married to her until her death of cancer. She had been born in the third generation of a successful Japanese-American farming family, noted for its excellent rice. She shared Buddhism, extensive travels, and work with Snyder, and performed independent work as a naturalist.
As Snyder's involvement in environmental issues and his teaching grew, he seemed to move away from poetry for much of the 1980s and early 1990s. However, in 1996 he published the complete Mountains and Rivers Without End, a mixture of the lyrical and epic modes celebrating the act of inhabitation on a specific place on the planet. This work was written over a 40-year period. It has been translated into Japanese, French and Russian. In 2004 Snyder published Danger on Peaks, his first collection of new poems in twenty years.
Snyder was awarded the Levinson Prize from the journal Poetry, the American Poetry Society Shelley Memorial Award (1986), was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1987), and won the 1997 Bollingen Prize for Poetry and, that same year, the John Hay Award for Nature Writing. Snyder also has the distinction of being the first American to receive the Buddhism Transmission Award (for 1998) from the Japan-based Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Foundation. For his ecological and social activism, Snyder was named as one of the 100 visionaries selected in 1995 by Utne Reader.
Snyder's life and work was celebrated in John J. Healy's 2010 documentary The Practice of the Wild. The film, which debuted at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival, features wide-ranging, running conversations between Snyder and poet, writer and longtime colleague Jim Harrison, filmed mostly on the Hearst Ranch in San Simeon, California. The film also shows archival photographs and film of Snyder's life.
Snyder uses mainly common speech-patterns as the basis for his lines, though his style has been noted for its "flexibility" and the variety of different forms his poems have taken. He typically uses neither conventional meters nor intentional rhyme. "Love and respect for the primitive tribe, honour accorded the Earth, the escape from city and industry into both the past and the possible, contemplation, the communal", such, according to Glyn Maxwell, is the awareness and commitment behind the specific poems.
The author and editor Stewart Brand once wrote: "Gary Snyder's poetry addresses the life-planet identification with unusual simplicity of style and complexity of effect." According to Jody Norton, this simplicity and complexity derives from Snyder's use of natural imagery (geographical formations, flora, and fauna) in his poems. Such imagery can be both sensual at a personal level yet universal and generic in nature. In the 1968 poem "Beneath My Hand and Eye the Distant Hills, Your Body," the author compares the intimate experience of a lover's caress with the mountains, hills, cinder cones, and craters of the Uintah Mountains. Readers become explorers on both a very private level as well as a very public and grand level. A simplistic touch becoming a very complex interaction occurring at multiple levels. This is the effect Snyder intended. In an interview with Faas, he states, "There is a direction which is very beautiful, and that's the direction of the organism being less and less locked into itself, less and less locked into its own body structure and its relatively inadequate sense organs, towards a state where the organism can actually go out from itself and share itself with others."
Snyder has always maintained that his personal sensibility arose from his interest in Native Americans and their involvement with nature and knowledge of it; indeed, their ways seemed to resonate with his own. And he has sought something akin to this through Buddhist practices, Yamabushi initiation, and other experiences and involvements. However, since his youth he has been quite literate, and he has written about his appreciation of writers of similar sensibilities, like D. H. Lawrence, William Butler Yeats, and some of the great ancient Chinese poets. William Carlos Williams was another influence, especially on Snyder's earliest published work. Starting in high school, Snyder read and loved the work of Robinson Jeffers, his predecessor in poetry of the landscape of the American West; but, whereas Jeffers valued nature over humankind, Snyder saw humankind as part of nature. Snyder commented in interviews, "I have some concerns that I'm continually investigating that tie together biology, mysticism, prehistory, general systems theory". Snyder argues that poets, and humans in general, need to adjust to very long timescales, especially when judging the consequences of their actions. His poetry examines the gap between nature and culture so as to point to ways in which the two can be more closely integrated.
In 2004, receiving the Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards Grand Prize, Snyder highlighted traditional ballads and folk songs, Native American songs and poems, William Blake, Walt Whitman, Jeffers, Ezra Pound, Noh drama, Zen aphorisms, Federico García Lorca, and Robert Duncan as significant influences on his poetry, but added, "the influence from haiku and from the Chinese is, I think, the deepest."
Snyder is among those writers who have sought to dis-entrench conventional thinking about primitive peoples that has viewed them as simple-minded, ignorantly superstitious, brutish, and prone to violent emotionalism. In the 1960s Snyder developed a "neo-tribalist" view akin to the "post-modernist" theory of French Sociologist Michel Maffesoli. The "re-tribalization" of the modern, mass-society world envisioned by Marshall McLuhan, with all of the ominous, dystopian possibilities that McLuhan warned of, subsequently accepted by many modern intellectuals, is not the future that Snyder expects or works toward. Snyder's is a positive interpretation of the tribe and of the possible future. Todd Ensign describes Snyder's interpretation as blending ancient tribal beliefs and traditions, philosophy, physicality, and nature with politics to create his own form of Postmodern environmentalism. Snyder rejects the perspective which portrays nature and humanity in direct opposition to one another. Instead, he chooses to write from multiple viewpoints. He purposely sets out to bring about change on the emotional, physical, and political levels by emphasizing the ecological problems faced by today's society.
Snyder is widely regarded as a member of the Beat Generation circle of writers: he was one of the poets that read at the famous Six Gallery event, and was written about in one of Kerouac's most popular novels, The Dharma Bums. Some critics argue that Snyder's connection with the Beats is exaggerated and that he might better be regarded as a part of the San Francisco Renaissance, which developed independently. Snyder himself has some reservations about the label "Beat", but does not appear to have any strong objection to being included in the group. He often talks about the Beats in the first person plural, referring to the group as "we" and "us".
A quotation from a 1974 interview at the University of North Dakota Writers Conference (published in The Beat Vision):
I never did know exactly what was meant by the term 'The Beats', but let's say that the original meeting, association, comradeship of Allen [Ginsberg], myself, Michael [McClure], Lawrence [Ferlinghetti], Philip Whalen, who's not here, Lew Welch, who's dead, Gregory [Corso], for me, to a somewhat lesser extent (I never knew Gregory as well as the others) did embody a criticism and a vision which we shared in various ways, and then went our own ways for many years. Where we began to come really close together again, in the late '60s, and gradually working toward this point, it seems to me, was when Allen began to take a deep interest in Oriental thought and then in Buddhism which added another dimension to our levels of agreement; and later through Allen's influence, Lawrence began to draw toward that; and from another angle, Michael and I after the lapse of some years of contact, found our heads very much in the same place, and it's very curious and interesting now; and Lawrence went off in a very political direction for a while, which none of us had any objection with, except that wasn't my main focus. It's very interesting that we find ourselves so much on the same ground again, after having explored divergent paths; and find ourselves united on this position of powerful environmental concern, critique of the future of the individual state, and an essentially shared poetics, and only half-stated but in the background very powerfully there, a basic agreement on some Buddhist type psychological views of human nature and human possibilities.
Snyder has also commented "The term Beat is better used for a smaller group of writers ... the immediate group around Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, plus Gregory Corso and a few others. Many of us ... belong together in the category of the San Francisco Renaissance. ... Still, beat can also be defined as a particular state of mind ... and I was in that mind for a while". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the \"poet laureate of Deep Ecology\". Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. He has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis, and for a time served as a member of the California Arts Council.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Snyder was born in San Francisco, California, to Harold and Lois Hennessy Snyder. Snyder is of German, Scottish, Irish and English ancestry. His family, impoverished by the Great Depression, moved to King County, Washington, when he was two years old. There, they tended dairy-cows, kept laying-hens, had a small orchard, and made cedar-wood shingles. At the age of seven, Snyder was laid up for four months by an accident. \"So my folks brought me piles of books from the Seattle Public Library,\" he recalled in an interview, \"and it was then I really learned to read and from that time on was voracious — I figure that accident changed my life. At the end of four months, I had read more than most kids do by the time they're eighteen. And I didn't stop.\" Also during his ten childhood years in Washington, Snyder became aware of the presence of the Coast Salish people and developed an interest in the Native American peoples in general and their traditional relationship with nature.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1942, following his parents' divorce, Snyder moved to Portland, Oregon, with his mother and his younger sister, Anthea. Their mother, Lois Snyder Hennessy (born Wilkey), worked during this period as a reporter for The Oregonian. One of his boyhood jobs was as a newspaper copy-boy at the Oregonian. During his teen years, he attended Lincoln High School, worked as a camp counselor, and went mountain-climbing with the Mazamas youth-group. Climbing remained an interest of his, especially during his twenties and thirties. In 1947, he started attending Reed College on a scholarship. Here, he met, and, for a time, roomed with the writer Carl Proujan, and became acquainted with the young poets Philip Whalen and Lew Welch. During his time at Reed, Snyder published his first poems in a student journal. In 1948 he spent the summer working as a seaman. To get this job, he joined the now-defunct Marine Cooks and Stewards union, and would later work as a seaman in the mid-1950s to gain experience of other cultures in port cities. Snyder married Alison Gass in 1950; they separated after seven months, and divorced in 1952.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "While attending Reed, Snyder conducted folklore research on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in central Oregon. He graduated with a dual degree in anthropology and literature in 1951. Snyder's senior thesis, entitled The Dimensions of a Myth, employed perspectives from anthropology, folklore, psychology, and literature to examine a myth of the Pacific Northwest's Haida people. He spent the following few summers working as a timber scaler at Warm Springs, developing relationships with its people that were rooted less in academia. This experience formed the basis for some of his earliest published poems (including \"A Berry Feast\"), later collected in the book The Back Country. He also encountered the basic ideas of Buddhism and, through its arts, some East Asian traditional attitudes toward nature. He went to Indiana University with a graduate fellowship to study anthropology. (Snyder also began practicing self-taught Zen meditation.) He left after a single semester to return to San Francisco and to 'sink or swim as a poet'. Snyder worked for two summers in the North Cascades in Washington as a fire lookout, on Crater Mountain in 1952 and Sourdough Mountain in 1953 (both locations on the upper Skagit River). His attempts to get another lookout stint in 1954 (at the peak of McCarthyism), however, failed. He found himself barred from working for the government due to his association with the Marine Cooks and Stewards. Instead, he went back to Warm Springs to work in logging as a choker setter. This experience contributed to his Myths and Texts and the essay Ancient Forests of the Far West.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Back in San Francisco, Snyder lived with Whalen, who shared his growing interest in Zen. Snyder's reading of the writings of D. T. Suzuki had in fact been a factor in his decision not to continue as a graduate student in anthropology, and in 1953 he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, to study Asian culture and languages. He studied ink and wash painting under Chiura Obata and Tang dynasty poetry under Ch'en Shih-hsiang. Snyder continued to spend summers working in the forests, including one summer as a trail-builder in Yosemite. He spent some months in 1955 and 1956 living in a cabin (which he dubbed \"Marin-an\") outside Mill Valley, California with Jack Kerouac. It was also at this time that Snyder was an occasional student at the American Academy of Asian Studies, where Saburo Hasegawa and Alan Watts, among others, were teaching. Hasegawa introduced Snyder to the treatment of landscape painting as a meditative practice. This inspired Snyder to attempt something equivalent in poetry, and with Hasegawa's encouragement, he began work on Mountains and Rivers Without End, which would be completed and published 40 years later. During these years, Snyder was writing and collecting his own work, as well as embarking on the translation of the \"Cold Mountain\" poems by the 8th-century Chinese recluse Han Shan; this work appeared in chapbook form in 1959, under the title Riprap & Cold Mountain Poems.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Snyder met Allen Ginsberg when the latter sought Snyder out on the recommendation of Kenneth Rexroth. Then, through Ginsberg, Snyder and Kerouac came to know each other. This period provided the materials for Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums, and Snyder was the inspiration for the novel's main character, Japhy Ryder, in the same way Neal Cassady had inspired Dean Moriarty in On the Road. As the large majority of people in the Beat movement had urban backgrounds, writers like Ginsberg and Kerouac found Snyder, with his backcountry and manual-labor experience and interest in things rural, a refreshing and almost exotic individual. Lawrence Ferlinghetti later referred to Snyder as 'the Thoreau of the Beat Generation'.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Snyder read his poem \"A Berry Feast\" at the poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco (October 7, 1955) that heard the first reading of Ginsberg's poem \"Howl\" and marked the emergence into mainstream publicity of the Beats. This also marked Snyder's first involvement with the Beats, although he was not a member of the original New York circle, having entered the scene through his association with Whalen and Welch. As recounted in Kerouac's Dharma Bums, even at age 25 Snyder felt he could have a role in the fateful future meeting of West and East. Snyder's first book, Riprap, which drew on his experiences as a forest lookout and on the trail crew in Yosemite, was published in 1959.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Independently, some of the Beats, including Whalen, had become interested in Zen, but Snyder was one of the more serious scholars of the subject among them, preparing in every way he could think of for eventual study in Japan. In 1955, the First Zen Institute of America offered him a scholarship for a year of Zen training in Japan, but the State Department refused to issue him a passport, informing him that \"it has been alleged you are a Communist.\" A subsequent District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruling forced a change in policy, and Snyder got his passport. In the end, his expenses were paid by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, for whom he was supposed to work; but initially he served as personal attendant and English tutor to Zen abbot Miura Isshu, at Rinko-in, a temple in Shokoku-ji in Kyoto, where American Buddhist popularizer Dwight Goddard and British author and Japanese culture devotee R. H. Blyth had preceded him. Mornings, after zazen, sutta chanting, and chores for the abbot, he took Japanese classes, bringing his spoken Japanese up to a level sufficient for kōan study. He developed a friendship with Philip Yampolsky an eminent translator and scholar of Zen Buddhism, who took him around Kyoto. In early July 1955, he took refuge and requested to become Miura's disciple, thus formally becoming a Buddhist.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1958, he returned to California via the Persian Gulf, Turkey, Sri Lanka and various Pacific Islands, voyaging as a crewman in the engine room on the oil tanker Sappa Creek, and took up residence at Marin-an again. He turned one room into a zendo, with about six regular participants. In early June, he met the poet Joanne Kyger. She became his girlfriend, and eventually his wife. In 1959, he shipped for Japan again, where he rented a cottage outside Kyoto. He became the first foreign disciple of Rinzai Rōshi Oda Sesso, the new abbot of Daitoku-ji. He married Kyger on February 28, 1960, immediately after her arrival in Japan, which Fuller Sasaki insisted they do, if they were to live together and be associated with the Nichibei Daiichi Zen Kyokai,. Snyder and Kyger were married from 1960 to 1965.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "During the period between 1956 and 1969, Snyder went back and forth between California and Japan, studying Zen, working on translations with Fuller Sasaki, and finally living for a while with a group of other people on the small, volcanic island of Suwanosejima. His previous study of written Chinese assisted his immersion in the Zen tradition, which has its roots in Tang dynasty China, and enabled him to support himself while he was living in Japan. Snyder received the Zen precepts and his dharma name of Chofu (\"Listen to the Wind\"), and lived occasionally as a de facto monk, but never registered to become a priest, planning eventually to return to the United States to \"turn the wheel of the dharma\". During this time, he published two collections of his poems from the early to mid 1950s, Myths & Texts (1960), and Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers Without End (1965). This last was the beginning of a project that he was to continue working on until the late 1990s. Much of Snyder's poetry expresses experiences, environments, and insights involved with the work he has done for a living: logger, fire-lookout, steam-freighter crew, translator, carpenter, and itinerant poet, among other things. During his years in Japan, Snyder was also initiated into Shugendo, a highly syncretic ascetic religious cult.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the early 1960s he traveled for six months through India with Kyger, Ginsberg, and Ginsberg's partner, the poet and actor Peter Orlovsky. Their sojourn took them to Sri Lanka, then to south India, and eventually travelling up into the north. They observed the folkways of the various peoples, went on hikes, stopped at landmarks, temples, burning ghats, monastic caves, and ashrams. As they went, they learned in part through conversations with many Indians and Europeans who could speak English. They visited numerous cities, including Madras, Calcutta, Mumbai, Banaras, Old Delhi and New Delhi, as well as Rishikesh and Hardwar, and Bodh Gaya (where Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, attained enlightenment). Especially important to Snyder and Ginsberg, in Dharamashala the Dalai Lama met with them and they discussed Buddhist principles and practices.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Snyder and Kyger separated soon after their trip to India, and divorced in 1965.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In the 1950s, Snyder took part in the rise of a strand of Buddhist anarchism emerging from the Beat movement. Snyder was the inspiration for the Japhy Ryder character in Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums (1958). Snyder had spent considerable time in Japan studying Zen Buddhism, and in 1961 published an essay, \"Buddhist Anarchism\", where he described the connection he saw between these two traditions, originating in different parts of the world: \"The mercy of the West has been social revolution; the mercy of the East has been individual insight into the basic self/void.\" He advocated \"using such means as civil disobedience, outspoken criticism, protest, pacifism, voluntary poverty and even gentle violence\" and defended \"the right of individuals to smoke ganja, eat peyote, be polygynous, polyandrous or homosexual\" which he saw as being banned by \"the Judaeo-Capitalist-Christian-Marxist West\".",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In 1966, Snyder joined Allen Ginsberg, Richard Baker, future Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center, and Kriyananda aka Donald J Walters, to buy 100 acres (40 ha) in the San Juan Ridge area of the Sierra-Nevada foothills, north of Nevada City, Northern California. In 1967 Snyder's book The Back Country appeared, again mainly a collection of poems stretching back over about fifteen years. Snyder devoted a section at the end of the book to his translations of eighteen poems by Kenji Miyazawa. In 1970, Kitkitdizze (as he named his portion of the San Juan Ridge property) would become his home. By that point, Snyder had already spent the summers of 1967 and 1968 with a group of Japanese back-to-the-land drop-outs known as \"the Tribe\" on Suwanosejima (a small Japanese island in the East China Sea), where they combed the beaches, gathered edible plants, and fished. On the island, on August 6, 1967, he married Masa Uehara, whom he had met in Osaka a year earlier. In 1968, they moved to California with their infant son, Kai (born April 1968). Their second son, Gen, was born a year later. They were shortly able to move onto the San Juan Ridge property, near the South Yuba River, where they and friends built a house that drew on rural-Japanese and Native-American architectural ideas.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Regarding Wave appeared in January 1970, a stylistic departure offering poems that were more emotional, metaphoric, and lyrical. From the late 1960s, the content of Snyder's poetry increasingly had to do with family, friends, and community. He continued to publish poetry throughout the 1970s, much of it reflecting his re-immersion in life on the American continent and his involvement in the back-to-the-land movement in the Sierra foothills. His 1974 book Turtle Island, titled after a Native American name for the North American continent, won a Pulitzer Prize. It also influenced numerous West Coast Generation X writers, including Alex Steffen, Bruce Barcott and Mark Morford. His 1983 book Axe Handles, won an American Book Award. Snyder wrote numerous essays setting forth his views on poetry, culture, social experimentation, and the environment. Many of these were collected in Earth House Hold (1969), The Old Ways (1977), The Real Work (1980), The Practice of the Wild (1990), A Place in Space (1995), and The Gary Snyder Reader (1999). In 1979, Snyder published He Who Hunted Birds in His Father's Village: The Dimensions of a Haida Myth, based on his Reed thesis. Snyder's journals from his travel in India in the mid-1960s appeared in 1983 under the title Passage Through India. In these, his wide-ranging interests in cultures, natural history, religions, social critique, contemporary America, and hands-on aspects of rural life, as well as his ideas on literature, were given full-blown articulation.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1986, Snyder became a professor in the writing program at the University of California, Davis. Snyder is now professor emeritus of English.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Snyder was married to Uehara for twenty-two years; the couple divorced in 1989. Snyder married Carole Lynn Koda (October 3, 1947 – June 29, 2006), who would write Homegrown: Thirteen brothers and sisters, a century in America, in 1991, and remained married to her until her death of cancer. She had been born in the third generation of a successful Japanese-American farming family, noted for its excellent rice. She shared Buddhism, extensive travels, and work with Snyder, and performed independent work as a naturalist.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "As Snyder's involvement in environmental issues and his teaching grew, he seemed to move away from poetry for much of the 1980s and early 1990s. However, in 1996 he published the complete Mountains and Rivers Without End, a mixture of the lyrical and epic modes celebrating the act of inhabitation on a specific place on the planet. This work was written over a 40-year period. It has been translated into Japanese, French and Russian. In 2004 Snyder published Danger on Peaks, his first collection of new poems in twenty years.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Snyder was awarded the Levinson Prize from the journal Poetry, the American Poetry Society Shelley Memorial Award (1986), was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1987), and won the 1997 Bollingen Prize for Poetry and, that same year, the John Hay Award for Nature Writing. Snyder also has the distinction of being the first American to receive the Buddhism Transmission Award (for 1998) from the Japan-based Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Foundation. For his ecological and social activism, Snyder was named as one of the 100 visionaries selected in 1995 by Utne Reader.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Snyder's life and work was celebrated in John J. Healy's 2010 documentary The Practice of the Wild. The film, which debuted at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival, features wide-ranging, running conversations between Snyder and poet, writer and longtime colleague Jim Harrison, filmed mostly on the Hearst Ranch in San Simeon, California. The film also shows archival photographs and film of Snyder's life.",
"title": "Life and career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Snyder uses mainly common speech-patterns as the basis for his lines, though his style has been noted for its \"flexibility\" and the variety of different forms his poems have taken. He typically uses neither conventional meters nor intentional rhyme. \"Love and respect for the primitive tribe, honour accorded the Earth, the escape from city and industry into both the past and the possible, contemplation, the communal\", such, according to Glyn Maxwell, is the awareness and commitment behind the specific poems.",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The author and editor Stewart Brand once wrote: \"Gary Snyder's poetry addresses the life-planet identification with unusual simplicity of style and complexity of effect.\" According to Jody Norton, this simplicity and complexity derives from Snyder's use of natural imagery (geographical formations, flora, and fauna) in his poems. Such imagery can be both sensual at a personal level yet universal and generic in nature. In the 1968 poem \"Beneath My Hand and Eye the Distant Hills, Your Body,\" the author compares the intimate experience of a lover's caress with the mountains, hills, cinder cones, and craters of the Uintah Mountains. Readers become explorers on both a very private level as well as a very public and grand level. A simplistic touch becoming a very complex interaction occurring at multiple levels. This is the effect Snyder intended. In an interview with Faas, he states, \"There is a direction which is very beautiful, and that's the direction of the organism being less and less locked into itself, less and less locked into its own body structure and its relatively inadequate sense organs, towards a state where the organism can actually go out from itself and share itself with others.\"",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Snyder has always maintained that his personal sensibility arose from his interest in Native Americans and their involvement with nature and knowledge of it; indeed, their ways seemed to resonate with his own. And he has sought something akin to this through Buddhist practices, Yamabushi initiation, and other experiences and involvements. However, since his youth he has been quite literate, and he has written about his appreciation of writers of similar sensibilities, like D. H. Lawrence, William Butler Yeats, and some of the great ancient Chinese poets. William Carlos Williams was another influence, especially on Snyder's earliest published work. Starting in high school, Snyder read and loved the work of Robinson Jeffers, his predecessor in poetry of the landscape of the American West; but, whereas Jeffers valued nature over humankind, Snyder saw humankind as part of nature. Snyder commented in interviews, \"I have some concerns that I'm continually investigating that tie together biology, mysticism, prehistory, general systems theory\". Snyder argues that poets, and humans in general, need to adjust to very long timescales, especially when judging the consequences of their actions. His poetry examines the gap between nature and culture so as to point to ways in which the two can be more closely integrated.",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 2004, receiving the Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards Grand Prize, Snyder highlighted traditional ballads and folk songs, Native American songs and poems, William Blake, Walt Whitman, Jeffers, Ezra Pound, Noh drama, Zen aphorisms, Federico García Lorca, and Robert Duncan as significant influences on his poetry, but added, \"the influence from haiku and from the Chinese is, I think, the deepest.\"",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Snyder is among those writers who have sought to dis-entrench conventional thinking about primitive peoples that has viewed them as simple-minded, ignorantly superstitious, brutish, and prone to violent emotionalism. In the 1960s Snyder developed a \"neo-tribalist\" view akin to the \"post-modernist\" theory of French Sociologist Michel Maffesoli. The \"re-tribalization\" of the modern, mass-society world envisioned by Marshall McLuhan, with all of the ominous, dystopian possibilities that McLuhan warned of, subsequently accepted by many modern intellectuals, is not the future that Snyder expects or works toward. Snyder's is a positive interpretation of the tribe and of the possible future. Todd Ensign describes Snyder's interpretation as blending ancient tribal beliefs and traditions, philosophy, physicality, and nature with politics to create his own form of Postmodern environmentalism. Snyder rejects the perspective which portrays nature and humanity in direct opposition to one another. Instead, he chooses to write from multiple viewpoints. He purposely sets out to bring about change on the emotional, physical, and political levels by emphasizing the ecological problems faced by today's society.",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Snyder is widely regarded as a member of the Beat Generation circle of writers: he was one of the poets that read at the famous Six Gallery event, and was written about in one of Kerouac's most popular novels, The Dharma Bums. Some critics argue that Snyder's connection with the Beats is exaggerated and that he might better be regarded as a part of the San Francisco Renaissance, which developed independently. Snyder himself has some reservations about the label \"Beat\", but does not appear to have any strong objection to being included in the group. He often talks about the Beats in the first person plural, referring to the group as \"we\" and \"us\".",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "A quotation from a 1974 interview at the University of North Dakota Writers Conference (published in The Beat Vision):",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "I never did know exactly what was meant by the term 'The Beats', but let's say that the original meeting, association, comradeship of Allen [Ginsberg], myself, Michael [McClure], Lawrence [Ferlinghetti], Philip Whalen, who's not here, Lew Welch, who's dead, Gregory [Corso], for me, to a somewhat lesser extent (I never knew Gregory as well as the others) did embody a criticism and a vision which we shared in various ways, and then went our own ways for many years. Where we began to come really close together again, in the late '60s, and gradually working toward this point, it seems to me, was when Allen began to take a deep interest in Oriental thought and then in Buddhism which added another dimension to our levels of agreement; and later through Allen's influence, Lawrence began to draw toward that; and from another angle, Michael and I after the lapse of some years of contact, found our heads very much in the same place, and it's very curious and interesting now; and Lawrence went off in a very political direction for a while, which none of us had any objection with, except that wasn't my main focus. It's very interesting that we find ourselves so much on the same ground again, after having explored divergent paths; and find ourselves united on this position of powerful environmental concern, critique of the future of the individual state, and an essentially shared poetics, and only half-stated but in the background very powerfully there, a basic agreement on some Buddhist type psychological views of human nature and human possibilities.",
"title": "Work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Snyder has also commented \"The term Beat is better used for a smaller group of writers ... the immediate group around Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, plus Gregory Corso and a few others. Many of us ... belong together in the category of the San Francisco Renaissance. ... Still, beat can also be defined as a particular state of mind ... and I was in that mind for a while\".",
"title": "Work"
}
]
| Gary Snyder is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology".
Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. He has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis, and for a time served as a member of the California Arts Council. | 2001-10-10T12:16:48Z | 2023-11-21T16:43:32Z | [
"Template:Wikisource author",
"Template:Gary Snyder",
"Template:PulitzerPrize PoetryAuthors 1951–1975",
"Template:Poets in The New American Poetry 1945–1960",
"Template:Infobox writer",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:American Book Awards",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Library resources box",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite book"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Snyder |
12,712 | Gonzo journalism | Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson, who popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.
Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that concerns the reporting of personal experiences and emotions, in contrast to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly edited product once favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. Use of sarcasm, humour, exaggeration, and profanity is common.
Thompson, who was among the forefathers of the New Journalism movement, said in the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."
The term "gonzo" was first used in connection with Hunter S. Thompson by The Boston Globe magazine editor Bill Cardoso in 1970. He described Thompson's article "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved", which was written for the June 1970 edition of Scanlan's Monthly, as "pure Gonzo journalism". This predates the December 1970 debut of the Muppet of that name in The Great Santa Claus Switch. Cardoso said "gonzo" was South Boston Irish slang describing the last man standing after an all-night drinking marathon. He also said it was a corruption of the French Canadian word gonzeaux, which means "shining path", although this is disputed.
Another speculation is that the word may have been inspired by the 1960 hit song "Gonzo" by New Orleans rhythm and blues pianist James Booker. This possibility is supported by a 2007 oral biography of Thompson, which states that the term is taken from a song by Booker but does not explain why Thompson or Cardoso would have chosen the term to describe Thompson's journalism. The 2013 documentary Bayou Maharaja: The Tragic Genius of James Booker quotes Thompson's literary executor as saying that the song was the origin of the term. According to a Greg Johnson biographical note on Booker, the song title "Gonzo" comes from a character in a movie called The Pusher, which in turn may have been inspired by a 1956 Evan Hunter novel of the same title.
Thompson himself first used the term referring to his own work on page 12 of the counterculture classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He wrote, "But what was the story? Nobody had bothered to say. So we would have to drum it up on our own. Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas. Do it now: pure Gonzo journalism."
Lexico proposes etymology from Italian: gonzo (simpleton, dolt) and/or Spanish: ganso (dolt, goose).
Thompson based his style on William Faulkner's notion that "fiction is often the best fact". While the things that Thompson wrote about are basically true, he used satirical devices to drive his points home. He often wrote about recreational drugs and alcohol use, which added subjective flair to his reporting. The term "gonzo" has also come into (sometimes pejorative) use to describe journalism in Thompson's style, characterized by a drug-fueled stream of consciousness writing technique.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas followed the Mint 400 piece in 1971 and included a main character by the name of Raoul Duke, accompanied by his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, with defining art by Ralph Steadman. Although this book is considered a prime example of gonzo journalism, Thompson regarded it as a failed experiment. He had intended it to be an unedited record of everything he did as it happened, but he edited the book five times before publication.
Thompson would instigate events himself, often in a prankish or belligerent manner, and then document both his actions and those of others. Notoriously neglectful of deadlines, Thompson often annoyed his editors because he submitted articles late, "too late to be edited, yet still in time for the printer". Thompson wanted his work to be read as he wrote it, in its "true Gonzo" form. Historian Douglas Brinkley said gonzo journalism requires virtually no rewriting and frequently uses transcribed interviews and verbatim telephone conversations.
"I don't get any satisfaction out of the old traditional journalist's view: 'I just covered the story. I just gave it a balanced view,'" Thompson said in an interview for the online edition of The Atlantic. "Objective journalism is one of the main reasons American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long. You can't be objective about Nixon."
The Gonzo Studies Society proposes eleven features that, to varying degrees, are included in Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo journalism:
Thompson felt that objectivity in journalism was a myth. Gonzo journalism has now become a bona fide style of writing that is similar to the New Journalism of the 1960s, led primarily by Tom Wolfe and also championed by Lester Bangs, George Plimpton, Terry Southern, and John Birmingham, and is considered a subgenre of New Journalism. When asked whether there was a difference between the two, Thompson answered, "Yeah, I think so. Unlike Tom Wolfe or Gay Talese, for instance, I almost never try to reconstruct a story. They're both much better reporters than I am, but then I don't really think of myself as a reporter."
In 1998, Christopher Locke asserted that the webzine genre is descended from gonzo journalism, a claim that has since been extended to social media. Thompson's gonzo journalism influence is reflected in the current website Gonzo Today which features a top banner by Thompson's longtime illustrator Ralph Steadman, with rotating contributions by others including Thompson associate, poet Ron Whitehead.
It has been claimed that Thai writer Rong Wongsawan wrote in a style that was Gonzo, beginning in the 1960s when he reported from San Francisco. However he wrote in Thai, and he probably developed the style independently of Hunter S. Thompson. He also used the style in his books Sattahip and Takli which describe American soldiers and Thai bar girls during the Vietnam War. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word \"gonzo\" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson, who popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that concerns the reporting of personal experiences and emotions, in contrast to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly edited product once favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. Use of sarcasm, humour, exaggeration, and profanity is common.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Thompson, who was among the forefathers of the New Journalism movement, said in the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, \"If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term \"gonzo\" was first used in connection with Hunter S. Thompson by The Boston Globe magazine editor Bill Cardoso in 1970. He described Thompson's article \"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved\", which was written for the June 1970 edition of Scanlan's Monthly, as \"pure Gonzo journalism\". This predates the December 1970 debut of the Muppet of that name in The Great Santa Claus Switch. Cardoso said \"gonzo\" was South Boston Irish slang describing the last man standing after an all-night drinking marathon. He also said it was a corruption of the French Canadian word gonzeaux, which means \"shining path\", although this is disputed.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Another speculation is that the word may have been inspired by the 1960 hit song \"Gonzo\" by New Orleans rhythm and blues pianist James Booker. This possibility is supported by a 2007 oral biography of Thompson, which states that the term is taken from a song by Booker but does not explain why Thompson or Cardoso would have chosen the term to describe Thompson's journalism. The 2013 documentary Bayou Maharaja: The Tragic Genius of James Booker quotes Thompson's literary executor as saying that the song was the origin of the term. According to a Greg Johnson biographical note on Booker, the song title \"Gonzo\" comes from a character in a movie called The Pusher, which in turn may have been inspired by a 1956 Evan Hunter novel of the same title.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Thompson himself first used the term referring to his own work on page 12 of the counterculture classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He wrote, \"But what was the story? Nobody had bothered to say. So we would have to drum it up on our own. Free Enterprise. The American Dream. Horatio Alger gone mad on drugs in Las Vegas. Do it now: pure Gonzo journalism.\"",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Lexico proposes etymology from Italian: gonzo (simpleton, dolt) and/or Spanish: ganso (dolt, goose).",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Thompson based his style on William Faulkner's notion that \"fiction is often the best fact\". While the things that Thompson wrote about are basically true, he used satirical devices to drive his points home. He often wrote about recreational drugs and alcohol use, which added subjective flair to his reporting. The term \"gonzo\" has also come into (sometimes pejorative) use to describe journalism in Thompson's style, characterized by a drug-fueled stream of consciousness writing technique.",
"title": "Hunter S. Thompson"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas followed the Mint 400 piece in 1971 and included a main character by the name of Raoul Duke, accompanied by his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, with defining art by Ralph Steadman. Although this book is considered a prime example of gonzo journalism, Thompson regarded it as a failed experiment. He had intended it to be an unedited record of everything he did as it happened, but he edited the book five times before publication.",
"title": "Hunter S. Thompson"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Thompson would instigate events himself, often in a prankish or belligerent manner, and then document both his actions and those of others. Notoriously neglectful of deadlines, Thompson often annoyed his editors because he submitted articles late, \"too late to be edited, yet still in time for the printer\". Thompson wanted his work to be read as he wrote it, in its \"true Gonzo\" form. Historian Douglas Brinkley said gonzo journalism requires virtually no rewriting and frequently uses transcribed interviews and verbatim telephone conversations.",
"title": "Hunter S. Thompson"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "\"I don't get any satisfaction out of the old traditional journalist's view: 'I just covered the story. I just gave it a balanced view,'\" Thompson said in an interview for the online edition of The Atlantic. \"Objective journalism is one of the main reasons American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long. You can't be objective about Nixon.\"",
"title": "Hunter S. Thompson"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The Gonzo Studies Society proposes eleven features that, to varying degrees, are included in Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo journalism:",
"title": "Hunter S. Thompson"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Thompson felt that objectivity in journalism was a myth. Gonzo journalism has now become a bona fide style of writing that is similar to the New Journalism of the 1960s, led primarily by Tom Wolfe and also championed by Lester Bangs, George Plimpton, Terry Southern, and John Birmingham, and is considered a subgenre of New Journalism. When asked whether there was a difference between the two, Thompson answered, \"Yeah, I think so. Unlike Tom Wolfe or Gay Talese, for instance, I almost never try to reconstruct a story. They're both much better reporters than I am, but then I don't really think of myself as a reporter.\"",
"title": "Influence and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In 1998, Christopher Locke asserted that the webzine genre is descended from gonzo journalism, a claim that has since been extended to social media. Thompson's gonzo journalism influence is reflected in the current website Gonzo Today which features a top banner by Thompson's longtime illustrator Ralph Steadman, with rotating contributions by others including Thompson associate, poet Ron Whitehead.",
"title": "Influence and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "It has been claimed that Thai writer Rong Wongsawan wrote in a style that was Gonzo, beginning in the 1960s when he reported from San Francisco. However he wrote in Thai, and he probably developed the style independently of Hunter S. Thompson. He also used the style in his books Sattahip and Takli which describe American soldiers and Thai bar girls during the Vietnam War.",
"title": "Influence and legacy"
}
]
| Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson, who popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors. Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that concerns the reporting of personal experiences and emotions, in contrast to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly edited product once favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. Use of sarcasm, humour, exaggeration, and profanity is common. Thompson, who was among the forefathers of the New Journalism movement, said in the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." | 2001-10-10T16:31:42Z | 2023-12-30T00:37:18Z | [
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Hunter S. Thompson",
"Template:Lang-it",
"Template:'\"",
"Template:Journalism",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Lang-es",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Journalism sidebar",
"Template:Sfn"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism |
12,713 | Giant panda | The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. By December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. By March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864 individuals. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from "endangered" to "vulnerable", affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as vulnerable.
The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing.
For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons. However in 1985, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae. These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common ancestor of the Ursidae; it is the most basal member of this family and equidistant from all other extant bear species. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.
The word panda was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word panda has been found. The closest candidate is the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda, which is native to Nepal. In many older sources, the name "panda" or "common panda" refers to the red panda (Ailurus fulgens), which was described some 40 years earlier and over that period was the only animal known as a panda. This necessitated the use of "giant" and "lesser/red" prefixes to differentiate the species. Even in 2013, the Encyclopædia Britannica still used "giant panda" or "panda bear" for the bear, and simply "panda" for the red panda.
Since the earliest collection of Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the bear many different names, including mò (貘, ancient Chinese name for giant panda), huāxióng (花熊; "spotted bear") and zhúxióng (竹熊; "bamboo bear"). The most popular names in China today are dàxióngmāo (大熊貓; lit. 'giant bear cat'), or simply xióngmāo (熊貓; lit. 'bear cat'). As with the word panda in English, xióngmāo (熊貓) was originally used to describe just the red panda, but dàxióngmāo (大熊貓) and xiǎoxióngmāo (小熊猫; lit. 'little bear cat') were coined to differentiate between the species.
In Taiwan, another popular name for panda is the inverted dàmāoxióng (大貓熊; lit. 'giant cat bear'), though many encyclopedias and dictionaries in Taiwan still use the "bear cat" form as the correct name. Some linguists argue, in this construction, "bear" instead of "cat" is the base noun, making the name more grammatically and logically correct, which may have led to the popular choice despite official writings. This name did not gain its popularity until 1988, when a private zoo in Tainan painted a sun bear black and white and created the Tainan fake panda incident.
Two subspecies of giant panda have been recognized on the basis of distinct cranial measurements, colour patterns, and population genetics.
A detailed study of the giant panda's genetic history from 2012 confirms that the separation of the Qinlin population occurred about 300,000 years ago, and reveals that the non-Qinlin population further diverged into two groups, named the Minshan and the Qionglai-Daxiangling-Xiaoxiangling-Liangshan group respectively, about 2,800 years ago.
Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9 metres (3 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 3 inches) long, including a tail of about 10–15 cm (4–6 in), and 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 160 kg (350 lb). Females (generally 10–20% smaller than males) can weigh as little as 70 kg (150 lb), but can also weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb). The average weight for adults is 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb).
The giant panda has a body shape typical of bears. It has black fur on its ears, eye patches, limbs and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. The bear's distinctive coat appears to serve as camouflage in both winter and summer environments. The white areas may serve as camouflage in snow, while the black shoulders and legs provide crypsis in shade. Studies in the wild have found that when viewed from a distance, the panda displays disruptive coloration while close up, they rely more on blending in. The black ears may signal aggressive intent, while the eye patches might facilitate them identifying one another. The giant panda's thick, woolly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. The panda's skull shape is typical of durophagous carnivorans. It has evolved from previous ancestors to exhibit larger molars with increased complexity and expanded temporal fossa. A 110.45 kg (243.5 lb) giant panda has a 3D canine teeth bite force of 2603.47 newtons (265kg ) and bite force quotient of 292. Another study had a 117.5 kg (259 lb) giant panda bite of 1298.9 newtons (BFQ 151.4) at canine teeth and 1815.9 newtons (BFQ 141.8) at carnassial teeth.
The giant panda's paw has a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" – actually a modified sesamoid bone – helps it to hold bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould discusses this feature in his book of essays on evolution and biology, The Panda's Thumb.
The giant panda's tail, measuring 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in), is the second-longest in the bear family, behind the sloth bear.
The giant panda typically lives around 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. A female named Jia Jia was the oldest giant panda ever in captivity; she was born in 1978 and died at an age of 38 on 16 October 2016.
A seven-year-old female named Jin Yi died in 2014 in a zoo in Zhengzhou, China, after showing symptoms of gastroenteritis and respiratory disease. It was found that the cause of death was toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan known as Toxoplasma gondii that infects most warm-blooded animals, including humans.
The giant panda genome was sequenced in 2009 using Illumina dye sequencing. Its genome contains 20 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes.
Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivoran, the giant panda's diet is primarily herbivorous, consisting almost exclusively of bamboo. However, the giant panda still has the digestive system of a carnivore, as well as carnivore-specific genes, and thus derives little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. The ability to break down cellulose and lignin is very weak, and their main source of nutrients comes from starch and hemicelluloses. The most important part of their bamboo diet is the shoots, that are rich in starch and have up to 32% protein content. Accordingly, pandas have evolved a higher capability to digest starches than strict carnivores. During the shoot season, which lasts from April to August, they put on a lot of weight, which allows them to get through the nutrient-scarce period from late August to April, when they feed mostly on bamboo leaves. Pandas are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. The giant panda is a highly specialised animal with unique adaptations, and has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years.
The average giant panda eats as much as 9 to 14 kg (20 to 31 lb) of bamboo shoots a day to compensate for the limited energy content of its diet. Ingestion of such a large quantity of material is possible and necessary because of the rapid passage of large amounts of indigestible plant material through the short, straight digestive tract. It is also noted, however, that such rapid passage of digesta limits the potential of microbial digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, limiting alternative forms of digestion. Given this voluminous diet, the giant panda defecates up to 40 times a day. The limited energy input imposed on it by its diet has affected the panda's behavior. The giant panda tends to limit its social interactions and avoids steeply sloping terrain to limit its energy expenditures.
It has been estimated that an adult panda absorbs 54.8–66.1 mg (0.846–1.020 gr) of cyanide a day through its diet. To prevent poisoning, they have evolved anti-toxic mechanisms to protect themselves. About 80% of the cyanide is metabolized to less toxic thiocyanate and discharged in urine, while the remaining 20% is detoxified by other minor pathways.
Two of the panda's most distinctive features, its large size and round face, are adaptations to its bamboo diet. Anthropologist Russell Ciochon observed: "[much] like the vegetarian gorilla, the low body surface area to body volume [of the giant panda] is indicative of a lower metabolic rate. This lower metabolic rate and a more sedentary lifestyle allows the giant panda to subsist on nutrient poor resources such as bamboo." Similarly, the giant panda's round face is the result of powerful jaw muscles, which attach from the top of the head to the jaw. Large molars crush and grind fibrous plant material.
The morphological characteristics of extinct relatives of the giant panda suggest that while the ancient giant panda was omnivorous 7 million years ago (mya), it only became herbivorous some 2–2.4 mya with the emergence of A. microta. Genome sequencing of the giant panda suggests that the dietary switch could have initiated from the loss of the sole umami taste receptor, encoded by the genes TAS1R1 and TAS1R3 (also known as T1R1 and T1R3), resulting from two frameshift mutations within the T1R1 exons. Umami taste corresponds to high levels of glutamate as found in meat and may have thus altered the food choice of the giant panda. Although the pseudogenisation (conversion into a pseudogene) of the umami taste receptor in Ailuropoda coincides with the dietary switch to herbivory, it is likely a result of, and not the reason for, the dietary change. The mutation time for the T1R1 gene in the giant panda is estimated to 4.2 mya while fossil evidence indicates bamboo consumption in the giant panda species at least 7 mya, signifying that although complete herbivory occurred around 2 mya, the dietary switch was initiated prior to T1R1 loss-of-function.
Pandas eat any of 25 bamboo species in the wild, such as Fargesia dracocephala and Fargesia rufa. Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels; stems have less.
Because of the synchronous flowering, death, and regeneration of all bamboo within a species, the giant panda must have at least two different species available in its range to avoid starvation. While primarily herbivorous, the giant panda still retains decidedly ursine teeth and will eat meat, fish, and eggs when available. In captivity, zoos typically maintain the giant panda's bamboo diet, though some will provide specially formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements.
Pandas will travel between different habitats if they need to, so they can get the nutrients that they need and to balance their diet for reproduction. For six years, scientists studied six pandas tagged with GPS collars at the Foping Reserve in the Qinling Mountains. They took note of their foraging and mating habits and analyzed samples of their food and feces. The pandas would move from the valleys into the Qinling Mountains and would only return to the valleys in autumn. During the summer months, bamboo shoots rich in protein are only available at higher altitudes which causes low calcium rates in the pandas. During breeding season, the pandas would return to lower altitudes to eat bamboo leaves rich in calcium.
Although adult giant pandas have few natural predators other than humans, young cubs are vulnerable to attacks by snow leopards, yellow-throated martens, eagles, feral dogs, and the Asian black bear. Sub-adults weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb) may be vulnerable to predation by leopards.
The giant panda is a terrestrial animal and primarily spends its life roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly province of Sichuan. Giant pandas are generally solitary. Each adult has a defined territory and a female is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters occur primarily during the brief breeding season in which pandas in proximity to one another will gather. After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub.
Pandas were thought to fall into the crepuscular category, those who are active twice a day, at dawn and dusk; however, pandas may belong to a category all of their own, with activity peaks in the morning, afternoon and midnight. The low nutrition quality of bamboo means pandas need to eat more frequently, and due to their lack of major predators they can be active at any time of the day. Activity is highest in June and decreases in late summer to autumn with an increase from November through the following March. Activity is also directly related to the amount of sunlight during colder days.
Pandas communicate through vocalisation and scent marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine. They are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices, but do not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do not hibernate, which is similar to other subtropical mammals, and will instead move to elevations with warmer temperatures. Pandas rely primarily on spatial memory rather than visual memory.
Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans.
Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect themselves against cold temperatures.
Giant pandas heavily rely on olfactory communication to communicate with one another. Scent marks are used to spread these chemical cues and are placed on landmarks like rocks or trees. Chemical communication in giant pandas plays many roles in their social situations. Scent marks and odors are used to spread information about sexual status, whether a female is in estrus or not, age, gender, individuality, dominance over territory, and choice of settlement.
Giant pandas communicate by excreting volatile compounds, or scent marks, through the anogenital gland. These volatile compounds are found in urine and vaginal and anal secretions from the anogenital gland. The anogenital gland secretes short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and aromatics, which are present in the scent marks of giant pandas. Giant pandas have unique positions in which they will scent mark. Males deposit scent marks or urine by lifting their hind leg, rubbing their backside, or standing in order to rub the anogenital gland onto a landmark. Females, however, exercise squatting or simply rubbing their genitals onto a landmark.
The season plays a major role in mediating chemical communication. Depending on the season, mainly whether it is breeding season or not, may influence which odors are prioritized. Chemical signals can have different functions in different seasons. During the non-breeding season, females prefer the odors of other females because reproduction is not their primary motivation. However, during breeding season, odors from the opposite sex will be more attractive.
Because they are solitary mammals and their breeding season is so brief, female pandas secrete chemical cues in order to let males know their sexual status. The chemical cues female pandas secrete can be considered to be pheromones for sexual reproduction. Females deposit scent marks through their urine which induces an increase in androgen levels in males. Androgen is a sex hormone found in both males and females; testosterone is the major androgen produced by males. Civetone and decanoic acid are chemicals found in female urine which promote behavioral responses in males; both chemicals are considered giant panda pheromones. Male pandas also secrete chemical signals that include information about their sexual reproductivity and age, which is beneficial for a female when choosing a mate. For example, age can be useful for a female to determine sexual maturity and sperm quality. Pandas are also able to determine when the signal was placed, further aiding in the quest to find a potential mate. However, chemical cues are not just used for communication between males and females, pandas can determine individuality from chemical signals. This allows them to be able to differentiate between a potential partner or someone of the same sex, which could be a potential competitor.
Chemical cues, or odors, play an important role in how a panda chooses their habitat. Pandas look for odors that tell them not only the identity of another panda, but if they should avoid them or not. Pandas tend to avoid their species for most of the year, breeding season being the brief time of major interaction. Chemical signaling allows for avoidance and competition. Pandas whose habitats are in similar locations will collectively leave scent marks in a unique location which is termed "scent stations." When pandas come across these scent stations, they are able to identify a specific panda and the scope of their habitat. This allows pandas to be able to pursue a potential mate or avoid a potential competitor.
Pandas can assess an individual's dominance status, including their age and size, via odor cues and may choose to avoid a scent mark if the signaler's competitive ability outweighs their own. A pandas size can be conveyed through the height of the scent mark. Since larger animals can place higher scent marks, an elevated scent mark advertises a higher competitive ability. Age must also be taken into consideration when assessing a competitor's fighting ability. For example, a mature panda will be larger than a younger, immature panda and possess an advantage during a fight.
Initially, the primary method of breeding giant pandas in captivity was by artificial insemination, as they seemed to lose their interest in mating once they were captured. This led some scientists to try extreme methods, such as showing them videos of giant pandas mating and giving the males sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra). Only recently have researchers started having success with captive breeding programs, and they have now determined giant pandas have comparable breeding to some populations of the American black bear, a thriving bear species. The normal reproductive rate is considered to be one young every two years.
Giant pandas reach sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight, and may be reproductive until age 20. The mating season is between March and May, when a female goes into estrus, which lasts for two or three days and only occurs once a year. When mating, the female is in a crouching, head-down position as the male mounts her from behind. Copulation time ranges from 30 seconds to five minutes, but the male may mount her repeatedly to ensure successful fertilisation. The gestation period is somewhere between 95 and 160 days - the variability is due to the fact that the fertilized egg may linger in the reproductive system for a while before implanting on the uterine wall.
Giant pandas give birth to twins in about half of pregnancies. If twins are born, usually only one survives in the wild. The mother will select the stronger of the cubs, and the weaker cub will die due to starvation. The mother is thought to be unable to produce enough milk for two cubs since she does not store fat. The father has no part in helping raise the cub.
When the cub is first born, it is pink, blind, and toothless, weighing only 90 to 130 g (3+1⁄4 to 4+1⁄2 oz), or about 1/800 of the mother's weight, proportionally the smallest baby of any placental mammal. It nurses from its mother's breast six to 14 times a day for up to 30 minutes at a time. For three to four hours, the mother may leave the den to feed, which leaves the cub defenseless. One to two weeks after birth, the cub's skin turns grey where its hair will eventually become black. Slight pink colour may appear on the cub's fur, as a result of a chemical reaction between the fur and its mother's saliva. A month after birth, the colour pattern of the cub's fur is fully developed. Its fur is very soft and coarsens with age. The cub begins to crawl at 75 to 80 days; mothers play with their cubs by rolling and wrestling with them. The cubs can eat small quantities of bamboo after six months, though mother's milk remains the primary food source for most of the first year. Giant panda cubs weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) at one year and live with their mothers until they are 18 months to two years old. The interval between births in the wild is generally two years.
In July 2009, Chinese scientists confirmed the birth of the first cub to be successfully conceived through artificial insemination using frozen sperm. The cub was born at 07:41 on 23 July that year in Sichuan as the third cub of You You, an 11-year-old. The technique for freezing the sperm in liquid nitrogen was first developed in 1980 and the first birth was hailed as a solution to the dwindling availability of giant panda semen, which had led to inbreeding. Panda semen, which can be frozen for decades, could be shared between different zoos to save the species. It is expected that zoos in destinations such as San Diego in the United States and Mexico City will now be able to provide their own semen to inseminate more giant pandas. In August 2014, a rare birth of panda triplets was announced in China; it was the fourth of such births ever reported.
Attempts have also been made to reproduce giant pandas by interspecific pregnancy where cloned panda embryos were implanted into the uterus of an animal of another species. This has resulted in panda fetuses, but no live births.
In the past, pandas were thought to be rare and noble creatures – the Empress Dowager Bo was buried with a panda skull in her vault. The grandson of Emperor Taizong of Tang is said to have given Japan two pandas and a sheet of panda skin as a sign of goodwill. Unlike many other animals in Ancient China, pandas were rarely thought to have medical uses. The few known uses include the Sichuan tribal peoples' use of panda urine to melt accidentally swallowed needles, and the use of panda pelts to control menstruation as described in the Qin dynasty encyclopedia Erya.
The creature named mo (貘) mentioned in some ancient books has been interpreted as giant panda. The dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (Eastern Han Dynasty) says that the mo, from Shu (Sichuan), is bear-like, but yellow-and-black, although the older Erya describes mo simply as a "white leopard". The interpretation of the legendary fierce creature pixiu (貔貅) as referring to the giant panda is also common.
During the reign of the Yongle Emperor (early 15th century), his relative from Kaifeng sent him a captured zouyu (騶虞), and another zouyu was sighted in Shandong. Zouyu is a legendary "righteous" animal, which, similarly to a qilin, only appears during the rule of a benevolent and sincere monarch. It is said to be fierce as a tiger, but gentle and strictly vegetarian, and described in some books as a white tiger with black spots. Puzzled about the real zoological identity of the creature captured during the Yongle era, Dutch Sinologist J. J. L. Duyvendak exclaimed, "Can it possibly have been a Pandah?"
The West first learned of the giant panda on 11 March 1869, when the French missionary Armand David received a skin from a hunter. The first Westerner known to have seen a living giant panda is the German zoologist Hugo Weigold, who purchased a cub in 1916. Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., became the first Westerners to shoot a panda, on an expedition funded by the Field Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring back a live giant panda, a cub named Su Lin who went to live at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. In 1938, Floyd Tangier Smith captured and delivered five giant pandas to London, they arrived on 23 December aboard the SS Antenor. These five were the first on British soil and were transferred to London Zoo. One, named Grandma, only lasted a few days. She was taxidermized by E. Gerrard and Sons and sold to Leeds City Museum where she is currently on display to the public. Another, Ming, became London Zoo's first Giant Panda. Her skull is held by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
In the 1970s, gifts of giant pandas to American and Japanese zoos formed an important part of the diplomacy of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as it marked some of the first cultural exchanges between China and the West. This practice has been termed "panda diplomacy".
By 1984, however, pandas were no longer given as gifts. Instead, China began to offer pandas to other nations only on 10-year loans for a fee of up to US$1,000,000 per year and with the provision that any cubs born during the loan are the property of China. As a result of this change in policy, nearly all the pandas in the world are owned by China, and pandas leased to foreign zoos and all cubs are eventually returned to China. Since 1998, because of a WWF lawsuit, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service only allows US zoos to import a panda if the zoo can ensure China channels more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for giant pandas and their habitat.
In May 2005, China offered a breeding pair to Taiwan. The issue became embroiled in cross-Strait relations – due to both the underlying symbolism and technical issues such as whether the transfer would be considered "domestic" or "international" or whether any true conservation purpose would be served by the exchange. A contest in 2006 to name the pandas was held in the mainland, resulting in the politically charged names Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (from simplified Chinese: 团圆; traditional Chinese: 團圓; pinyin: tuanyuan; lit. 'reunion', implying reunification). China's offer was initially rejected by Chen Shui-bian, then President of Taiwan. However, when Ma Ying-jeou assumed the presidency in 2008, the offer was accepted and the pandas arrived in December of that year.
Pandas have been kept in zoos as early as the Western Han Dynasty in China, where the writer Sima Xiangru noted that the panda was the most treasured animal in the emperor's garden of exotic animals in the capital Chang'an (present Xi'an). Not until the 1950s were pandas again recorded to have been exhibited in China's zoos.
Chi Chi at the London Zoo became very popular. This influenced the World Wildlife Fund to use a panda as its symbol.
A 2006 New York Times article outlined the economics of keeping pandas, which costs five times more than keeping the next most expensive animal, an elephant. American zoos generally pay the Chinese government $1 million a year in fees, as part of a typical ten-year contract. San Diego's contract with China was to expire in 2008, but got a five-year extension at about half of the previous yearly cost. The last contract, with the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, ended in 2013.
The giant panda is a vulnerable species, threatened by continued habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity. Its range is currently confined to a small portion on the western edge of its historical range, which stretched through southern and eastern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.
The giant panda has been a target of poaching by locals since ancient times and by foreigners since it was introduced to the West. Starting in the 1930s, foreigners were unable to poach giant pandas in China because of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, but pandas remained a source of soft furs for the locals. The population boom in China after 1949 created stress on the pandas' habitat and the subsequent famines led to the increased hunting of wildlife, including pandas. During the Cultural Revolution, all studies and conservation activities on the pandas were stopped. After the Chinese economic reform, demand for panda skins from Hong Kong and Japan led to illegal poaching for the black market, acts generally ignored by the local officials at the time.
In 1963, the PRC government set up Wolong National Nature Reserve to save the declining panda population. However, few advances in the conservation of pandas were made at the time, owing to inexperience and insufficient knowledge of ecology. Many believed the best way to save the pandas was to cage them. Because of the destruction of their natural habitat, along with segregation caused by caging, reproduction of wild pandas was severely limited. In the 1990s, however, several laws (including gun control and the removal of resident humans from the reserves) helped their chances of survival. With these renewed efforts and improved conservation methods, wild pandas have started to increase in numbers in some areas, though they still are classified as a rare species.
In 2006, scientists reported that the number of pandas living in the wild may have been underestimated at about 1,000. Previous population surveys had used conventional methods to estimate the size of the wild panda population, but using a new method that analyzes DNA from panda droppings, scientists believe the wild population may be as large as 3,000. In 2006, there were 40 panda reserves in China, compared to just 13 reserves in 1998. As the species has been reclassified to "vulnerable" since 2016, the conservation efforts are thought to be working. Furthermore, in response to this reclassification, the State Forestry Administration of China announced that they would not accordingly lower the conservation level for panda, and would instead reinforce the conservation efforts.
The giant panda is among the world's most adored and protected rare animals, and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant status was able to gain a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, located in the southwest province of Sichuan and covering seven natural reserves, were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2006.
Not all conservationists agree that the money spent on conserving pandas is well spent. Chris Packham has argued that the breeding of pandas in captivity is "pointless" because "there is not enough habitat left to sustain them". Packham argues that the money spent on pandas would be better spent elsewhere, and has said he would "eat the last panda if I could have all the money we have spent on panda conservation put back on the table for me to do more sensible things with". He also quoted, "The panda is possibly one of the grossest wastes of conservation money in the last half century", though he has apologised for upsetting people who like pandas. However, a 2015 paper found that the giant panda can serve as an umbrella species as the preservation of their habitat also helps other endemic species in China, including 70% of the country's forest birds, 70% of mammals and 31% of amphibians.
In 2012, Earthwatch Institute, a global nonprofit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, launched a program called "On the Trail of Giant Panda". This program, based in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, allows volunteers to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity, and help them adapt to life in the wild, so that they may breed, and live longer and healthier lives. Efforts to preserve the panda bear populations in China have come at the expense of other animals in the region, including snow leopards, wolves, and dholes.
In order to improve living and mating conditions for the fragmented populations of pandas, nearly 70 natural reserves have been combined to form the Giant Panda National Park in 2020. With a size of 10,500 square miles, the park is roughly three times as large as Yellowstone National Park and incorporates the Wolong National Nature Reserve. The state-owned Bank of China helped to enable the project with US$1.5 billion. One major aim is to permanently keep the panda population stable enough to avoid a relapse to its former IUCN Red List "endangered" status. Especially small, isolated populations run the risk of inbreeding and smaller genetic variety makes the individuals more vulnerable to various defects and genetic mutation. Allowing a larger group of individuals to roam through a larger area freely and choose from a greater variety of mates, helps to enrich genetic diversity of their offspring.
In 2020, the panda population of the new national park was already above 1,800 individuals, which is roughly 80 percent of the entire panda population in China. Establishing the new protected area in the Sichuan Province also gives various other endangered or threatened species, like the Siberian tiger, the possibility to improve their living conditions by offering them a habitat. Other species who benefit from the protection of their habitat include the snow leopard, the golden snub-nosed monkey, the red panda and the complex-toothed flying squirrel.
In July 2021, Chinese conservation authorities announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild following years of conservation efforts, with a population in the wild exceeding 1,800. China has received international praise for its conservation of the species, which has also helped the country establish itself as a leader in endangered species conservation.
Microbes in panda waste are being investigated for their use in creating biofuels from bamboo and other plant materials. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name \"giant panda\" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. By December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. By March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864 individuals. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from \"endangered\" to \"vulnerable\", affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as vulnerable.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons. However in 1985, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae. These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common ancestor of the Ursidae; it is the most basal member of this family and equidistant from all other extant bear species. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The word panda was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word panda has been found. The closest candidate is the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda, which is native to Nepal. In many older sources, the name \"panda\" or \"common panda\" refers to the red panda (Ailurus fulgens), which was described some 40 years earlier and over that period was the only animal known as a panda. This necessitated the use of \"giant\" and \"lesser/red\" prefixes to differentiate the species. Even in 2013, the Encyclopædia Britannica still used \"giant panda\" or \"panda bear\" for the bear, and simply \"panda\" for the red panda.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Since the earliest collection of Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the bear many different names, including mò (貘, ancient Chinese name for giant panda), huāxióng (花熊; \"spotted bear\") and zhúxióng (竹熊; \"bamboo bear\"). The most popular names in China today are dàxióngmāo (大熊貓; lit. 'giant bear cat'), or simply xióngmāo (熊貓; lit. 'bear cat'). As with the word panda in English, xióngmāo (熊貓) was originally used to describe just the red panda, but dàxióngmāo (大熊貓) and xiǎoxióngmāo (小熊猫; lit. 'little bear cat') were coined to differentiate between the species.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In Taiwan, another popular name for panda is the inverted dàmāoxióng (大貓熊; lit. 'giant cat bear'), though many encyclopedias and dictionaries in Taiwan still use the \"bear cat\" form as the correct name. Some linguists argue, in this construction, \"bear\" instead of \"cat\" is the base noun, making the name more grammatically and logically correct, which may have led to the popular choice despite official writings. This name did not gain its popularity until 1988, when a private zoo in Tainan painted a sun bear black and white and created the Tainan fake panda incident.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Two subspecies of giant panda have been recognized on the basis of distinct cranial measurements, colour patterns, and population genetics.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "A detailed study of the giant panda's genetic history from 2012 confirms that the separation of the Qinlin population occurred about 300,000 years ago, and reveals that the non-Qinlin population further diverged into two groups, named the Minshan and the Qionglai-Daxiangling-Xiaoxiangling-Liangshan group respectively, about 2,800 years ago.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9 metres (3 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 3 inches) long, including a tail of about 10–15 cm (4–6 in), and 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 160 kg (350 lb). Females (generally 10–20% smaller than males) can weigh as little as 70 kg (150 lb), but can also weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb). The average weight for adults is 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb).",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The giant panda has a body shape typical of bears. It has black fur on its ears, eye patches, limbs and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. The bear's distinctive coat appears to serve as camouflage in both winter and summer environments. The white areas may serve as camouflage in snow, while the black shoulders and legs provide crypsis in shade. Studies in the wild have found that when viewed from a distance, the panda displays disruptive coloration while close up, they rely more on blending in. The black ears may signal aggressive intent, while the eye patches might facilitate them identifying one another. The giant panda's thick, woolly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. The panda's skull shape is typical of durophagous carnivorans. It has evolved from previous ancestors to exhibit larger molars with increased complexity and expanded temporal fossa. A 110.45 kg (243.5 lb) giant panda has a 3D canine teeth bite force of 2603.47 newtons (265kg ) and bite force quotient of 292. Another study had a 117.5 kg (259 lb) giant panda bite of 1298.9 newtons (BFQ 151.4) at canine teeth and 1815.9 newtons (BFQ 141.8) at carnassial teeth.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The giant panda's paw has a \"thumb\" and five fingers; the \"thumb\" – actually a modified sesamoid bone – helps it to hold bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould discusses this feature in his book of essays on evolution and biology, The Panda's Thumb.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The giant panda's tail, measuring 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in), is the second-longest in the bear family, behind the sloth bear.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The giant panda typically lives around 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. A female named Jia Jia was the oldest giant panda ever in captivity; she was born in 1978 and died at an age of 38 on 16 October 2016.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A seven-year-old female named Jin Yi died in 2014 in a zoo in Zhengzhou, China, after showing symptoms of gastroenteritis and respiratory disease. It was found that the cause of death was toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan known as Toxoplasma gondii that infects most warm-blooded animals, including humans.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The giant panda genome was sequenced in 2009 using Illumina dye sequencing. Its genome contains 20 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivoran, the giant panda's diet is primarily herbivorous, consisting almost exclusively of bamboo. However, the giant panda still has the digestive system of a carnivore, as well as carnivore-specific genes, and thus derives little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. The ability to break down cellulose and lignin is very weak, and their main source of nutrients comes from starch and hemicelluloses. The most important part of their bamboo diet is the shoots, that are rich in starch and have up to 32% protein content. Accordingly, pandas have evolved a higher capability to digest starches than strict carnivores. During the shoot season, which lasts from April to August, they put on a lot of weight, which allows them to get through the nutrient-scarce period from late August to April, when they feed mostly on bamboo leaves. Pandas are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. The giant panda is a highly specialised animal with unique adaptations, and has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The average giant panda eats as much as 9 to 14 kg (20 to 31 lb) of bamboo shoots a day to compensate for the limited energy content of its diet. Ingestion of such a large quantity of material is possible and necessary because of the rapid passage of large amounts of indigestible plant material through the short, straight digestive tract. It is also noted, however, that such rapid passage of digesta limits the potential of microbial digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, limiting alternative forms of digestion. Given this voluminous diet, the giant panda defecates up to 40 times a day. The limited energy input imposed on it by its diet has affected the panda's behavior. The giant panda tends to limit its social interactions and avoids steeply sloping terrain to limit its energy expenditures.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "It has been estimated that an adult panda absorbs 54.8–66.1 mg (0.846–1.020 gr) of cyanide a day through its diet. To prevent poisoning, they have evolved anti-toxic mechanisms to protect themselves. About 80% of the cyanide is metabolized to less toxic thiocyanate and discharged in urine, while the remaining 20% is detoxified by other minor pathways.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Two of the panda's most distinctive features, its large size and round face, are adaptations to its bamboo diet. Anthropologist Russell Ciochon observed: \"[much] like the vegetarian gorilla, the low body surface area to body volume [of the giant panda] is indicative of a lower metabolic rate. This lower metabolic rate and a more sedentary lifestyle allows the giant panda to subsist on nutrient poor resources such as bamboo.\" Similarly, the giant panda's round face is the result of powerful jaw muscles, which attach from the top of the head to the jaw. Large molars crush and grind fibrous plant material.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The morphological characteristics of extinct relatives of the giant panda suggest that while the ancient giant panda was omnivorous 7 million years ago (mya), it only became herbivorous some 2–2.4 mya with the emergence of A. microta. Genome sequencing of the giant panda suggests that the dietary switch could have initiated from the loss of the sole umami taste receptor, encoded by the genes TAS1R1 and TAS1R3 (also known as T1R1 and T1R3), resulting from two frameshift mutations within the T1R1 exons. Umami taste corresponds to high levels of glutamate as found in meat and may have thus altered the food choice of the giant panda. Although the pseudogenisation (conversion into a pseudogene) of the umami taste receptor in Ailuropoda coincides with the dietary switch to herbivory, it is likely a result of, and not the reason for, the dietary change. The mutation time for the T1R1 gene in the giant panda is estimated to 4.2 mya while fossil evidence indicates bamboo consumption in the giant panda species at least 7 mya, signifying that although complete herbivory occurred around 2 mya, the dietary switch was initiated prior to T1R1 loss-of-function.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Pandas eat any of 25 bamboo species in the wild, such as Fargesia dracocephala and Fargesia rufa. Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels; stems have less.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Because of the synchronous flowering, death, and regeneration of all bamboo within a species, the giant panda must have at least two different species available in its range to avoid starvation. While primarily herbivorous, the giant panda still retains decidedly ursine teeth and will eat meat, fish, and eggs when available. In captivity, zoos typically maintain the giant panda's bamboo diet, though some will provide specially formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Pandas will travel between different habitats if they need to, so they can get the nutrients that they need and to balance their diet for reproduction. For six years, scientists studied six pandas tagged with GPS collars at the Foping Reserve in the Qinling Mountains. They took note of their foraging and mating habits and analyzed samples of their food and feces. The pandas would move from the valleys into the Qinling Mountains and would only return to the valleys in autumn. During the summer months, bamboo shoots rich in protein are only available at higher altitudes which causes low calcium rates in the pandas. During breeding season, the pandas would return to lower altitudes to eat bamboo leaves rich in calcium.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Although adult giant pandas have few natural predators other than humans, young cubs are vulnerable to attacks by snow leopards, yellow-throated martens, eagles, feral dogs, and the Asian black bear. Sub-adults weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb) may be vulnerable to predation by leopards.",
"title": "Ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The giant panda is a terrestrial animal and primarily spends its life roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly province of Sichuan. Giant pandas are generally solitary. Each adult has a defined territory and a female is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters occur primarily during the brief breeding season in which pandas in proximity to one another will gather. After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Pandas were thought to fall into the crepuscular category, those who are active twice a day, at dawn and dusk; however, pandas may belong to a category all of their own, with activity peaks in the morning, afternoon and midnight. The low nutrition quality of bamboo means pandas need to eat more frequently, and due to their lack of major predators they can be active at any time of the day. Activity is highest in June and decreases in late summer to autumn with an increase from November through the following March. Activity is also directly related to the amount of sunlight during colder days.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Pandas communicate through vocalisation and scent marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine. They are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices, but do not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do not hibernate, which is similar to other subtropical mammals, and will instead move to elevations with warmer temperatures. Pandas rely primarily on spatial memory rather than visual memory.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect themselves against cold temperatures.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Giant pandas heavily rely on olfactory communication to communicate with one another. Scent marks are used to spread these chemical cues and are placed on landmarks like rocks or trees. Chemical communication in giant pandas plays many roles in their social situations. Scent marks and odors are used to spread information about sexual status, whether a female is in estrus or not, age, gender, individuality, dominance over territory, and choice of settlement.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Giant pandas communicate by excreting volatile compounds, or scent marks, through the anogenital gland. These volatile compounds are found in urine and vaginal and anal secretions from the anogenital gland. The anogenital gland secretes short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and aromatics, which are present in the scent marks of giant pandas. Giant pandas have unique positions in which they will scent mark. Males deposit scent marks or urine by lifting their hind leg, rubbing their backside, or standing in order to rub the anogenital gland onto a landmark. Females, however, exercise squatting or simply rubbing their genitals onto a landmark.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The season plays a major role in mediating chemical communication. Depending on the season, mainly whether it is breeding season or not, may influence which odors are prioritized. Chemical signals can have different functions in different seasons. During the non-breeding season, females prefer the odors of other females because reproduction is not their primary motivation. However, during breeding season, odors from the opposite sex will be more attractive.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Because they are solitary mammals and their breeding season is so brief, female pandas secrete chemical cues in order to let males know their sexual status. The chemical cues female pandas secrete can be considered to be pheromones for sexual reproduction. Females deposit scent marks through their urine which induces an increase in androgen levels in males. Androgen is a sex hormone found in both males and females; testosterone is the major androgen produced by males. Civetone and decanoic acid are chemicals found in female urine which promote behavioral responses in males; both chemicals are considered giant panda pheromones. Male pandas also secrete chemical signals that include information about their sexual reproductivity and age, which is beneficial for a female when choosing a mate. For example, age can be useful for a female to determine sexual maturity and sperm quality. Pandas are also able to determine when the signal was placed, further aiding in the quest to find a potential mate. However, chemical cues are not just used for communication between males and females, pandas can determine individuality from chemical signals. This allows them to be able to differentiate between a potential partner or someone of the same sex, which could be a potential competitor.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Chemical cues, or odors, play an important role in how a panda chooses their habitat. Pandas look for odors that tell them not only the identity of another panda, but if they should avoid them or not. Pandas tend to avoid their species for most of the year, breeding season being the brief time of major interaction. Chemical signaling allows for avoidance and competition. Pandas whose habitats are in similar locations will collectively leave scent marks in a unique location which is termed \"scent stations.\" When pandas come across these scent stations, they are able to identify a specific panda and the scope of their habitat. This allows pandas to be able to pursue a potential mate or avoid a potential competitor.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Pandas can assess an individual's dominance status, including their age and size, via odor cues and may choose to avoid a scent mark if the signaler's competitive ability outweighs their own. A pandas size can be conveyed through the height of the scent mark. Since larger animals can place higher scent marks, an elevated scent mark advertises a higher competitive ability. Age must also be taken into consideration when assessing a competitor's fighting ability. For example, a mature panda will be larger than a younger, immature panda and possess an advantage during a fight.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Initially, the primary method of breeding giant pandas in captivity was by artificial insemination, as they seemed to lose their interest in mating once they were captured. This led some scientists to try extreme methods, such as showing them videos of giant pandas mating and giving the males sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra). Only recently have researchers started having success with captive breeding programs, and they have now determined giant pandas have comparable breeding to some populations of the American black bear, a thriving bear species. The normal reproductive rate is considered to be one young every two years.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Giant pandas reach sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight, and may be reproductive until age 20. The mating season is between March and May, when a female goes into estrus, which lasts for two or three days and only occurs once a year. When mating, the female is in a crouching, head-down position as the male mounts her from behind. Copulation time ranges from 30 seconds to five minutes, but the male may mount her repeatedly to ensure successful fertilisation. The gestation period is somewhere between 95 and 160 days - the variability is due to the fact that the fertilized egg may linger in the reproductive system for a while before implanting on the uterine wall.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Giant pandas give birth to twins in about half of pregnancies. If twins are born, usually only one survives in the wild. The mother will select the stronger of the cubs, and the weaker cub will die due to starvation. The mother is thought to be unable to produce enough milk for two cubs since she does not store fat. The father has no part in helping raise the cub.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "When the cub is first born, it is pink, blind, and toothless, weighing only 90 to 130 g (3+1⁄4 to 4+1⁄2 oz), or about 1/800 of the mother's weight, proportionally the smallest baby of any placental mammal. It nurses from its mother's breast six to 14 times a day for up to 30 minutes at a time. For three to four hours, the mother may leave the den to feed, which leaves the cub defenseless. One to two weeks after birth, the cub's skin turns grey where its hair will eventually become black. Slight pink colour may appear on the cub's fur, as a result of a chemical reaction between the fur and its mother's saliva. A month after birth, the colour pattern of the cub's fur is fully developed. Its fur is very soft and coarsens with age. The cub begins to crawl at 75 to 80 days; mothers play with their cubs by rolling and wrestling with them. The cubs can eat small quantities of bamboo after six months, though mother's milk remains the primary food source for most of the first year. Giant panda cubs weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) at one year and live with their mothers until they are 18 months to two years old. The interval between births in the wild is generally two years.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In July 2009, Chinese scientists confirmed the birth of the first cub to be successfully conceived through artificial insemination using frozen sperm. The cub was born at 07:41 on 23 July that year in Sichuan as the third cub of You You, an 11-year-old. The technique for freezing the sperm in liquid nitrogen was first developed in 1980 and the first birth was hailed as a solution to the dwindling availability of giant panda semen, which had led to inbreeding. Panda semen, which can be frozen for decades, could be shared between different zoos to save the species. It is expected that zoos in destinations such as San Diego in the United States and Mexico City will now be able to provide their own semen to inseminate more giant pandas. In August 2014, a rare birth of panda triplets was announced in China; it was the fourth of such births ever reported.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Attempts have also been made to reproduce giant pandas by interspecific pregnancy where cloned panda embryos were implanted into the uterus of an animal of another species. This has resulted in panda fetuses, but no live births.",
"title": "Behavior"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In the past, pandas were thought to be rare and noble creatures – the Empress Dowager Bo was buried with a panda skull in her vault. The grandson of Emperor Taizong of Tang is said to have given Japan two pandas and a sheet of panda skin as a sign of goodwill. Unlike many other animals in Ancient China, pandas were rarely thought to have medical uses. The few known uses include the Sichuan tribal peoples' use of panda urine to melt accidentally swallowed needles, and the use of panda pelts to control menstruation as described in the Qin dynasty encyclopedia Erya.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The creature named mo (貘) mentioned in some ancient books has been interpreted as giant panda. The dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (Eastern Han Dynasty) says that the mo, from Shu (Sichuan), is bear-like, but yellow-and-black, although the older Erya describes mo simply as a \"white leopard\". The interpretation of the legendary fierce creature pixiu (貔貅) as referring to the giant panda is also common.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "During the reign of the Yongle Emperor (early 15th century), his relative from Kaifeng sent him a captured zouyu (騶虞), and another zouyu was sighted in Shandong. Zouyu is a legendary \"righteous\" animal, which, similarly to a qilin, only appears during the rule of a benevolent and sincere monarch. It is said to be fierce as a tiger, but gentle and strictly vegetarian, and described in some books as a white tiger with black spots. Puzzled about the real zoological identity of the creature captured during the Yongle era, Dutch Sinologist J. J. L. Duyvendak exclaimed, \"Can it possibly have been a Pandah?\"",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The West first learned of the giant panda on 11 March 1869, when the French missionary Armand David received a skin from a hunter. The first Westerner known to have seen a living giant panda is the German zoologist Hugo Weigold, who purchased a cub in 1916. Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., became the first Westerners to shoot a panda, on an expedition funded by the Field Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring back a live giant panda, a cub named Su Lin who went to live at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. In 1938, Floyd Tangier Smith captured and delivered five giant pandas to London, they arrived on 23 December aboard the SS Antenor. These five were the first on British soil and were transferred to London Zoo. One, named Grandma, only lasted a few days. She was taxidermized by E. Gerrard and Sons and sold to Leeds City Museum where she is currently on display to the public. Another, Ming, became London Zoo's first Giant Panda. Her skull is held by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In the 1970s, gifts of giant pandas to American and Japanese zoos formed an important part of the diplomacy of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as it marked some of the first cultural exchanges between China and the West. This practice has been termed \"panda diplomacy\".",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "By 1984, however, pandas were no longer given as gifts. Instead, China began to offer pandas to other nations only on 10-year loans for a fee of up to US$1,000,000 per year and with the provision that any cubs born during the loan are the property of China. As a result of this change in policy, nearly all the pandas in the world are owned by China, and pandas leased to foreign zoos and all cubs are eventually returned to China. Since 1998, because of a WWF lawsuit, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service only allows US zoos to import a panda if the zoo can ensure China channels more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for giant pandas and their habitat.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In May 2005, China offered a breeding pair to Taiwan. The issue became embroiled in cross-Strait relations – due to both the underlying symbolism and technical issues such as whether the transfer would be considered \"domestic\" or \"international\" or whether any true conservation purpose would be served by the exchange. A contest in 2006 to name the pandas was held in the mainland, resulting in the politically charged names Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (from simplified Chinese: 团圆; traditional Chinese: 團圓; pinyin: tuanyuan; lit. 'reunion', implying reunification). China's offer was initially rejected by Chen Shui-bian, then President of Taiwan. However, when Ma Ying-jeou assumed the presidency in 2008, the offer was accepted and the pandas arrived in December of that year.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Pandas have been kept in zoos as early as the Western Han Dynasty in China, where the writer Sima Xiangru noted that the panda was the most treasured animal in the emperor's garden of exotic animals in the capital Chang'an (present Xi'an). Not until the 1950s were pandas again recorded to have been exhibited in China's zoos.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Chi Chi at the London Zoo became very popular. This influenced the World Wildlife Fund to use a panda as its symbol.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "A 2006 New York Times article outlined the economics of keeping pandas, which costs five times more than keeping the next most expensive animal, an elephant. American zoos generally pay the Chinese government $1 million a year in fees, as part of a typical ten-year contract. San Diego's contract with China was to expire in 2008, but got a five-year extension at about half of the previous yearly cost. The last contract, with the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, ended in 2013.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The giant panda is a vulnerable species, threatened by continued habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity. Its range is currently confined to a small portion on the western edge of its historical range, which stretched through southern and eastern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The giant panda has been a target of poaching by locals since ancient times and by foreigners since it was introduced to the West. Starting in the 1930s, foreigners were unable to poach giant pandas in China because of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, but pandas remained a source of soft furs for the locals. The population boom in China after 1949 created stress on the pandas' habitat and the subsequent famines led to the increased hunting of wildlife, including pandas. During the Cultural Revolution, all studies and conservation activities on the pandas were stopped. After the Chinese economic reform, demand for panda skins from Hong Kong and Japan led to illegal poaching for the black market, acts generally ignored by the local officials at the time.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In 1963, the PRC government set up Wolong National Nature Reserve to save the declining panda population. However, few advances in the conservation of pandas were made at the time, owing to inexperience and insufficient knowledge of ecology. Many believed the best way to save the pandas was to cage them. Because of the destruction of their natural habitat, along with segregation caused by caging, reproduction of wild pandas was severely limited. In the 1990s, however, several laws (including gun control and the removal of resident humans from the reserves) helped their chances of survival. With these renewed efforts and improved conservation methods, wild pandas have started to increase in numbers in some areas, though they still are classified as a rare species.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In 2006, scientists reported that the number of pandas living in the wild may have been underestimated at about 1,000. Previous population surveys had used conventional methods to estimate the size of the wild panda population, but using a new method that analyzes DNA from panda droppings, scientists believe the wild population may be as large as 3,000. In 2006, there were 40 panda reserves in China, compared to just 13 reserves in 1998. As the species has been reclassified to \"vulnerable\" since 2016, the conservation efforts are thought to be working. Furthermore, in response to this reclassification, the State Forestry Administration of China announced that they would not accordingly lower the conservation level for panda, and would instead reinforce the conservation efforts.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "The giant panda is among the world's most adored and protected rare animals, and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant status was able to gain a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, located in the southwest province of Sichuan and covering seven natural reserves, were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2006.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Not all conservationists agree that the money spent on conserving pandas is well spent. Chris Packham has argued that the breeding of pandas in captivity is \"pointless\" because \"there is not enough habitat left to sustain them\". Packham argues that the money spent on pandas would be better spent elsewhere, and has said he would \"eat the last panda if I could have all the money we have spent on panda conservation put back on the table for me to do more sensible things with\". He also quoted, \"The panda is possibly one of the grossest wastes of conservation money in the last half century\", though he has apologised for upsetting people who like pandas. However, a 2015 paper found that the giant panda can serve as an umbrella species as the preservation of their habitat also helps other endemic species in China, including 70% of the country's forest birds, 70% of mammals and 31% of amphibians.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In 2012, Earthwatch Institute, a global nonprofit that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important environmental research, launched a program called \"On the Trail of Giant Panda\". This program, based in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, allows volunteers to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity, and help them adapt to life in the wild, so that they may breed, and live longer and healthier lives. Efforts to preserve the panda bear populations in China have come at the expense of other animals in the region, including snow leopards, wolves, and dholes.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In order to improve living and mating conditions for the fragmented populations of pandas, nearly 70 natural reserves have been combined to form the Giant Panda National Park in 2020. With a size of 10,500 square miles, the park is roughly three times as large as Yellowstone National Park and incorporates the Wolong National Nature Reserve. The state-owned Bank of China helped to enable the project with US$1.5 billion. One major aim is to permanently keep the panda population stable enough to avoid a relapse to its former IUCN Red List \"endangered\" status. Especially small, isolated populations run the risk of inbreeding and smaller genetic variety makes the individuals more vulnerable to various defects and genetic mutation. Allowing a larger group of individuals to roam through a larger area freely and choose from a greater variety of mates, helps to enrich genetic diversity of their offspring.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 2020, the panda population of the new national park was already above 1,800 individuals, which is roughly 80 percent of the entire panda population in China. Establishing the new protected area in the Sichuan Province also gives various other endangered or threatened species, like the Siberian tiger, the possibility to improve their living conditions by offering them a habitat. Other species who benefit from the protection of their habitat include the snow leopard, the golden snub-nosed monkey, the red panda and the complex-toothed flying squirrel.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "In July 2021, Chinese conservation authorities announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild following years of conservation efforts, with a population in the wild exceeding 1,800. China has received international praise for its conservation of the species, which has also helped the country establish itself as a leader in endangered species conservation.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Microbes in panda waste are being investigated for their use in creating biofuels from bamboo and other plant materials.",
"title": "Human use and interaction"
}
]
| The giant panda, sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food. The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. By December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. By March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864 individuals. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from "endangered" to "vulnerable", affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as vulnerable. The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing. | 2001-10-16T22:26:10Z | 2023-12-20T06:34:51Z | [
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Sfrac",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Cvt",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:Infobox Chinese",
"Template:Mya",
"Template:Lit",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Wikispecies",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Lang-zh",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Dead link",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Category see also",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Taxonbar",
"Template:Clade",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:FedReg",
"Template:Carnivora",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Famous giant pandas",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Speciesbox",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Redirect-multi",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Pp-protected",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Commons and category"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda |
12,716 | Glissando | In music, a glissando (Italian: [ɡlisˈsando]; plural: glissandi, abbreviated gliss.) is a glide from one pitch to another (Play). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, "to glide". In some contexts, it is equivalent to portamento, which is a continuous, seamless glide between notes. In other contexts, it refers to discrete, stepped glides across notes, such as on a piano. Some terms that are similar or equivalent in some contexts are slide, sweep bend, smear, rip (for a loud, violent glissando to the beginning of a note), lip (in jazz terminology, when executed by changing one's embouchure on a wind instrument), plop, or falling hail (a glissando on a harp using the back of the fingernails). On wind instruments, a scoop is a glissando ascending to the onset of a note achieved entirely with the embouchure, except on instruments that have a slide (such as a trombone).
The glissando is indicated by following the initial note with a line, sometimes wavy, in the desired direction, often accompanied by the abbreviation gliss.. Occasionally, the desired notes are notated in the standard method (i.e. semiquavers) accompanied by the word 'glissando'.
On some instruments (e.g., piano, harp, xylophone), discrete tones are clearly audible when sliding. For example, on a keyboard, a player's fingernails can be made to slide across the white keys or over the black keys, producing either a C major scale or an F♯ major pentatonic scale, or their relative modes; by performing both at once, it is possible to produce a full chromatic scale. Maurice Ravel used glissandi in many of his piano compositions, and "Alborada del Gracioso" contains notable piano glissando passages in thirds executed by the right hand. Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Liszt and Gershwin have all used glissandi for piano in notable compositions.
Organ players—particularly in contemporary music—sometimes employ an effect known as the palm glissando, where over the course of the glissando the flat of the hand is used to depress a wide area of keys simultaneously, resulting in a dramatic atonal sweep. A similar device on the piano are cluster-glissandos, used extensively by Karlheinz Stockhausen in Klavierstück X, and which "more than anything else, lend the work its unique aural flavour". On a harp, the player can slide their finger across the strings, quickly playing the scale (or on pedal harp even arpeggios such as C♭-D-E♯-F-G♯-A♭-B). Wind, brass, and fretted-stringed-instrument players can perform an extremely rapid chromatic scale (e.g., sliding up or down a string quickly on a fretted instrument).
Arpeggio effects (likewise named glissando) are also obtained by bowed strings (playing harmonics) and brass, especially the horn.
Musical instruments with continuously variable pitch are capable of continuous glissando, sometimes called portamento, over a substantial range. These include unfretted chordophones (such as the violin, viola, cello and double bass, and fretless guitars), stringed instruments with a way of stretching the strings (such as the guitar, veena, or sitar), a fretted guitar or lap steel guitar when accompanied with the use of a slide, wind instruments without valves or stops (such as the trombone or slide whistle), timpani (kettledrums), electronic instruments (such as the theremin, the ondes Martenot, synthesizers and keytars), the water organ, and the human voice.
Wind instruments can effect a similar limited slide by altering the lip pressure (on trumpet, for example) or a combination of embouchure and rolling the head joint (as on the flute), while others such as the clarinet can achieve this by slowly dragging fingers off tone holes or changing the oral cavity's resonance by manipulating tongue position, embouchure, and throat shaping.
Many electric guitars are fitted with a tremolo arm which can produce either a portamento, a vibrato, or a combination of both (but not a true tremolo despite the name).
Prescriptive attempts to distinguish the glissando from the portamento by limiting the former to discrete, stepped glides conflict with established usage of the term for instruments like the trombone and timpani. The clarinet gesture that opens Rhapsody in Blue was originally notated as a stepped glissando (Gershwin's score labels each individual note) but is in practice played as a portamento.
A bent note is a musical note that is varied in pitch. With unfretted strings or other continuous-pitch instruments such as the trombone, or with the human voice, such variation is more properly described in terms of intonation. A note is commonly bent to a higher pitch on fretted instruments literally by bending the string with excess finger pressure, and to a lower pitch on harmonica (a free-reed aerophone) by altering the vocal tract to shift the resonance of the reed. On brass instruments such as the trumpet, the note is bent by using the lip. "Indeterminately pitched instruments [such as unpitched percussion instruments and friction drum rolls]...produce a pitch or pitch spectrum that becomes higher with an increase of dynamic and lower with a decrease of dynamic."
The bent note is commonly found in various forms of jazz, blues, and rock. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In music, a glissando (Italian: [ɡlisˈsando]; plural: glissandi, abbreviated gliss.) is a glide from one pitch to another (Play). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, \"to glide\". In some contexts, it is equivalent to portamento, which is a continuous, seamless glide between notes. In other contexts, it refers to discrete, stepped glides across notes, such as on a piano. Some terms that are similar or equivalent in some contexts are slide, sweep bend, smear, rip (for a loud, violent glissando to the beginning of a note), lip (in jazz terminology, when executed by changing one's embouchure on a wind instrument), plop, or falling hail (a glissando on a harp using the back of the fingernails). On wind instruments, a scoop is a glissando ascending to the onset of a note achieved entirely with the embouchure, except on instruments that have a slide (such as a trombone).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The glissando is indicated by following the initial note with a line, sometimes wavy, in the desired direction, often accompanied by the abbreviation gliss.. Occasionally, the desired notes are notated in the standard method (i.e. semiquavers) accompanied by the word 'glissando'.",
"title": "Notation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "On some instruments (e.g., piano, harp, xylophone), discrete tones are clearly audible when sliding. For example, on a keyboard, a player's fingernails can be made to slide across the white keys or over the black keys, producing either a C major scale or an F♯ major pentatonic scale, or their relative modes; by performing both at once, it is possible to produce a full chromatic scale. Maurice Ravel used glissandi in many of his piano compositions, and \"Alborada del Gracioso\" contains notable piano glissando passages in thirds executed by the right hand. Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Liszt and Gershwin have all used glissandi for piano in notable compositions.",
"title": "Discrete glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Organ players—particularly in contemporary music—sometimes employ an effect known as the palm glissando, where over the course of the glissando the flat of the hand is used to depress a wide area of keys simultaneously, resulting in a dramatic atonal sweep. A similar device on the piano are cluster-glissandos, used extensively by Karlheinz Stockhausen in Klavierstück X, and which \"more than anything else, lend the work its unique aural flavour\". On a harp, the player can slide their finger across the strings, quickly playing the scale (or on pedal harp even arpeggios such as C♭-D-E♯-F-G♯-A♭-B). Wind, brass, and fretted-stringed-instrument players can perform an extremely rapid chromatic scale (e.g., sliding up or down a string quickly on a fretted instrument).",
"title": "Discrete glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Arpeggio effects (likewise named glissando) are also obtained by bowed strings (playing harmonics) and brass, especially the horn.",
"title": "Discrete glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Musical instruments with continuously variable pitch are capable of continuous glissando, sometimes called portamento, over a substantial range. These include unfretted chordophones (such as the violin, viola, cello and double bass, and fretless guitars), stringed instruments with a way of stretching the strings (such as the guitar, veena, or sitar), a fretted guitar or lap steel guitar when accompanied with the use of a slide, wind instruments without valves or stops (such as the trombone or slide whistle), timpani (kettledrums), electronic instruments (such as the theremin, the ondes Martenot, synthesizers and keytars), the water organ, and the human voice.",
"title": "Continuous glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Wind instruments can effect a similar limited slide by altering the lip pressure (on trumpet, for example) or a combination of embouchure and rolling the head joint (as on the flute), while others such as the clarinet can achieve this by slowly dragging fingers off tone holes or changing the oral cavity's resonance by manipulating tongue position, embouchure, and throat shaping.",
"title": "Continuous glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Many electric guitars are fitted with a tremolo arm which can produce either a portamento, a vibrato, or a combination of both (but not a true tremolo despite the name).",
"title": "Continuous glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Prescriptive attempts to distinguish the glissando from the portamento by limiting the former to discrete, stepped glides conflict with established usage of the term for instruments like the trombone and timpani. The clarinet gesture that opens Rhapsody in Blue was originally notated as a stepped glissando (Gershwin's score labels each individual note) but is in practice played as a portamento.",
"title": "Continuous glissando"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A bent note is a musical note that is varied in pitch. With unfretted strings or other continuous-pitch instruments such as the trombone, or with the human voice, such variation is more properly described in terms of intonation. A note is commonly bent to a higher pitch on fretted instruments literally by bending the string with excess finger pressure, and to a lower pitch on harmonica (a free-reed aerophone) by altering the vocal tract to shift the resonance of the reed. On brass instruments such as the trumpet, the note is bent by using the lip. \"Indeterminately pitched instruments [such as unpitched percussion instruments and friction drum rolls]...produce a pitch or pitch spectrum that becomes higher with an increase of dynamic and lower with a decrease of dynamic.\"",
"title": "Bent note"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The bent note is commonly found in various forms of jazz, blues, and rock.",
"title": "Bent note"
}
]
| In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, "to glide". In some contexts, it is equivalent to portamento, which is a continuous, seamless glide between notes. In other contexts, it refers to discrete, stepped glides across notes, such as on a piano. Some terms that are similar or equivalent in some contexts are slide, sweep bend, smear, rip, lip, plop, or falling hail. On wind instruments, a scoop is a glissando ascending to the onset of a note achieved entirely with the embouchure, except on instruments that have a slide. | 2001-10-13T21:49:36Z | 2023-09-16T19:41:26Z | [
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Extended techniques",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Contradict-inline",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:For",
"Template:Image frame",
"Template:Audio",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:IPA-it",
"Template:Music",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Cite Grove",
"Template:Music notation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glissando |
12,717 | Giraffe | The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.
The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.
Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.
The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.
The name "giraffe" has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zarāfah (زرافة), ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا (zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا (zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا (pā, “leg”). In early Modern English the spellings jarraf and ziraph were used, probably directly from the Arabic, and in Middle English jarraf and ziraph, gerfauntz. The Italian form giraffa arose in the 1590s. The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe.
"Camelopard" /kəˈmɛləˌpɑːrd/ is an archaic English name for the giraffe; it derives from the Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), from κάμηλος (kámēlos), "camel", and πάρδαλις (párdalis), "leopard", referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouration.
The giraffe is one of only two living genera of the family Giraffidae in the order Artiodactyla, the other being the okapi. They are ruminants of the clade Pecora, along with Antilocapridae (pronghorns), Cervidae (deer), Bovidae (cattle, antelope, goats and sheep) and Moschidae (musk deer). A 2019 genome study (cladogram below) finds that Giraffidae are a sister taxon to Antilocapridae, with an estimated split of over 20 million years ago.
The family Giraffidae was once much more extensive, with over 10 fossil genera described. The elongation of the neck appears to have started early in the giraffe lineage. Comparisons between giraffes and their ancient relatives suggest vertebrae close to the skull lengthened earlier, followed by lengthening of vertebrae further down. One early giraffid ancestor was Canthumeryx, which has been dated variously to have lived 25 to 20 million years ago, 17–15 mya or 18–14.3 mya and whose deposits have been found in Libya. This animal resembled an antelope and had a medium-sized, lightly built body. Giraffokeryx appeared 15–12 mya on the Indian subcontinent and resembled an okapi or a small giraffe, and had a longer neck and similar ossicones. Giraffokeryx may have shared a clade with more massively built giraffids like Sivatherium and Bramatherium.
Giraffids like Palaeotragus, Shansitherium and Samotherium appeared 14 mya and lived throughout Africa and Eurasia. These animals had broader skulls with reduced frontal cavities. Paleotragus resembled the okapi and may have been its ancestor. Others find that the okapi lineage diverged earlier, before Giraffokeryx. Samotherium was a particularly important transitional fossil in the giraffe lineage, as the length and structure of its cervical vertebrae were between those of a modern giraffe and an okapi, and its neck posture was likely similar to the former's. Bohlinia, which first appeared in southeastern Europe and lived 9–7 mya, was likely a direct ancestor of the giraffe. Bohlinia closely resembled modern giraffes, having a long neck and legs and similar ossicones and dentition.
Bohlinia colonised China and northern India and produced the Giraffa, which, around 7 million years ago, reached Africa. Climate changes led to the extinction of the Asian giraffes, while the African giraffes survived and radiated into new species. Living giraffes appear to have arisen around 1 million years ago in eastern Africa during the Pleistocene. Some biologists suggest the modern giraffes descended from G. jumae; others find G. gracilis a more likely candidate. G. jumae was larger and more robust, while G. gracilis was smaller and more slender.
The changes from extensive forests to more open habitats, which began 8 mya, are believed to be the main driver for the evolution of giraffes. During this time, tropical plants disappeared and were replaced by arid C4 plants, and a dry savannah emerged across eastern and northern Africa and western India. Some researchers have hypothesised that this new habitat, coupled with a different diet, including acacia species, may have exposed giraffe ancestors to toxins that caused higher mutation rates and a higher rate of evolution. The coat patterns of modern giraffes may also have coincided with these habitat changes. Asian giraffes are hypothesised to have had more okapi-like colourations.
The giraffe genome is around 2.9 billion base pairs in length, compared to the 3.3 billion base pairs of the okapi. Of the proteins in giraffe and okapi genes, 19.4% are identical. The divergence of giraffe and okapi lineages dates to around 11.5 mya. A small group of regulatory genes in the giraffe appear to be responsible for the animal's height and associated circulatory adaptations.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently recognises only one species of giraffe with nine subspecies.
Carl Linnaeus originally classified living giraffes as one species in 1758. He gave it the binomial name Cervus camelopardalis. Mathurin Jacques Brisson coined the generic name Giraffa in 1762. During the 1900s, various taxonomies with two or three species were proposed. A 2007 study on the genetics of giraffes using mitochondrial DNA suggested at least six lineages could be recognised as species. A 2011 study using detailed analyses of the morphology of giraffes, and application of the phylogenetic species concept, described eight species of living giraffes. A 2016 study also concluded that living giraffes consist of multiple species. The researchers suggested the existence of four species, which have not exchanged genetic information between each other for 1 to 2 million years.
A 2020 study showed that depending on the method chosen, different taxonomic hypotheses recognizing from two to six species can be considered for the genus Giraffa. That study also found that multi-species coalescent methods can lead to taxonomic over-splitting, as those methods delimit geographic structures rather than species. The three-species hypothesis, which recognises G. camelopardalis, G. giraffa, and G. tippelskirchi, is highly supported by phylogenetic analyses and also corroborated by most population genetic and multi-species coalescent analyses. A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the existence of four distinct species and seven subspecies.
The cladogram below shows the phylogenetic relationship between the four proposed species and seven subspecies based on the genome analysis. Note the eight lineages correspond to eight of the traditional subspecies in the one species hypothesis. The Rothschild giraffe is subsumed into G. camelopardalis camelopardalis.
The following table compares the different hypotheses for giraffe species. The description column shows the traditional nine subspecies in the one species hypothesis.
The first extinct species to be described was Giraffa sivalensis Falconer and Cautley 1843, a reevaluation of a vertebra that was initially described as a fossil of the living giraffe. While taxonomic opinion may be lacking on some names, the extinct species that have been published include:
Fully grown giraffes stand 4.3–5.7 m (14–19 ft) tall, with males taller than females. The average weight is 1,192 kg (2,628 lb) for an adult male and 828 kg (1,825 lb) for an adult female. Despite its long neck and legs, its body is relatively short. The skin is mostly gray, or tan, and can reach a thickness of 20 mm (0.79 in). The 80–100 cm (31–39 in) long tail ends in a long, dark tuft of hair and is used as a defense against insects.
The coat has dark blotches or patches, which can be orange, chestnut, brown, or nearly black, surrounded by light hair, usually white or cream coloured. Male giraffes become darker as they grow old. The coat pattern has been claimed to serve as camouflage in the light and shade patterns of savannah woodlands. When standing among trees and bushes, they are hard to see at even a few metres distance. However, adult giraffes move about to gain the best view of an approaching predator, relying on their size and ability to defend themselves rather than on camouflage, which may be more important for calves. Each giraffe has a unique coat pattern. Calves inherit some coat pattern traits from their mothers, and variation in some spot traits is correlated with calf survival. The skin under the blotches may regulate the animal's body temperature, being sites for complex blood vessel systems and large sweat glands.
The fur may give the animal chemical defense, as its parasite repellents give it a characteristic scent. At least 11 main aromatic chemicals are in the fur, although indole and 3-methylindole are responsible for most of the smell. Because males have a stronger odour than females, it may also have a sexual function.
Both sexes have prominent horn-like structures called ossicones, which can reach 13.5 cm (5.3 in). They are formed from ossified cartilage, covered in skin and fused to the skull at the parietal bones. Being vascularised, the ossicones may have a role in thermoregulation, and are used in combat between males. Appearance is a reliable guide to the sex or age of a giraffe: the ossicones of females and young are thin and display tufts of hair on top, whereas those of adult males tend to be bald and knobbed on top. A lump, which is more prominent in males, emerges in the middle of the skull. Males develop calcium deposits that form bumps on their skulls as they age. Multiple sinuses lighten a giraffe's skull. However, as males age, their skulls become heavier and more club-like, helping them become more dominant in combat. The occipital condyles at the bottom of the skull allow the animal to tip its head over 90 degrees and grab food on the branches directly above them with the tongue.
With eyes located on the sides of the head, the giraffe has a broad visual field from its great height. Compared to other ungulates, giraffe vision is more binocular and the eyes are larger with a greater retinal surface area. Giraffes may see in colour and their senses of hearing and smell are sharp. The ears are movable and the nostrils are slit-shaped, possibly to withstand blowing sand. The giraffe's tongue is about 45 cm (18 in) long. It is black, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and can grasp foliage and delicately pick off leaves. The upper lip is flexible and hairy to protect against sharp prickles. The upper jaw has a hard palate instead of front teeth. The molars and premolars are wide with low crowns on the surface.
The giraffe has an extremely elongated neck, which can be up to 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) in length. Along the neck is a mane made of short, erect hairs. The neck typically rests at an angle of 50–60 degrees, though juveniles are closer to 70 degrees. The long neck results from a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae, not from the addition of more vertebrae. Each cervical vertebra is over 28 cm (11 in) long. They comprise 52–54 per cent of the length of the giraffe's vertebral column, compared with the 27–33 percent typical of similar large ungulates, including the giraffe's closest living relative, the okapi. This elongation largely takes place after birth, perhaps because giraffe mothers would have a difficult time giving birth to young with the same neck proportions as adults. The giraffe's head and neck are held up by large muscles and a nuchal ligament, which are anchored by long thoracic vertebrae spines, giving them a hump.
The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints. The point of articulation between the cervical and thoracic vertebrae of giraffes is shifted to lie between the first and second thoracic vertebrae (T1 and T2), unlike in most other ruminants, where the articulation is between the seventh cervical vertebra (C7) and T1. This allows C7 to contribute directly to increased neck length and has given rise to the suggestion that T1 is actually C8, and that giraffes have added an extra cervical vertebra. However, this proposition is not generally accepted, as T1 has other morphological features, such as an articulating rib, deemed diagnostic of thoracic vertebrae, and because exceptions to the mammalian limit of seven cervical vertebrae are generally characterised by increased neurological anomalies and maladies.
There are several hypotheses regarding the evolutionary origin and maintenance of elongation in giraffe necks. Charles Darwin originally suggested the "competing browsers hypothesis", which has been challenged only recently. It suggests that competitive pressure from smaller browsers, like kudu, steenbok and impala, encouraged the elongation of the neck, as it enabled giraffes to reach food that competitors could not. This advantage is real, as giraffes can and do feed up to 4.5 m (15 ft) high, while even quite large competitors, such as kudu, can feed up to only about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high. There is also research suggesting that browsing competition is intense at lower levels, and giraffes feed more efficiently (gaining more leaf biomass with each mouthful) high in the canopy. However, scientists disagree about just how much time giraffes spend feeding at levels beyond the reach of other browsers, and a 2010 study found that adult giraffes with longer necks actually suffered higher mortality rates under drought conditions than their shorter-necked counterparts. This study suggests that maintaining a longer neck requires more nutrients, which puts longer-necked giraffes at risk during a food shortage.
Another theory, the sexual selection hypothesis, proposes the long necks evolved as a secondary sexual characteristic, giving males an advantage in "necking" contests (see below) to establish dominance and obtain access to sexually receptive females. In support of this theory, necks are longer and heavier for males than females of the same age, and males do not employ other forms of combat. However, one objection is it fails to explain why female giraffes also have long necks. It has also been proposed that the neck serves to give the animal greater vigilance.
A giraffe's front and back legs are about the same length. The radius and ulna of the front legs are articulated by the carpus, which, while structurally equivalent to the human wrist, functions as a knee. It appears that a suspensory ligament allows the lanky legs to support the animal's great weight. The hooves of large male giraffes reach 31 cm × 23 cm (12.2 in × 9.1 in) in diameter. The fetlock of the leg is low to the ground, allowing the hoof to better support the animal's weight. Giraffes lack dewclaws and interdigital glands. While the pelvis is relatively short, the ilium has stretched out crests.
A giraffe has only two gaits: walking and galloping. Walking is done by moving the legs on one side of the body, then doing the same on the other side. When galloping, the hind legs move around the front legs before the latter move forward, and the tail will curl up. The movements of the head and neck provide balance and control momentum while galloping. The giraffe can reach a sprint speed of up to 60 km/h (37 mph), and can sustain 50 km/h (31 mph) for several kilometres. Giraffes would probably not be competent swimmers as their long legs would be highly cumbersome in the water, although they might be able to float. When swimming, the thorax would be weighed down by the front legs, making it difficult for the animal to move its neck and legs in harmony or keep its head above the water's surface.
A giraffe rests by lying with its body on top of its folded legs. To lie down, the animal kneels on its front legs and then lowers the rest of its body. To get back up, it first gets on its front knees and positions its backside on top of its hindlegs. It then pulls up the backside upwards and the front legs stand straight up again. At each stage, the animal swings its head for balance. If the giraffe wants to reach down to drink, it either spreads its front legs or bends its knees. Studies in captivity found the giraffe sleeps intermittently around 4.6 hours per day, mostly at night. It usually sleeps lying down; however, standing sleeps have been recorded, particularly in older individuals. Intermittent short "deep sleep" phases while lying are characterised by the giraffe bending its neck backwards and resting its head on the hip or thigh, a position believed to indicate paradoxical sleep.
In mammals, the left recurrent laryngeal nerve is longer than the right; in the giraffe, it is over 30 cm (12 in) longer. These nerves are longer in the giraffe than in any other living animal; the left nerve is over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long. Each nerve cell in this path begins in the brainstem and passes down the neck along the vagus nerve, then branches off into the recurrent laryngeal nerve which passes back up the neck to the larynx. Thus, these nerve cells have a length of nearly 5 m (16 ft) in the largest giraffes. Despite its long neck and large skull, the brain of the giraffe is typical for an ungulate. Evaporative heat loss in the nasal passages keep the giraffe's brain cool. The shape of the skeleton gives the giraffe a small lung volume relative to its mass. Its long neck gives it a large amount of dead space, in spite of its narrow windpipe. The giraffe also has a high tidal volume so the balance of dead space and tidal volume is much the same as other mammals. The animal can still provide enough oxygen for its tissues, and it can increase its respiratory rate and oxygen diffusion when running.
The giraffe's circulatory system has several adaptations to compensate for its great height. Its 11 kg (25 lb) and 60 cm (2 ft) heart must generate approximately double the blood pressure required for a human to maintain blood flow to the brain. As such, the wall of the heart can be as thick as 7.5 cm (3.0 in). Giraffes have relatively high heart rates for their size, at 150 beats per minute. When the animal lowers its head, the blood rushes down fairly unopposed and a rete mirabile in the upper neck, with its large cross-sectional area, prevents excess blood flow to the brain. When it raises again, the blood vessels constrict and push blood into the brain so the animal does not faint. The jugular veins contain several (most commonly seven) valves to prevent blood flowing back into the head from the inferior vena cava and right atrium while the head is lowered. Conversely, the blood vessels in the lower legs are under great pressure because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them. To solve this problem, the skin of the lower legs is thick and tight, preventing too much blood from pouring into them.
Giraffes have oesophageal muscles that are strong enough to allow regurgitation of food from the stomach up the neck and into the mouth for rumination. They have four chambered stomachs, which are adapted to their specialized diet. The intestines of an adult giraffe measure more than 70 m (230 ft) in length and have a relatively small ratio of small to large intestine. The giraffe has a small, compact liver. In fetuses there may be a small gallbladder that vanishes before birth.
Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and open woodlands. They prefer areas dominated by Acacieae, Commiphora, Combretum and Terminalia tree over Brachystegia which are more densely spaced. The Angolan giraffe can be found in desert environments. Giraffes browse on the twigs of trees, preferring those of the subfamily Acacieae and the genera Commiphora and Terminalia, which are important sources of calcium and protein to sustain the giraffe's growth rate. They also feed on shrubs, grass and fruit. A giraffe eats around 34 kg (75 lb) of plant matter daily. When stressed, giraffes may chew on large branches, stripping them of bark. Giraffes are also recorded to chew old bones.
During the wet season, food is abundant and giraffes are more spread out, while during the dry season, they gather around the remaining evergreen trees and bushes. Mothers tend to feed in open areas, presumably to make it easier to detect predators, although this may reduce their feeding efficiency. As a ruminant, the giraffe first chews its food, then swallows it for processing and then visibly passes the half-digested cud up the neck and back into the mouth to chew again. The giraffe requires less food than many other herbivores because the foliage it eats has more concentrated nutrients and it has a more efficient digestive system. The animal's faeces come in the form of small pellets. When it has access to water, a giraffe will go no more than three days without drinking.
Giraffes have a great effect on the trees that they feed on, delaying the growth of young trees for some years and giving "waistlines" to too tall trees. Feeding is at its highest during the first and last hours of daytime. Between these hours, giraffes mostly stand and ruminate. Rumination is the dominant activity during the night, when it is mostly done lying down.
Giraffes usually form groups that vary in size and composition according to ecological, anthropogenic, temporal, and social factors. Traditionally, the composition of these groups had been described as open and ever-changing. For research purposes, a "group" has been defined as "a collection of individuals that are less than a kilometre apart and moving in the same general direction". More recent studies have found that giraffes have long lasting social groups or cliques based on kinship, sex or other factors, and these groups regularly associate with other groups in larger communities or sub-communities within a fission–fusion society. Proximity to humans can disrupt social arrangements. Masai giraffes in Tanzania sort themselves into different subpopulations of 60–90 adult females with overlapping ranges, each of which differ in reproductive rates and calf mortality. Dispersal is male biased, and can include spatial and/or social dispersal. Adult female subpopulations are connected by males into supercommunities of around 300 animals.
The number of giraffes in a group can range from one up to 66 individuals. Giraffe groups tend to be sex-segregated although mixed-sex groups made of adult females and young males also occur. Female groups may be matrilineally related. Generally females are more selective than males in who they associate with regarding individuals of the same sex. Particularly stable giraffe groups are those made of mothers and their young, which can last weeks or months. Young males also form groups and will engage in playfights. However, as they get older, males become more solitary but may also associate in pairs or with female groups. Giraffes are not territorial, but they have home ranges that vary according to rainfall and proximity to human settlements. Male giraffes occasionally roam far from areas that they normally frequent.
Early biologists suggested giraffes were mute and unable to create enough air flow to vibrate their vocal folds. To the contrary; they have been recorded to communicate using snorts, sneezes, coughs, snores, hisses, bursts, moans, grunts, growls and flute-like sounds. During courtship, males emit loud coughs. Females call their young by bellowing. Calves will emit bleats, mooing and mewing sounds. Snorting and hissing is associated with vigilance. During nighttime, giraffes appear to hum to each other. There is some evidence that giraffes use Helmholtz resonance to create infrasound. They also communicate with body language. Dominant males display to other males with an erect posture; holding the chin and head up while walking stiffly and displaying their side. The less dominant show submissiveness by dropping the head and ears, lowering the chin and fleeing.
Reproduction in giraffes is broadly polygamous: a few older males mate with the fertile females. Females can reproduce throughout the year and experience oestrus cycling approximately every 15 days. Female giraffes in oestrous are dispersed over space and time, so reproductive adult males adopt a strategy of roaming among female groups to seek mating opportunities, with periodic hormone-induced rutting behaviour approximately every two weeks. Males prefer young adult females over juveniles and older adults.
Male giraffes assess female fertility by tasting the female's urine to detect oestrus, in a multi-step process known as the flehmen response. Once an oestrous female is detected, the male will attempt to court her. When courting, dominant males will keep subordinate ones at bay. A courting male may lick a female's tail, lay his head and neck on her body or nudge her with his ossicones. During copulation, the male stands on his hind legs with his head held up and his front legs resting on the female's sides.
Giraffe gestation lasts 400–460 days, after which a single calf is normally born, although twins occur on rare occasions. The mother gives birth standing up. The calf emerges head and front legs first, having broken through the fetal membranes, and falls to the ground, severing the umbilical cord. A newborn giraffe is 1.7–2 m (5 ft 7 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall. Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old. However, for the first one to three weeks, it spends most of its time hiding, its coat pattern providing camouflage. The ossicones, which have lain flat in the womb, raise up in a few days.
Mothers with calves will gather in nursery herds, moving or browsing together. Mothers in such a group may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a "calving pool". Calves are at risk of predation, and a mother giraffe will stand over them and kick at an approaching predator. Females watching calving pools will only alert their own young if they detect a disturbance, although the others will take notice and follow. Allo-sucking, where a calf will suckle a female other than its mother, has been recorded in both wild and captive giraffes. Calves first ruminate at four to six months and stop nursing at six to eight months. Young may not reach independence until they are 14 months old. Females are able to reproduce at four years of age, while spermatogenesis in males begins at three to four years of age. Males must wait until they are at least seven years old to gain the opportunity to mate.
Male giraffes use their necks as weapons in combat, a behaviour known as "necking". Necking is used to establish dominance and males that win necking bouts have greater reproductive success. This behaviour occurs at low or high intensity. In low-intensity necking, the combatants rub and lean on each other. The male that can keep itself more upright wins the bout. In high-intensity necking, the combatants will spread their front legs and swing their necks at each other, attempting to land blows with their ossicones. The contestants will try to dodge each other's blows and then prepare to counter. The power of a blow depends on the weight of the skull and the arc of the swing. A necking duel can last more than half an hour, depending on how well matched the combatants are. Although most fights do not lead to serious injury, there have been records of broken jaws, broken necks, and even deaths.
After a duel, it is common for two male giraffes to caress and court each other. Such interactions between males have been found to be more frequent than heterosexual coupling. In one study, up to 94 percent of observed mounting incidents took place between males. The proportion of same-sex activities varied from 30 to 75 percent. Only one percent of same-sex mounting incidents occurred between females.
Giraffes have high adult survival probability, and an unusually long lifespan compared to other ruminants, up to 38 years. Adult female survival is significantly correlated with the number of social associations. Because of their size, eyesight and powerful kicks, adult giraffes are mostly safe from predation, with lions being their only major threats. Calves are much more vulnerable than adults and are also preyed on by leopards, spotted hyenas and wild dogs. A quarter to a half of giraffe calves reach adulthood. Calf survival varies according to the season of birth, with calves born during the dry season having higher survival rates.
The local, seasonal presence of large herds of migratory wildebeests and zebras reduces predation pressure on giraffe calves and increases their survival probability. In turn, it has been suggested that other ungulates may benefit from associating with giraffes, as their height allows them to spot predators from further away. Zebras were found to assess predation risk by watching giraffes and spend less time looking around when giraffes are present.
Some parasites feed on giraffes. They are often hosts for ticks, especially in the area around the genitals, which have thinner skin than other areas. Tick species that commonly feed on giraffes are those of genera Hyalomma, Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus. Giraffes may rely on red-billed and yellow-billed oxpeckers to clean them of ticks and alert them to danger. Giraffes host numerous species of internal parasites and are susceptible to various diseases. They were victims of the (now eradicated) viral illness rinderpest. Giraffes can also suffer from a skin disorder, which comes in the form of wrinkles, lesions or raw fissures. As much as 79% of giraffes have symptoms of the disease in Ruaha National Park, but it did not cause mortality in Tarangire and is less prevalent in areas with fertile soils.
With its lanky build and spotted coat, the giraffe has been a source of fascination throughout human history, and its image is widespread in culture. It has represented flexibility, far-sightedness, femininity, fragility, passivity, grace, beauty and the continent of Africa itself.
Giraffes were depicted in art throughout the African continent, including that of the Kiffians, Egyptians, and Kushites. The Kiffians were responsible for a life-size rock engraving of two giraffes, dated 8,000 years ago, that has been called the "world's largest rock art petroglyph". How the giraffe got its height has been the subject of various African folktales. The Tugen people of modern Kenya used the giraffe to depict their god Mda. The Egyptians gave the giraffe its own hieroglyph; 'sr' in Old Egyptian and 'mmy' in later periods.
Giraffes have a presence in modern Western culture. Salvador Dalí depicted them with burning manes in some of his surrealist paintings. Dali considered the giraffe to be a masculine symbol, and a flaming giraffe was meant to be a "masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster". Several children's books feature the giraffe, including David A. Ufer's The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights, Giles Andreae's Giraffes Can't Dance and Roald Dahl's The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me. Giraffes have appeared in animated films, as minor characters in Disney's The Lion King and Dumbo, and in more prominent roles in The Wild and the Madagascar films. Sophie the Giraffe has been a popular teether since 1961. Another famous fictional giraffe is the Toys "R" Us mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe.
The giraffe has also been used for some scientific experiments and discoveries. Scientists have used the properties of giraffe skin as a model for astronaut and fighter pilot suits because the people in these professions are in danger of passing out if blood rushes to their legs. Computer scientists have modeled the coat patterns of several subspecies using reaction–diffusion mechanisms. The constellation of Camelopardalis, introduced in the seventeenth century, depicts a giraffe. The Tswana people of Botswana traditionally see the constellation Crux as two giraffes—Acrux and Mimosa forming a male, and Gacrux and Delta Crucis forming the female.
The Egyptians were among the earliest people to keep giraffes in captivity and shipped them around the Mediterranean. The giraffe was among the many animals collected and displayed by the Romans. The first one in Rome was brought in by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the housing of giraffes in Europe declined. During the Middle Ages, giraffes were known to Europeans through contact with the Arabs, who revered the giraffe for its peculiar appearance.
Individual captive giraffes were given celebrity status throughout history. In 1414, a giraffe from Malindi was taken to China by explorer Zheng He and placed in a Ming dynasty zoo. The animal was a source of fascination for the Chinese people, who associated it with the mythical Qilin. The Medici giraffe was a giraffe presented to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1486. It caused a great stir on its arrival in Florence. Zarafa, another famous giraffe, was brought from Egypt to Paris in the early 19th century as a gift for Charles X of France. A sensation, the giraffe was the subject of numerous memorabilia or "giraffanalia".
Giraffes have become popular attractions in modern zoos, though keeping them healthy is difficult as they require vast areas and need to eat large amounts of browse. Captive giraffes in North America and Europe appear to have a higher mortality rate than in the wild; the most common causes being poor husbandry, nutrition and management. Giraffes in zoos display stereotypical behaviours, particularly the licking of inanimate objects and pacing. Zookeepers may offer various activities to stimulate giraffes, including training them to take food from visitors. Stables for giraffes are built particularly high to accommodate their height.
Giraffes were probably common targets for hunters throughout Africa. Different parts of their bodies were used for different purposes. Their meat was used for food. The tail hairs served as flyswatters, bracelets, necklaces, and threads. Shields, sandals, and drums were made using the skin, and the strings of musical instruments were from the tendons. In Buganda, the smoke of burning giraffe skin was traditionally used to treat nose bleeds. The Humr people of Kordofan consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is prepared from the liver and bone marrow of giraffes. Richard Rudgley hypothesised that Umm Nyolokh might contain DMT. The drink is said to cause hallucinations of giraffes, believed to be the giraffes' ghosts, by the Humr.
In 2016, giraffes were assessed as Vulnerable from a conservation perspective by the IUCN. In 1985, it was estimated there were 155,000 giraffes in the wild. This declined to over 140,000 in 1999. Estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. The Masai and reticulated subspecies are endangered, and the Rothschild subspecies is near threatened. The Nubian subspecies is critically endangered.
The primary causes for giraffe population declines are habitat loss and direct killing for bushmeat markets. Giraffes have been extirpated from much of their historic range, including Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania and Senegal. They may also have disappeared from Angola, Mali, and Nigeria, but have been introduced to Rwanda and Eswatini. As of 2010, there were more than 1,600 in captivity at Species360-registered zoos. Habitat destruction has hurt the giraffe. In the Sahel, the need for firewood and grazing room for livestock has led to deforestation. Normally, giraffes can coexist with livestock, since they avoid direct competition by feeding above them. In 2017, severe droughts in northern Kenya led to increased tensions over land and the killing of wildlife by herders, with giraffe populations being particularly hit.
Protected areas like national parks provide important habitat and anti-poaching protection to giraffe populations. Community-based conservation efforts outside national parks are also effective at protecting giraffes and their habitats. Private game reserves have contributed to the preservation of giraffe populations in eastern and southern Africa. The giraffe is a protected species in most of its range. It is the national animal of Tanzania, and is protected by law, and unauthorised killing can result in imprisonment. The UN backed Convention of Migratory Species selected giraffes for protection in 2017. In 2019, giraffes were listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which means international trade including in parts/derivatives is regulated.
Translocations are sometimes used to augment or re-establish diminished or extirpated populations, but these activities are risky and difficult to undertake using the best practices of extensive pre- and post-translocation studies and ensuring a viable founding population. Aerial survey is the most common method of monitoring giraffe population trends in the vast roadless tracts of African landscapes, but aerial methods are known to undercount giraffes. Ground-based survey methods are more accurate and can be used in conjunction with aerial surveys to make accurate estimates of population sizes and trends. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through \"necking\", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The name \"giraffe\" has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zarāfah (زرافة), ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا (zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا (zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا (pā, “leg”). In early Modern English the spellings jarraf and ziraph were used, probably directly from the Arabic, and in Middle English jarraf and ziraph, gerfauntz. The Italian form giraffa arose in the 1590s. The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "\"Camelopard\" /kəˈmɛləˌpɑːrd/ is an archaic English name for the giraffe; it derives from the Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), from κάμηλος (kámēlos), \"camel\", and πάρδαλις (párdalis), \"leopard\", referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouration.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The giraffe is one of only two living genera of the family Giraffidae in the order Artiodactyla, the other being the okapi. They are ruminants of the clade Pecora, along with Antilocapridae (pronghorns), Cervidae (deer), Bovidae (cattle, antelope, goats and sheep) and Moschidae (musk deer). A 2019 genome study (cladogram below) finds that Giraffidae are a sister taxon to Antilocapridae, with an estimated split of over 20 million years ago.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The family Giraffidae was once much more extensive, with over 10 fossil genera described. The elongation of the neck appears to have started early in the giraffe lineage. Comparisons between giraffes and their ancient relatives suggest vertebrae close to the skull lengthened earlier, followed by lengthening of vertebrae further down. One early giraffid ancestor was Canthumeryx, which has been dated variously to have lived 25 to 20 million years ago, 17–15 mya or 18–14.3 mya and whose deposits have been found in Libya. This animal resembled an antelope and had a medium-sized, lightly built body. Giraffokeryx appeared 15–12 mya on the Indian subcontinent and resembled an okapi or a small giraffe, and had a longer neck and similar ossicones. Giraffokeryx may have shared a clade with more massively built giraffids like Sivatherium and Bramatherium.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Giraffids like Palaeotragus, Shansitherium and Samotherium appeared 14 mya and lived throughout Africa and Eurasia. These animals had broader skulls with reduced frontal cavities. Paleotragus resembled the okapi and may have been its ancestor. Others find that the okapi lineage diverged earlier, before Giraffokeryx. Samotherium was a particularly important transitional fossil in the giraffe lineage, as the length and structure of its cervical vertebrae were between those of a modern giraffe and an okapi, and its neck posture was likely similar to the former's. Bohlinia, which first appeared in southeastern Europe and lived 9–7 mya, was likely a direct ancestor of the giraffe. Bohlinia closely resembled modern giraffes, having a long neck and legs and similar ossicones and dentition.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Bohlinia colonised China and northern India and produced the Giraffa, which, around 7 million years ago, reached Africa. Climate changes led to the extinction of the Asian giraffes, while the African giraffes survived and radiated into new species. Living giraffes appear to have arisen around 1 million years ago in eastern Africa during the Pleistocene. Some biologists suggest the modern giraffes descended from G. jumae; others find G. gracilis a more likely candidate. G. jumae was larger and more robust, while G. gracilis was smaller and more slender.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The changes from extensive forests to more open habitats, which began 8 mya, are believed to be the main driver for the evolution of giraffes. During this time, tropical plants disappeared and were replaced by arid C4 plants, and a dry savannah emerged across eastern and northern Africa and western India. Some researchers have hypothesised that this new habitat, coupled with a different diet, including acacia species, may have exposed giraffe ancestors to toxins that caused higher mutation rates and a higher rate of evolution. The coat patterns of modern giraffes may also have coincided with these habitat changes. Asian giraffes are hypothesised to have had more okapi-like colourations.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The giraffe genome is around 2.9 billion base pairs in length, compared to the 3.3 billion base pairs of the okapi. Of the proteins in giraffe and okapi genes, 19.4% are identical. The divergence of giraffe and okapi lineages dates to around 11.5 mya. A small group of regulatory genes in the giraffe appear to be responsible for the animal's height and associated circulatory adaptations.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently recognises only one species of giraffe with nine subspecies.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Carl Linnaeus originally classified living giraffes as one species in 1758. He gave it the binomial name Cervus camelopardalis. Mathurin Jacques Brisson coined the generic name Giraffa in 1762. During the 1900s, various taxonomies with two or three species were proposed. A 2007 study on the genetics of giraffes using mitochondrial DNA suggested at least six lineages could be recognised as species. A 2011 study using detailed analyses of the morphology of giraffes, and application of the phylogenetic species concept, described eight species of living giraffes. A 2016 study also concluded that living giraffes consist of multiple species. The researchers suggested the existence of four species, which have not exchanged genetic information between each other for 1 to 2 million years.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A 2020 study showed that depending on the method chosen, different taxonomic hypotheses recognizing from two to six species can be considered for the genus Giraffa. That study also found that multi-species coalescent methods can lead to taxonomic over-splitting, as those methods delimit geographic structures rather than species. The three-species hypothesis, which recognises G. camelopardalis, G. giraffa, and G. tippelskirchi, is highly supported by phylogenetic analyses and also corroborated by most population genetic and multi-species coalescent analyses. A 2021 whole genome sequencing study suggests the existence of four distinct species and seven subspecies.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The cladogram below shows the phylogenetic relationship between the four proposed species and seven subspecies based on the genome analysis. Note the eight lineages correspond to eight of the traditional subspecies in the one species hypothesis. The Rothschild giraffe is subsumed into G. camelopardalis camelopardalis.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The following table compares the different hypotheses for giraffe species. The description column shows the traditional nine subspecies in the one species hypothesis.",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The first extinct species to be described was Giraffa sivalensis Falconer and Cautley 1843, a reevaluation of a vertebra that was initially described as a fossil of the living giraffe. While taxonomic opinion may be lacking on some names, the extinct species that have been published include:",
"title": "Taxonomy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Fully grown giraffes stand 4.3–5.7 m (14–19 ft) tall, with males taller than females. The average weight is 1,192 kg (2,628 lb) for an adult male and 828 kg (1,825 lb) for an adult female. Despite its long neck and legs, its body is relatively short. The skin is mostly gray, or tan, and can reach a thickness of 20 mm (0.79 in). The 80–100 cm (31–39 in) long tail ends in a long, dark tuft of hair and is used as a defense against insects.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The coat has dark blotches or patches, which can be orange, chestnut, brown, or nearly black, surrounded by light hair, usually white or cream coloured. Male giraffes become darker as they grow old. The coat pattern has been claimed to serve as camouflage in the light and shade patterns of savannah woodlands. When standing among trees and bushes, they are hard to see at even a few metres distance. However, adult giraffes move about to gain the best view of an approaching predator, relying on their size and ability to defend themselves rather than on camouflage, which may be more important for calves. Each giraffe has a unique coat pattern. Calves inherit some coat pattern traits from their mothers, and variation in some spot traits is correlated with calf survival. The skin under the blotches may regulate the animal's body temperature, being sites for complex blood vessel systems and large sweat glands.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The fur may give the animal chemical defense, as its parasite repellents give it a characteristic scent. At least 11 main aromatic chemicals are in the fur, although indole and 3-methylindole are responsible for most of the smell. Because males have a stronger odour than females, it may also have a sexual function.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Both sexes have prominent horn-like structures called ossicones, which can reach 13.5 cm (5.3 in). They are formed from ossified cartilage, covered in skin and fused to the skull at the parietal bones. Being vascularised, the ossicones may have a role in thermoregulation, and are used in combat between males. Appearance is a reliable guide to the sex or age of a giraffe: the ossicones of females and young are thin and display tufts of hair on top, whereas those of adult males tend to be bald and knobbed on top. A lump, which is more prominent in males, emerges in the middle of the skull. Males develop calcium deposits that form bumps on their skulls as they age. Multiple sinuses lighten a giraffe's skull. However, as males age, their skulls become heavier and more club-like, helping them become more dominant in combat. The occipital condyles at the bottom of the skull allow the animal to tip its head over 90 degrees and grab food on the branches directly above them with the tongue.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "With eyes located on the sides of the head, the giraffe has a broad visual field from its great height. Compared to other ungulates, giraffe vision is more binocular and the eyes are larger with a greater retinal surface area. Giraffes may see in colour and their senses of hearing and smell are sharp. The ears are movable and the nostrils are slit-shaped, possibly to withstand blowing sand. The giraffe's tongue is about 45 cm (18 in) long. It is black, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and can grasp foliage and delicately pick off leaves. The upper lip is flexible and hairy to protect against sharp prickles. The upper jaw has a hard palate instead of front teeth. The molars and premolars are wide with low crowns on the surface.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The giraffe has an extremely elongated neck, which can be up to 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) in length. Along the neck is a mane made of short, erect hairs. The neck typically rests at an angle of 50–60 degrees, though juveniles are closer to 70 degrees. The long neck results from a disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae, not from the addition of more vertebrae. Each cervical vertebra is over 28 cm (11 in) long. They comprise 52–54 per cent of the length of the giraffe's vertebral column, compared with the 27–33 percent typical of similar large ungulates, including the giraffe's closest living relative, the okapi. This elongation largely takes place after birth, perhaps because giraffe mothers would have a difficult time giving birth to young with the same neck proportions as adults. The giraffe's head and neck are held up by large muscles and a nuchal ligament, which are anchored by long thoracic vertebrae spines, giving them a hump.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The giraffe's neck vertebrae have ball and socket joints. The point of articulation between the cervical and thoracic vertebrae of giraffes is shifted to lie between the first and second thoracic vertebrae (T1 and T2), unlike in most other ruminants, where the articulation is between the seventh cervical vertebra (C7) and T1. This allows C7 to contribute directly to increased neck length and has given rise to the suggestion that T1 is actually C8, and that giraffes have added an extra cervical vertebra. However, this proposition is not generally accepted, as T1 has other morphological features, such as an articulating rib, deemed diagnostic of thoracic vertebrae, and because exceptions to the mammalian limit of seven cervical vertebrae are generally characterised by increased neurological anomalies and maladies.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "There are several hypotheses regarding the evolutionary origin and maintenance of elongation in giraffe necks. Charles Darwin originally suggested the \"competing browsers hypothesis\", which has been challenged only recently. It suggests that competitive pressure from smaller browsers, like kudu, steenbok and impala, encouraged the elongation of the neck, as it enabled giraffes to reach food that competitors could not. This advantage is real, as giraffes can and do feed up to 4.5 m (15 ft) high, while even quite large competitors, such as kudu, can feed up to only about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high. There is also research suggesting that browsing competition is intense at lower levels, and giraffes feed more efficiently (gaining more leaf biomass with each mouthful) high in the canopy. However, scientists disagree about just how much time giraffes spend feeding at levels beyond the reach of other browsers, and a 2010 study found that adult giraffes with longer necks actually suffered higher mortality rates under drought conditions than their shorter-necked counterparts. This study suggests that maintaining a longer neck requires more nutrients, which puts longer-necked giraffes at risk during a food shortage.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Another theory, the sexual selection hypothesis, proposes the long necks evolved as a secondary sexual characteristic, giving males an advantage in \"necking\" contests (see below) to establish dominance and obtain access to sexually receptive females. In support of this theory, necks are longer and heavier for males than females of the same age, and males do not employ other forms of combat. However, one objection is it fails to explain why female giraffes also have long necks. It has also been proposed that the neck serves to give the animal greater vigilance.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "A giraffe's front and back legs are about the same length. The radius and ulna of the front legs are articulated by the carpus, which, while structurally equivalent to the human wrist, functions as a knee. It appears that a suspensory ligament allows the lanky legs to support the animal's great weight. The hooves of large male giraffes reach 31 cm × 23 cm (12.2 in × 9.1 in) in diameter. The fetlock of the leg is low to the ground, allowing the hoof to better support the animal's weight. Giraffes lack dewclaws and interdigital glands. While the pelvis is relatively short, the ilium has stretched out crests.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "A giraffe has only two gaits: walking and galloping. Walking is done by moving the legs on one side of the body, then doing the same on the other side. When galloping, the hind legs move around the front legs before the latter move forward, and the tail will curl up. The movements of the head and neck provide balance and control momentum while galloping. The giraffe can reach a sprint speed of up to 60 km/h (37 mph), and can sustain 50 km/h (31 mph) for several kilometres. Giraffes would probably not be competent swimmers as their long legs would be highly cumbersome in the water, although they might be able to float. When swimming, the thorax would be weighed down by the front legs, making it difficult for the animal to move its neck and legs in harmony or keep its head above the water's surface.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "A giraffe rests by lying with its body on top of its folded legs. To lie down, the animal kneels on its front legs and then lowers the rest of its body. To get back up, it first gets on its front knees and positions its backside on top of its hindlegs. It then pulls up the backside upwards and the front legs stand straight up again. At each stage, the animal swings its head for balance. If the giraffe wants to reach down to drink, it either spreads its front legs or bends its knees. Studies in captivity found the giraffe sleeps intermittently around 4.6 hours per day, mostly at night. It usually sleeps lying down; however, standing sleeps have been recorded, particularly in older individuals. Intermittent short \"deep sleep\" phases while lying are characterised by the giraffe bending its neck backwards and resting its head on the hip or thigh, a position believed to indicate paradoxical sleep.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In mammals, the left recurrent laryngeal nerve is longer than the right; in the giraffe, it is over 30 cm (12 in) longer. These nerves are longer in the giraffe than in any other living animal; the left nerve is over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long. Each nerve cell in this path begins in the brainstem and passes down the neck along the vagus nerve, then branches off into the recurrent laryngeal nerve which passes back up the neck to the larynx. Thus, these nerve cells have a length of nearly 5 m (16 ft) in the largest giraffes. Despite its long neck and large skull, the brain of the giraffe is typical for an ungulate. Evaporative heat loss in the nasal passages keep the giraffe's brain cool. The shape of the skeleton gives the giraffe a small lung volume relative to its mass. Its long neck gives it a large amount of dead space, in spite of its narrow windpipe. The giraffe also has a high tidal volume so the balance of dead space and tidal volume is much the same as other mammals. The animal can still provide enough oxygen for its tissues, and it can increase its respiratory rate and oxygen diffusion when running.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The giraffe's circulatory system has several adaptations to compensate for its great height. Its 11 kg (25 lb) and 60 cm (2 ft) heart must generate approximately double the blood pressure required for a human to maintain blood flow to the brain. As such, the wall of the heart can be as thick as 7.5 cm (3.0 in). Giraffes have relatively high heart rates for their size, at 150 beats per minute. When the animal lowers its head, the blood rushes down fairly unopposed and a rete mirabile in the upper neck, with its large cross-sectional area, prevents excess blood flow to the brain. When it raises again, the blood vessels constrict and push blood into the brain so the animal does not faint. The jugular veins contain several (most commonly seven) valves to prevent blood flowing back into the head from the inferior vena cava and right atrium while the head is lowered. Conversely, the blood vessels in the lower legs are under great pressure because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them. To solve this problem, the skin of the lower legs is thick and tight, preventing too much blood from pouring into them.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Giraffes have oesophageal muscles that are strong enough to allow regurgitation of food from the stomach up the neck and into the mouth for rumination. They have four chambered stomachs, which are adapted to their specialized diet. The intestines of an adult giraffe measure more than 70 m (230 ft) in length and have a relatively small ratio of small to large intestine. The giraffe has a small, compact liver. In fetuses there may be a small gallbladder that vanishes before birth.",
"title": "Characteristics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and open woodlands. They prefer areas dominated by Acacieae, Commiphora, Combretum and Terminalia tree over Brachystegia which are more densely spaced. The Angolan giraffe can be found in desert environments. Giraffes browse on the twigs of trees, preferring those of the subfamily Acacieae and the genera Commiphora and Terminalia, which are important sources of calcium and protein to sustain the giraffe's growth rate. They also feed on shrubs, grass and fruit. A giraffe eats around 34 kg (75 lb) of plant matter daily. When stressed, giraffes may chew on large branches, stripping them of bark. Giraffes are also recorded to chew old bones.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "During the wet season, food is abundant and giraffes are more spread out, while during the dry season, they gather around the remaining evergreen trees and bushes. Mothers tend to feed in open areas, presumably to make it easier to detect predators, although this may reduce their feeding efficiency. As a ruminant, the giraffe first chews its food, then swallows it for processing and then visibly passes the half-digested cud up the neck and back into the mouth to chew again. The giraffe requires less food than many other herbivores because the foliage it eats has more concentrated nutrients and it has a more efficient digestive system. The animal's faeces come in the form of small pellets. When it has access to water, a giraffe will go no more than three days without drinking.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Giraffes have a great effect on the trees that they feed on, delaying the growth of young trees for some years and giving \"waistlines\" to too tall trees. Feeding is at its highest during the first and last hours of daytime. Between these hours, giraffes mostly stand and ruminate. Rumination is the dominant activity during the night, when it is mostly done lying down.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Giraffes usually form groups that vary in size and composition according to ecological, anthropogenic, temporal, and social factors. Traditionally, the composition of these groups had been described as open and ever-changing. For research purposes, a \"group\" has been defined as \"a collection of individuals that are less than a kilometre apart and moving in the same general direction\". More recent studies have found that giraffes have long lasting social groups or cliques based on kinship, sex or other factors, and these groups regularly associate with other groups in larger communities or sub-communities within a fission–fusion society. Proximity to humans can disrupt social arrangements. Masai giraffes in Tanzania sort themselves into different subpopulations of 60–90 adult females with overlapping ranges, each of which differ in reproductive rates and calf mortality. Dispersal is male biased, and can include spatial and/or social dispersal. Adult female subpopulations are connected by males into supercommunities of around 300 animals.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The number of giraffes in a group can range from one up to 66 individuals. Giraffe groups tend to be sex-segregated although mixed-sex groups made of adult females and young males also occur. Female groups may be matrilineally related. Generally females are more selective than males in who they associate with regarding individuals of the same sex. Particularly stable giraffe groups are those made of mothers and their young, which can last weeks or months. Young males also form groups and will engage in playfights. However, as they get older, males become more solitary but may also associate in pairs or with female groups. Giraffes are not territorial, but they have home ranges that vary according to rainfall and proximity to human settlements. Male giraffes occasionally roam far from areas that they normally frequent.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Early biologists suggested giraffes were mute and unable to create enough air flow to vibrate their vocal folds. To the contrary; they have been recorded to communicate using snorts, sneezes, coughs, snores, hisses, bursts, moans, grunts, growls and flute-like sounds. During courtship, males emit loud coughs. Females call their young by bellowing. Calves will emit bleats, mooing and mewing sounds. Snorting and hissing is associated with vigilance. During nighttime, giraffes appear to hum to each other. There is some evidence that giraffes use Helmholtz resonance to create infrasound. They also communicate with body language. Dominant males display to other males with an erect posture; holding the chin and head up while walking stiffly and displaying their side. The less dominant show submissiveness by dropping the head and ears, lowering the chin and fleeing.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Reproduction in giraffes is broadly polygamous: a few older males mate with the fertile females. Females can reproduce throughout the year and experience oestrus cycling approximately every 15 days. Female giraffes in oestrous are dispersed over space and time, so reproductive adult males adopt a strategy of roaming among female groups to seek mating opportunities, with periodic hormone-induced rutting behaviour approximately every two weeks. Males prefer young adult females over juveniles and older adults.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Male giraffes assess female fertility by tasting the female's urine to detect oestrus, in a multi-step process known as the flehmen response. Once an oestrous female is detected, the male will attempt to court her. When courting, dominant males will keep subordinate ones at bay. A courting male may lick a female's tail, lay his head and neck on her body or nudge her with his ossicones. During copulation, the male stands on his hind legs with his head held up and his front legs resting on the female's sides.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Giraffe gestation lasts 400–460 days, after which a single calf is normally born, although twins occur on rare occasions. The mother gives birth standing up. The calf emerges head and front legs first, having broken through the fetal membranes, and falls to the ground, severing the umbilical cord. A newborn giraffe is 1.7–2 m (5 ft 7 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall. Within a few hours of birth, the calf can run around and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old. However, for the first one to three weeks, it spends most of its time hiding, its coat pattern providing camouflage. The ossicones, which have lain flat in the womb, raise up in a few days.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Mothers with calves will gather in nursery herds, moving or browsing together. Mothers in such a group may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a \"calving pool\". Calves are at risk of predation, and a mother giraffe will stand over them and kick at an approaching predator. Females watching calving pools will only alert their own young if they detect a disturbance, although the others will take notice and follow. Allo-sucking, where a calf will suckle a female other than its mother, has been recorded in both wild and captive giraffes. Calves first ruminate at four to six months and stop nursing at six to eight months. Young may not reach independence until they are 14 months old. Females are able to reproduce at four years of age, while spermatogenesis in males begins at three to four years of age. Males must wait until they are at least seven years old to gain the opportunity to mate.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Male giraffes use their necks as weapons in combat, a behaviour known as \"necking\". Necking is used to establish dominance and males that win necking bouts have greater reproductive success. This behaviour occurs at low or high intensity. In low-intensity necking, the combatants rub and lean on each other. The male that can keep itself more upright wins the bout. In high-intensity necking, the combatants will spread their front legs and swing their necks at each other, attempting to land blows with their ossicones. The contestants will try to dodge each other's blows and then prepare to counter. The power of a blow depends on the weight of the skull and the arc of the swing. A necking duel can last more than half an hour, depending on how well matched the combatants are. Although most fights do not lead to serious injury, there have been records of broken jaws, broken necks, and even deaths.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "After a duel, it is common for two male giraffes to caress and court each other. Such interactions between males have been found to be more frequent than heterosexual coupling. In one study, up to 94 percent of observed mounting incidents took place between males. The proportion of same-sex activities varied from 30 to 75 percent. Only one percent of same-sex mounting incidents occurred between females.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Giraffes have high adult survival probability, and an unusually long lifespan compared to other ruminants, up to 38 years. Adult female survival is significantly correlated with the number of social associations. Because of their size, eyesight and powerful kicks, adult giraffes are mostly safe from predation, with lions being their only major threats. Calves are much more vulnerable than adults and are also preyed on by leopards, spotted hyenas and wild dogs. A quarter to a half of giraffe calves reach adulthood. Calf survival varies according to the season of birth, with calves born during the dry season having higher survival rates.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The local, seasonal presence of large herds of migratory wildebeests and zebras reduces predation pressure on giraffe calves and increases their survival probability. In turn, it has been suggested that other ungulates may benefit from associating with giraffes, as their height allows them to spot predators from further away. Zebras were found to assess predation risk by watching giraffes and spend less time looking around when giraffes are present.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Some parasites feed on giraffes. They are often hosts for ticks, especially in the area around the genitals, which have thinner skin than other areas. Tick species that commonly feed on giraffes are those of genera Hyalomma, Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus. Giraffes may rely on red-billed and yellow-billed oxpeckers to clean them of ticks and alert them to danger. Giraffes host numerous species of internal parasites and are susceptible to various diseases. They were victims of the (now eradicated) viral illness rinderpest. Giraffes can also suffer from a skin disorder, which comes in the form of wrinkles, lesions or raw fissures. As much as 79% of giraffes have symptoms of the disease in Ruaha National Park, but it did not cause mortality in Tarangire and is less prevalent in areas with fertile soils.",
"title": "Behaviour and ecology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "With its lanky build and spotted coat, the giraffe has been a source of fascination throughout human history, and its image is widespread in culture. It has represented flexibility, far-sightedness, femininity, fragility, passivity, grace, beauty and the continent of Africa itself.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Giraffes were depicted in art throughout the African continent, including that of the Kiffians, Egyptians, and Kushites. The Kiffians were responsible for a life-size rock engraving of two giraffes, dated 8,000 years ago, that has been called the \"world's largest rock art petroglyph\". How the giraffe got its height has been the subject of various African folktales. The Tugen people of modern Kenya used the giraffe to depict their god Mda. The Egyptians gave the giraffe its own hieroglyph; 'sr' in Old Egyptian and 'mmy' in later periods.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Giraffes have a presence in modern Western culture. Salvador Dalí depicted them with burning manes in some of his surrealist paintings. Dali considered the giraffe to be a masculine symbol, and a flaming giraffe was meant to be a \"masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster\". Several children's books feature the giraffe, including David A. Ufer's The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights, Giles Andreae's Giraffes Can't Dance and Roald Dahl's The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me. Giraffes have appeared in animated films, as minor characters in Disney's The Lion King and Dumbo, and in more prominent roles in The Wild and the Madagascar films. Sophie the Giraffe has been a popular teether since 1961. Another famous fictional giraffe is the Toys \"R\" Us mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The giraffe has also been used for some scientific experiments and discoveries. Scientists have used the properties of giraffe skin as a model for astronaut and fighter pilot suits because the people in these professions are in danger of passing out if blood rushes to their legs. Computer scientists have modeled the coat patterns of several subspecies using reaction–diffusion mechanisms. The constellation of Camelopardalis, introduced in the seventeenth century, depicts a giraffe. The Tswana people of Botswana traditionally see the constellation Crux as two giraffes—Acrux and Mimosa forming a male, and Gacrux and Delta Crucis forming the female.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The Egyptians were among the earliest people to keep giraffes in captivity and shipped them around the Mediterranean. The giraffe was among the many animals collected and displayed by the Romans. The first one in Rome was brought in by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the housing of giraffes in Europe declined. During the Middle Ages, giraffes were known to Europeans through contact with the Arabs, who revered the giraffe for its peculiar appearance.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Individual captive giraffes were given celebrity status throughout history. In 1414, a giraffe from Malindi was taken to China by explorer Zheng He and placed in a Ming dynasty zoo. The animal was a source of fascination for the Chinese people, who associated it with the mythical Qilin. The Medici giraffe was a giraffe presented to Lorenzo de' Medici in 1486. It caused a great stir on its arrival in Florence. Zarafa, another famous giraffe, was brought from Egypt to Paris in the early 19th century as a gift for Charles X of France. A sensation, the giraffe was the subject of numerous memorabilia or \"giraffanalia\".",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Giraffes have become popular attractions in modern zoos, though keeping them healthy is difficult as they require vast areas and need to eat large amounts of browse. Captive giraffes in North America and Europe appear to have a higher mortality rate than in the wild; the most common causes being poor husbandry, nutrition and management. Giraffes in zoos display stereotypical behaviours, particularly the licking of inanimate objects and pacing. Zookeepers may offer various activities to stimulate giraffes, including training them to take food from visitors. Stables for giraffes are built particularly high to accommodate their height.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Giraffes were probably common targets for hunters throughout Africa. Different parts of their bodies were used for different purposes. Their meat was used for food. The tail hairs served as flyswatters, bracelets, necklaces, and threads. Shields, sandals, and drums were made using the skin, and the strings of musical instruments were from the tendons. In Buganda, the smoke of burning giraffe skin was traditionally used to treat nose bleeds. The Humr people of Kordofan consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is prepared from the liver and bone marrow of giraffes. Richard Rudgley hypothesised that Umm Nyolokh might contain DMT. The drink is said to cause hallucinations of giraffes, believed to be the giraffes' ghosts, by the Humr.",
"title": "Human relations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In 2016, giraffes were assessed as Vulnerable from a conservation perspective by the IUCN. In 1985, it was estimated there were 155,000 giraffes in the wild. This declined to over 140,000 in 1999. Estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. The Masai and reticulated subspecies are endangered, and the Rothschild subspecies is near threatened. The Nubian subspecies is critically endangered.",
"title": "Conservation status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The primary causes for giraffe population declines are habitat loss and direct killing for bushmeat markets. Giraffes have been extirpated from much of their historic range, including Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania and Senegal. They may also have disappeared from Angola, Mali, and Nigeria, but have been introduced to Rwanda and Eswatini. As of 2010, there were more than 1,600 in captivity at Species360-registered zoos. Habitat destruction has hurt the giraffe. In the Sahel, the need for firewood and grazing room for livestock has led to deforestation. Normally, giraffes can coexist with livestock, since they avoid direct competition by feeding above them. In 2017, severe droughts in northern Kenya led to increased tensions over land and the killing of wildlife by herders, with giraffe populations being particularly hit.",
"title": "Conservation status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Protected areas like national parks provide important habitat and anti-poaching protection to giraffe populations. Community-based conservation efforts outside national parks are also effective at protecting giraffes and their habitats. Private game reserves have contributed to the preservation of giraffe populations in eastern and southern Africa. The giraffe is a protected species in most of its range. It is the national animal of Tanzania, and is protected by law, and unauthorised killing can result in imprisonment. The UN backed Convention of Migratory Species selected giraffes for protection in 2017. In 2019, giraffes were listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which means international trade including in parts/derivatives is regulated.",
"title": "Conservation status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Translocations are sometimes used to augment or re-establish diminished or extirpated populations, but these activities are risky and difficult to undertake using the best practices of extensive pre- and post-translocation studies and ensuring a viable founding population. Aerial survey is the most common method of monitoring giraffe population trends in the vast roadless tracts of African landscapes, but aerial methods are known to undercount giraffes. Ground-based survey methods are more accurate and can be used in conjunction with aerial surveys to make accurate estimates of population sizes and trends.",
"title": "Conservation status"
}
]
| The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young. The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010. | 2001-10-30T22:16:58Z | 2023-12-27T03:06:13Z | [
"Template:Speciesbox",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite iucn",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Cite thesis",
"Template:Taxonbar",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Clade",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:Smalldiv",
"Template:Artiodactyla",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Featured article",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Mya",
"Template:Clade gallery",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Pp-semi-indef",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Cvt",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Official website"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe |
12,718 | Griffith's experiment | Griffith's experiment, reported in 1928, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.
Pneumonia was a serious cause of death in the wake of the post-WWI Spanish influenza pandemic, and Griffith was studying the possibility of creating a vaccine. Griffith used two strains of pneumococcus (Diplococcus pneumoniae) bacteria which infect mice – a type III-S (smooth) which was virulent, and a type II-R (rough) strain which was nonvirulent. The III-S strain synthesized a polysaccharide capsule that protected itself from the host's immune system, resulting in the death of the host, while the II-R strain did not have that protective capsule and was defeated by the host's immune system. A German bacteriologist, Fred Neufeld, had discovered the three pneumococcal types (Types I, II, and III) and discovered the quellung reaction to identify them in vitro. Until Griffith's experiment, bacteriologists believed that the types were fixed and unchangeable, from one generation to another.
In this experiment, bacteria from the III-S strain were killed by heat, and their remains were added to II-R strain bacteria. While neither alone harmed the mice, the combination was able to kill its host. Griffith was also able to isolate both live II-R and live III-S strains of pneumococcus from the blood of these dead mice. Griffith concluded that the type II-R had been "transformed" into the lethal III-S strain by a "transforming principle" that was somehow part of the dead III-S strain bacteria.
Today, we know that the "transforming principle" Griffith observed was the DNA of the III-s strain bacteria. While the bacteria had been killed, the DNA had survived the heating process and was taken up by the II-R strain bacteria. The III-S strain DNA contains the genes that form the smooth protective polysaccharide capsule. Equipped with this gene, the former II-R strain bacteria were now protected from the host's immune system and could kill the host. The exact nature of the transforming principle (DNA) was verified in the experiments done by Avery, McLeod and McCarty and by Hershey and Chase. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Griffith's experiment, reported in 1928, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Pneumonia was a serious cause of death in the wake of the post-WWI Spanish influenza pandemic, and Griffith was studying the possibility of creating a vaccine. Griffith used two strains of pneumococcus (Diplococcus pneumoniae) bacteria which infect mice – a type III-S (smooth) which was virulent, and a type II-R (rough) strain which was nonvirulent. The III-S strain synthesized a polysaccharide capsule that protected itself from the host's immune system, resulting in the death of the host, while the II-R strain did not have that protective capsule and was defeated by the host's immune system. A German bacteriologist, Fred Neufeld, had discovered the three pneumococcal types (Types I, II, and III) and discovered the quellung reaction to identify them in vitro. Until Griffith's experiment, bacteriologists believed that the types were fixed and unchangeable, from one generation to another.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In this experiment, bacteria from the III-S strain were killed by heat, and their remains were added to II-R strain bacteria. While neither alone harmed the mice, the combination was able to kill its host. Griffith was also able to isolate both live II-R and live III-S strains of pneumococcus from the blood of these dead mice. Griffith concluded that the type II-R had been \"transformed\" into the lethal III-S strain by a \"transforming principle\" that was somehow part of the dead III-S strain bacteria.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Today, we know that the \"transforming principle\" Griffith observed was the DNA of the III-s strain bacteria. While the bacteria had been killed, the DNA had survived the heating process and was taken up by the II-R strain bacteria. The III-S strain DNA contains the genes that form the smooth protective polysaccharide capsule. Equipped with this gene, the former II-R strain bacteria were now protected from the host's immune system and could kill the host. The exact nature of the transforming principle (DNA) was verified in the experiments done by Avery, McLeod and McCarty and by Hershey and Chase.",
"title": ""
}
]
| Griffith's experiment, reported in 1928, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information. Pneumonia was a serious cause of death in the wake of the post-WWI Spanish influenza pandemic, and Griffith was studying the possibility of creating a vaccine. Griffith used two strains of pneumococcus bacteria which infect mice – a type III-S (smooth) which was virulent, and a type II-R (rough) strain which was nonvirulent. The III-S strain synthesized a polysaccharide capsule that protected itself from the host's immune system, resulting in the death of the host, while the II-R strain did not have that protective capsule and was defeated by the host's immune system. A German bacteriologist, Fred Neufeld, had discovered the three pneumococcal types and discovered the quellung reaction to identify them in vitro. Until Griffith's experiment, bacteriologists believed that the types were fixed and unchangeable, from one generation to another. In this experiment, bacteria from the III-S strain were killed by heat, and their remains were added to II-R strain bacteria. While neither alone harmed the mice, the combination was able to kill its host. Griffith was also able to isolate both live II-R and live III-S strains of pneumococcus from the blood of these dead mice. Griffith concluded that the type II-R had been "transformed" into the lethal III-S strain by a "transforming principle" that was somehow part of the dead III-S strain bacteria. Today, we know that the "transforming principle" Griffith observed was the DNA of the III-s strain bacteria. While the bacteria had been killed, the DNA had survived the heating process and was taken up by the II-R strain bacteria. The III-S strain DNA contains the genes that form the smooth protective polysaccharide capsule. Equipped with this gene, the former II-R strain bacteria were now protected from the host's immune system and could kill the host. The exact nature of the transforming principle (DNA) was verified in the experiments done by Avery, McLeod and McCarty and by Hershey and Chase. | 2001-10-11T14:15:02Z | 2023-11-19T20:46:27Z | [
"Template:History of biology",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:ISBN"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffith%27s_experiment |
12,719 | Gustave de Molinari | Gustave de Molinari (French: [də mɔlinari]; 3 March 1819 – 28 January 1912) was a Belgian political economist and French Liberal School theorist associated with French laissez-faire economists such as Frédéric Bastiat and Hippolyte Castille.
Born in Liège, Wallonia, Molinari's critique of the state sometimes resulted in his opposing causes and events which might seemingly be aligned with his overall critique of power and privilege. An example of this was the American Civil War which Molinari believed to be far more about the trade interests of Northern industrialists than about slavery, although he did not deny that abolitionism was a part of the picture. According to Ralph Raico, Molinari never relented in his last work published a year before his death in 1912, writing:
The American Civil War had not been simply a humanitarian crusade to free the slaves. The war "ruined the conquered provinces," but the Northern plutocrats pulling the strings achieved their aim: the imposition of a vicious protectionism that led ultimately "to the regime of trusts and produced the billionaires."
Molinari supported his liberal views by citing evolutionary concepts, claiming that the "economic state" (an international commercial system) would have a complete laissez-faire. He argued this was the ultimate stage of social evolution, caused by a struggle for existence between competing commercial actors. War has been the driver of early social systems, he felt, which encouraged invention as a result. After industry developed, however, wars grew detrimental rather than beneficial, replaced with economic competition. Molinari felt this would be better, since it applied to all classes in society. As the less fit were eliminated by competition, the entire society would be raised over time. He argued competition like this would never end, but continue forever. Molinari opposed both monarchy and socialism as a result of being detrimental to this process. Acknowledging that great poverty had risen in tandem with wealth, he argued it would be eliminated through moral evolution occurring alongside the economic progress, which was necessary for it.
Some anarcho-capitalists consider Molinari to be the first proponent of anarcho-capitalism. In the preface to the 1977 English translation by Murray Rothbard called The Production of Security the "first presentation anywhere in human history of what is now called anarcho-capitalism", although admitting that "Molinari did not use the terminology, and probably would have balked at the name". Austrian School economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe said that "the 1849 article 'The Production of Security' is probably the single most important contribution to the modern theory of anarcho-capitalism". In the past, Molinari influenced some of the political thoughts of individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker and the Liberty circle. The Molinari Institute directed by philosopher Roderick T. Long is named after him, whom it terms the "originator of the theory of Market Anarchism".
Quotations related to Gustave de Molinari at Wikiquote Media related to Gustave de Molinari at Wikimedia Commons | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gustave de Molinari (French: [də mɔlinari]; 3 March 1819 – 28 January 1912) was a Belgian political economist and French Liberal School theorist associated with French laissez-faire economists such as Frédéric Bastiat and Hippolyte Castille.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born in Liège, Wallonia, Molinari's critique of the state sometimes resulted in his opposing causes and events which might seemingly be aligned with his overall critique of power and privilege. An example of this was the American Civil War which Molinari believed to be far more about the trade interests of Northern industrialists than about slavery, although he did not deny that abolitionism was a part of the picture. According to Ralph Raico, Molinari never relented in his last work published a year before his death in 1912, writing:",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The American Civil War had not been simply a humanitarian crusade to free the slaves. The war \"ruined the conquered provinces,\" but the Northern plutocrats pulling the strings achieved their aim: the imposition of a vicious protectionism that led ultimately \"to the regime of trusts and produced the billionaires.\"",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Molinari supported his liberal views by citing evolutionary concepts, claiming that the \"economic state\" (an international commercial system) would have a complete laissez-faire. He argued this was the ultimate stage of social evolution, caused by a struggle for existence between competing commercial actors. War has been the driver of early social systems, he felt, which encouraged invention as a result. After industry developed, however, wars grew detrimental rather than beneficial, replaced with economic competition. Molinari felt this would be better, since it applied to all classes in society. As the less fit were eliminated by competition, the entire society would be raised over time. He argued competition like this would never end, but continue forever. Molinari opposed both monarchy and socialism as a result of being detrimental to this process. Acknowledging that great poverty had risen in tandem with wealth, he argued it would be eliminated through moral evolution occurring alongside the economic progress, which was necessary for it.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Some anarcho-capitalists consider Molinari to be the first proponent of anarcho-capitalism. In the preface to the 1977 English translation by Murray Rothbard called The Production of Security the \"first presentation anywhere in human history of what is now called anarcho-capitalism\", although admitting that \"Molinari did not use the terminology, and probably would have balked at the name\". Austrian School economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe said that \"the 1849 article 'The Production of Security' is probably the single most important contribution to the modern theory of anarcho-capitalism\". In the past, Molinari influenced some of the political thoughts of individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker and the Liberty circle. The Molinari Institute directed by philosopher Roderick T. Long is named after him, whom it terms the \"originator of the theory of Market Anarchism\".",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Quotations related to Gustave de Molinari at Wikiquote Media related to Gustave de Molinari at Wikimedia Commons",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Gustave de Molinari was a Belgian political economist and French Liberal School theorist associated with French laissez-faire economists such as Frédéric Bastiat and Hippolyte Castille. | 2001-11-08T16:47:30Z | 2023-12-08T08:22:07Z | [
"Template:Infobox economist",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Neoliberalism",
"Template:Austrian School economists",
"Template:Classical economists",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:IPA-fr",
"Template:Wikisource-author",
"Template:Wikiquote-inline",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Portal bar"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_de_Molinari |
12,720 | Guerrilla warfare | Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians including recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, raids, petty warfare or hit-and-run tactics in a rebellion, in a violent conflict, in a war or in a civil war to fight against regular military, police or rival insurgent forces.
Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in The Art of War. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies.
Guerrilla tactics focus on avoiding head-on confrontations with enemy armies, typically due to inferior arms or forces, and instead engage in limited skirmishes with the goal of exhausting adversaries and forcing them to withdraw, see also attrition warfare. Organized guerrilla groups often depend on the support of either the local population or foreign backers who sympathize with the guerrilla group's efforts.
The Spanish word guerrilla is the diminutive form of guerra ('war'); hence, 'little war'. The term became popular during the early-19th century Peninsular War, when, after the defeat of their regular armies, the Spanish and Portuguese people successfully rose against the Napoleonic troops and defeated a highly superior army using the guerrilla strategy in combination with a scorched earth policy and people's war (see also attrition warfare against Napoleon). In correct Spanish usage, a person who is a member of a guerrilla unit is a guerrillero ([geriˈʎeɾo]) if male, or a guerrillera ([geriˈʎeɾa]) if female. Arthur Wellesley adopted the term "guerrilla" into English from Spanish usage in 1809, to refer to the individual fighters (e.g., "I have recommended to set the Guerrillas to work"), and also (as in Spanish) to denote a group or band of such fighters. However, in most languages guerrilla still denotes a specific style of warfare. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state.
Prehistoric tribal warriors presumably employed guerrilla-style tactics against enemy tribes:
Primitive (and guerrilla) warfare consists of war stripped to its essentials: the murder of enemies; the theft or destruction of their sustenance, wealth, and essential resources; and the inducement in them of insecurity and terror. It conducts the basic business of war without recourse to ponderous formations or equipment, complicated maneuvers, strict chains of command, calculated strategies, timetables, or other civilized embellishments.
Evidence of conventional warfare, on the other hand, did not emerge until 3100 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu, in his The Art of War (6th century BC), became one of the earliest to propose the use of guerrilla warfare. This inspired developments in modern guerrilla warfare.
In the 3rd century BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, used elements of guerrilla warfare, such as the evasion of battle, the attempt to wear down the enemy, to attack small detachments in an ambush and devised the Fabian strategy, which the Roman Republic used to great effect against Hannibal's army, see also His Excellency : George Washington: the Fabian choice.
In the medieval Roman Empire, guerrilla warfare was frequently practiced between the eighth through tenth centuries along the eastern frontier with the Umayyad and then Abbasid caliphates. Tactics involved a heavy emphasis on reconnaissance and intelligence, shadowing the enemy, evacuating threatened population centres, and attacking when the enemy dispersed to raid. In the later tenth century this form of warfare was codified in a military manual known by its later Latin name as De velitatione bellica ('On Skirmishing') so it would not be forgotten in the future.
The Normans often made many forays into Wales, where the Welsh used the mountainous region, which the Normans were unfamiliar with, to spring surprise attacks upon them.
Since the Enlightenment, ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism, socialism, and religious fundamentalism have played an important role in shaping insurgencies and guerrilla warfare.
In the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire, pioneered the Shiva sutra or Ganimi Kava (Guerrilla Tactics) to defeat the many times larger and more powerful armies of the Mughal Empire.
Kerala Varma (Pazhassi Raja) (1753-1805) used guerrilla techniques chiefly centred in mountain forests in the Cotiote War against the British East India Company in India between 1793 and 1806. Arthur Wellesley (in India 1797–1805) had commanded forces assigned to defeat Pazhassi's techniques but failed. It was the longest war waged by East India Company during their military campaigns on the Indian subcontinent. It was one of the bloodiest and hardest wars waged by East India Company in India with Presidency army regiments that suffered losses as high as eighty percent in 10 years of warfare.
The Dominican Restoration War was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between nationalists and Spain, the latter of which had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. The war resulted in the withdrawal of Spanish forces and the establishment of a second republic in the Dominican Republic.
The Moroccan military leader Abd el-Krim (c. 1883 – 1963) and his father unified the Moroccan tribes under their control and took up arms against the Spanish and French occupiers during the Rif War in 1920. For the first time in history, tunnel warfare was used alongside modern guerrilla tactics, which caused considerable damage to both the colonial armies in Morocco.
In the early 20th century Michael Collins and Tom Barry both developed many tactical features of guerrilla warfare during the guerrilla phase of the 1919–1921 Irish War of Independence. Collins developed mainly urban guerrilla-warfare tactics in Dublin City (the Irish capital). Operations in which small Irish Republican Army (IRA) units (3 to 6 guerrillas) quickly attacked a target and then disappeared into civilian crowds frustrated the British enemy. The best example of this occurred on Bloody Sunday (21 November 1920), when Collins's assassination unit, known as "The Squad", wiped out a group of British intelligence agents ("the Cairo Gang") early in the morning (14 were killed, six were wounded) – some regular officers were also killed in the purge. That afternoon, a Royal Irish Constabulary force consisting of both regular RIC personnel and the Auxiliary Division took revenge, shooting into a crowd at a football match in Croke Park, killing fourteen civilians and injuring 60 others.
In West County Cork, Tom Barry was the commander of the IRA West Cork brigade. Fighting in west Cork was rural, and the IRA fought in much larger units than their fellows in urban areas. These units, called "flying columns", engaged British forces in large battles, usually for between 10 – 30 minutes. The Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920 and the Crossbarry Ambush in March 1921 are the most famous examples of Barry's flying columns causing large casualties to enemy forces.
The Algerian Revolution of 1954 started with a handful of Algerian guerrillas. Primitively armed, the guerrillas fought the French for over eight years. This remains a prototype for modern insurgency and counterinsurgency, terrorism, torture, and asymmetric warfare prevalent throughout the world today. In South Africa, African National Congress (ANC) members studied the Algerian War, prior to the release and apotheosis of Nelson Mandela; in their intifada against Israel, Palestinian fighters have sought to emulate it. Additionally, the tactics of Al-Qaeda closely resemble those of the Algerians.
The Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. An earlier name Mukti Fauj was also used.
The growth of guerrilla warfare was inspired in part by theoretical works on guerrilla warfare, starting with the Manual de Guerra de Guerrillas by Matías Ramón Mella written in the 19th century:
...our troops should...fight while protected by the terrain...using small, mobile guerrilla units to exhaust the enemy...denying them rest so that they only control the terrain under their feet.
More recently, Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare, Che Guevara's Guerrilla Warfare, and Lenin's Guerrilla warfare, were all written after the successful revolutions carried by them in China, Cuba and Russia, respectively. Those texts characterized the tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to Che Guevara's text, being "used by the side which is supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression".
Why does the guerrilla fighter fight? We must come to the inevitable conclusion that the guerrilla fighter is a social reformer, that he takes up arms responding to the angry protest of the people against their oppressors, and that he fights in order to change the social system that keeps all his unarmed brothers in ignominy and misery.
In the 1960s, the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara developed the foco (Spanish: foquismo) theory of revolution in his book Guerrilla Warfare, based on his experiences during the 1959 Cuban Revolution. This theory was later formalised as "focal-ism" by Régis Debray. Its central principle is that vanguardism by cadres of small, fast-moving paramilitary groups can provide a focus for popular discontent against a sitting regime, and thereby lead a general insurrection. Although the original approach was to mobilize and launch attacks from rural areas, many foco ideas were adapted into urban guerrilla warfare movements.
Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare: competition between opponents of unequal strength. It is also a type of irregular warfare: that is, it aims not simply to defeat an invading enemy, but to win popular support and political influence, to the enemy's cost. Accordingly, guerrilla strategy aims to magnify the impact of a small, mobile force on a larger, more cumbersome one. If successful, guerrillas weaken their enemy by attrition, eventually forcing them to withdraw.
Tactically, guerrillas usually avoid confrontation with large units and formations of enemy troops but seek and attack small groups of enemy personnel and resources to gradually deplete the opposing force while minimizing their own losses. The guerrilla prizes mobility, secrecy, and surprise, organizing in small units and taking advantage of terrain that is difficult for larger units to use. For example, Mao Zedong summarized basic guerrilla tactics at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War as:
"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."
At least one author credits the ancient Chinese work The Art of War with inspiring Mao's tactics. In the 20th century, other communist leaders, including North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh, often used and developed guerrilla warfare tactics, which provided a model for their use elsewhere, leading to the Cuban "foco" theory and the anti-Soviet Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.
Guerrilla groups may use improvised explosive devices and logistical support by the local population. The opposing army may come at last to suspect all civilians as potential guerrilla backers. The guerrillas might get political support from foreign backers and many guerrilla groups are adept at public persuasion through propaganda and use of force. Some guerrilla movements today also rely heavily on children as combatants, scouts, porters, spies, informants, and in other roles. Many governments and states also recruit children within their armed forces.
No commonly accepted definition of "terrorism" has attained clear consensus. The term "terrorism" is often used as political propaganda by belligerents (most often by governments in power) to denounce opponents whose status as terrorists is disputed.
While the primary concern of guerrillas is the enemy's active military units, actual terrorists largely are concerned with non-military agents and target mostly civilians.
Attribution: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians including recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, raids, petty warfare or hit-and-run tactics in a rebellion, in a violent conflict, in a war or in a civil war to fight against regular military, police or rival insurgent forces.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Although the term \"guerrilla warfare\" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in The Art of War. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Guerrilla tactics focus on avoiding head-on confrontations with enemy armies, typically due to inferior arms or forces, and instead engage in limited skirmishes with the goal of exhausting adversaries and forcing them to withdraw, see also attrition warfare. Organized guerrilla groups often depend on the support of either the local population or foreign backers who sympathize with the guerrilla group's efforts.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Spanish word guerrilla is the diminutive form of guerra ('war'); hence, 'little war'. The term became popular during the early-19th century Peninsular War, when, after the defeat of their regular armies, the Spanish and Portuguese people successfully rose against the Napoleonic troops and defeated a highly superior army using the guerrilla strategy in combination with a scorched earth policy and people's war (see also attrition warfare against Napoleon). In correct Spanish usage, a person who is a member of a guerrilla unit is a guerrillero ([geriˈʎeɾo]) if male, or a guerrillera ([geriˈʎeɾa]) if female. Arthur Wellesley adopted the term \"guerrilla\" into English from Spanish usage in 1809, to refer to the individual fighters (e.g., \"I have recommended to set the Guerrillas to work\"), and also (as in Spanish) to denote a group or band of such fighters. However, in most languages guerrilla still denotes a specific style of warfare. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Prehistoric tribal warriors presumably employed guerrilla-style tactics against enemy tribes:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Primitive (and guerrilla) warfare consists of war stripped to its essentials: the murder of enemies; the theft or destruction of their sustenance, wealth, and essential resources; and the inducement in them of insecurity and terror. It conducts the basic business of war without recourse to ponderous formations or equipment, complicated maneuvers, strict chains of command, calculated strategies, timetables, or other civilized embellishments.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Evidence of conventional warfare, on the other hand, did not emerge until 3100 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu, in his The Art of War (6th century BC), became one of the earliest to propose the use of guerrilla warfare. This inspired developments in modern guerrilla warfare.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In the 3rd century BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, used elements of guerrilla warfare, such as the evasion of battle, the attempt to wear down the enemy, to attack small detachments in an ambush and devised the Fabian strategy, which the Roman Republic used to great effect against Hannibal's army, see also His Excellency : George Washington: the Fabian choice.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In the medieval Roman Empire, guerrilla warfare was frequently practiced between the eighth through tenth centuries along the eastern frontier with the Umayyad and then Abbasid caliphates. Tactics involved a heavy emphasis on reconnaissance and intelligence, shadowing the enemy, evacuating threatened population centres, and attacking when the enemy dispersed to raid. In the later tenth century this form of warfare was codified in a military manual known by its later Latin name as De velitatione bellica ('On Skirmishing') so it would not be forgotten in the future.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The Normans often made many forays into Wales, where the Welsh used the mountainous region, which the Normans were unfamiliar with, to spring surprise attacks upon them.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Since the Enlightenment, ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism, socialism, and religious fundamentalism have played an important role in shaping insurgencies and guerrilla warfare.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire, pioneered the Shiva sutra or Ganimi Kava (Guerrilla Tactics) to defeat the many times larger and more powerful armies of the Mughal Empire.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Kerala Varma (Pazhassi Raja) (1753-1805) used guerrilla techniques chiefly centred in mountain forests in the Cotiote War against the British East India Company in India between 1793 and 1806. Arthur Wellesley (in India 1797–1805) had commanded forces assigned to defeat Pazhassi's techniques but failed. It was the longest war waged by East India Company during their military campaigns on the Indian subcontinent. It was one of the bloodiest and hardest wars waged by East India Company in India with Presidency army regiments that suffered losses as high as eighty percent in 10 years of warfare.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Dominican Restoration War was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between nationalists and Spain, the latter of which had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. The war resulted in the withdrawal of Spanish forces and the establishment of a second republic in the Dominican Republic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The Moroccan military leader Abd el-Krim (c. 1883 – 1963) and his father unified the Moroccan tribes under their control and took up arms against the Spanish and French occupiers during the Rif War in 1920. For the first time in history, tunnel warfare was used alongside modern guerrilla tactics, which caused considerable damage to both the colonial armies in Morocco.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the early 20th century Michael Collins and Tom Barry both developed many tactical features of guerrilla warfare during the guerrilla phase of the 1919–1921 Irish War of Independence. Collins developed mainly urban guerrilla-warfare tactics in Dublin City (the Irish capital). Operations in which small Irish Republican Army (IRA) units (3 to 6 guerrillas) quickly attacked a target and then disappeared into civilian crowds frustrated the British enemy. The best example of this occurred on Bloody Sunday (21 November 1920), when Collins's assassination unit, known as \"The Squad\", wiped out a group of British intelligence agents (\"the Cairo Gang\") early in the morning (14 were killed, six were wounded) – some regular officers were also killed in the purge. That afternoon, a Royal Irish Constabulary force consisting of both regular RIC personnel and the Auxiliary Division took revenge, shooting into a crowd at a football match in Croke Park, killing fourteen civilians and injuring 60 others.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In West County Cork, Tom Barry was the commander of the IRA West Cork brigade. Fighting in west Cork was rural, and the IRA fought in much larger units than their fellows in urban areas. These units, called \"flying columns\", engaged British forces in large battles, usually for between 10 – 30 minutes. The Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920 and the Crossbarry Ambush in March 1921 are the most famous examples of Barry's flying columns causing large casualties to enemy forces.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The Algerian Revolution of 1954 started with a handful of Algerian guerrillas. Primitively armed, the guerrillas fought the French for over eight years. This remains a prototype for modern insurgency and counterinsurgency, terrorism, torture, and asymmetric warfare prevalent throughout the world today. In South Africa, African National Congress (ANC) members studied the Algerian War, prior to the release and apotheosis of Nelson Mandela; in their intifada against Israel, Palestinian fighters have sought to emulate it. Additionally, the tactics of Al-Qaeda closely resemble those of the Algerians.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. An earlier name Mukti Fauj was also used.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The growth of guerrilla warfare was inspired in part by theoretical works on guerrilla warfare, starting with the Manual de Guerra de Guerrillas by Matías Ramón Mella written in the 19th century:",
"title": "Theoretical works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "...our troops should...fight while protected by the terrain...using small, mobile guerrilla units to exhaust the enemy...denying them rest so that they only control the terrain under their feet.",
"title": "Theoretical works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "More recently, Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare, Che Guevara's Guerrilla Warfare, and Lenin's Guerrilla warfare, were all written after the successful revolutions carried by them in China, Cuba and Russia, respectively. Those texts characterized the tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to Che Guevara's text, being \"used by the side which is supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression\".",
"title": "Theoretical works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Why does the guerrilla fighter fight? We must come to the inevitable conclusion that the guerrilla fighter is a social reformer, that he takes up arms responding to the angry protest of the people against their oppressors, and that he fights in order to change the social system that keeps all his unarmed brothers in ignominy and misery.",
"title": "Theoretical works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In the 1960s, the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara developed the foco (Spanish: foquismo) theory of revolution in his book Guerrilla Warfare, based on his experiences during the 1959 Cuban Revolution. This theory was later formalised as \"focal-ism\" by Régis Debray. Its central principle is that vanguardism by cadres of small, fast-moving paramilitary groups can provide a focus for popular discontent against a sitting regime, and thereby lead a general insurrection. Although the original approach was to mobilize and launch attacks from rural areas, many foco ideas were adapted into urban guerrilla warfare movements.",
"title": "Theoretical works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare: competition between opponents of unequal strength. It is also a type of irregular warfare: that is, it aims not simply to defeat an invading enemy, but to win popular support and political influence, to the enemy's cost. Accordingly, guerrilla strategy aims to magnify the impact of a small, mobile force on a larger, more cumbersome one. If successful, guerrillas weaken their enemy by attrition, eventually forcing them to withdraw.",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Tactically, guerrillas usually avoid confrontation with large units and formations of enemy troops but seek and attack small groups of enemy personnel and resources to gradually deplete the opposing force while minimizing their own losses. The guerrilla prizes mobility, secrecy, and surprise, organizing in small units and taking advantage of terrain that is difficult for larger units to use. For example, Mao Zedong summarized basic guerrilla tactics at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War as:",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "\"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.\"",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "At least one author credits the ancient Chinese work The Art of War with inspiring Mao's tactics. In the 20th century, other communist leaders, including North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh, often used and developed guerrilla warfare tactics, which provided a model for their use elsewhere, leading to the Cuban \"foco\" theory and the anti-Soviet Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Guerrilla groups may use improvised explosive devices and logistical support by the local population. The opposing army may come at last to suspect all civilians as potential guerrilla backers. The guerrillas might get political support from foreign backers and many guerrilla groups are adept at public persuasion through propaganda and use of force. Some guerrilla movements today also rely heavily on children as combatants, scouts, porters, spies, informants, and in other roles. Many governments and states also recruit children within their armed forces.",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "No commonly accepted definition of \"terrorism\" has attained clear consensus. The term \"terrorism\" is often used as political propaganda by belligerents (most often by governments in power) to denounce opponents whose status as terrorists is disputed.",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "While the primary concern of guerrillas is the enemy's active military units, actual terrorists largely are concerned with non-military agents and target mostly civilians.",
"title": "Strategy, tactics and methods"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Attribution:",
"title": "References"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians including recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, raids, petty warfare or hit-and-run tactics in a rebellion, in a violent conflict, in a war or in a civil war to fight against regular military, police or rival insurgent forces. Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in The Art of War. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies. Guerrilla tactics focus on avoiding head-on confrontations with enemy armies, typically due to inferior arms or forces, and instead engage in limited skirmishes with the goal of exhausting adversaries and forcing them to withdraw, see also attrition warfare. Organized guerrilla groups often depend on the support of either the local population or foreign backers who sympathize with the guerrilla group's efforts. | 2001-11-01T23:50:30Z | 2023-12-18T01:04:37Z | [
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:IPA-es",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Lang-es",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:YouTube",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Redirect-multi",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:EB1911",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:History of war",
"Template:Commons"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare |
12,727 | Original proof of Gödel's completeness theorem | The proof of Gödel's completeness theorem given by Kurt Gödel in his doctoral dissertation of 1929 (and a shorter version of the proof, published as an article in 1930, titled "The completeness of the axioms of the functional calculus of logic" (in German)) is not easy to read today; it uses concepts and formalisms that are no longer used and terminology that is often obscure. The version given below attempts to represent all the steps in the proof and all the important ideas faithfully, while restating the proof in the modern language of mathematical logic. This outline should not be considered a rigorous proof of the theorem.
We work with first-order predicate calculus. Our languages allow constant, function and relation symbols. Structures consist of (non-empty) domains and interpretations of the relevant symbols as constant members, functions or relations over that domain.
We assume classical logic (as opposed to intuitionistic logic for example).
We fix some axiomatization (i.e. a syntax-based, machine-manageable proof system) of the predicate calculus: logical axioms and rules of inference. Any of the several well-known equivalent axiomatizations will do. Gödel's original proof assumed the Hilbert-Ackermann proof system.
We assume without proof all the basic well-known results about our formalism that we need, such as the normal form theorem or the soundness theorem.
We axiomatize predicate calculus without equality (sometimes confusingly called without identity), i.e. there are no special axioms expressing the properties of (object) equality as a special relation symbol. After the basic form of the theorem has been proved, it will be easy to extend it to the case of predicate calculus with equality.
In the following, we state two equivalent forms of the theorem, and show their equivalence.
Later, we prove the theorem. This is done in the following steps:
This is the most basic form of the completeness theorem. We immediately restate it in a form more convenient for our purposes: When we say "all structures", it is important to specify that the structures involved are classical (Tarskian) interpretations I, where I = <U,F> (U is a non-empty (possibly infinite) set of objects, whereas F is a set of functions from expressions of the interpreted symbolism into U). [By contrast, so-called "free logics" countenance possibly empty sets for U. For more regarding free logics, see the work of Karel Lambert.]
"φ is refutable" means by definition "¬φ is provable".
If Theorem 1 holds, and φ is not satisfiable in any structure, then ¬φ is valid in all structures and therefore provable, thus φ is refutable and Theorem 2 holds. If on the other hand Theorem 2 holds and φ is valid in all structures, then ¬φ is not satisfiable in any structure and therefore refutable; then ¬¬φ is provable and then so is φ, thus Theorem 1 holds.
We approach the proof of Theorem 2 by successively restricting the class of all formulas φ for which we need to prove "φ is either refutable or satisfiable". At the beginning we need to prove this for all possible formulas φ in our language. However, suppose that for every formula φ there is some formula ψ taken from a more restricted class of formulas C, such that "ψ is either refutable or satisfiable" → "φ is either refutable or satisfiable". Then, once this claim (expressed in the previous sentence) is proved, it will suffice to prove "φ is either refutable or satisfiable" only for φ's belonging to the class C. If φ is provably equivalent to ψ (i.e., (φ≡ψ) is provable), then it is indeed the case that "ψ is either refutable or satisfiable" → "φ is either refutable or satisfiable" (the soundness theorem is needed to show this).
There are standard techniques for rewriting an arbitrary formula into one that does not use function or constant symbols, at the cost of introducing additional quantifiers; we will therefore assume that all formulas are free of such symbols. Gödel's paper uses a version of first-order predicate calculus that has no function or constant symbols to begin with.
Next we consider a generic formula φ (which no longer uses function or constant symbols) and apply the prenex form theorem to find a formula ψ in normal form such that φ≡ψ (ψ being in normal form means that all the quantifiers in ψ, if there are any, are found at the very beginning of ψ). It follows now that we need only prove Theorem 2 for formulas φ in normal form.
Next, we eliminate all free variables from φ by quantifying them existentially: if, say, x1...xn are free in φ, we form ψ = ∃ x 1 ⋯ ∃ x n φ {\displaystyle \psi =\exists x_{1}\cdots \exists x_{n}\varphi } . If ψ is satisfiable in a structure M, then certainly so is φ and if ψ is refutable, then ¬ ψ = ∀ x 1 ⋯ ∀ x n ¬ φ {\displaystyle \neg \psi =\forall x_{1}\cdots \forall x_{n}\neg \varphi } is provable, and then so is ¬φ, thus φ is refutable. We see that we can restrict φ to be a sentence, that is, a formula with no free variables.
Finally, we would like, for reasons of technical convenience, that the prefix of φ (that is, the string of quantifiers at the beginning of φ, which is in normal form) begin with a universal quantifier and end with an existential quantifier. To achieve this for a generic φ (subject to restrictions we have already proved), we take some one-place relation symbol F unused in φ, and two new variables y and z.. If φ = (P)Φ, where (P) stands for the prefix of φ and Φ for the matrix (the remaining, quantifier-free part of φ) we form ψ = ∀ y ( P ) ∃ z ( Φ ∧ [ F ( y ) ∨ ¬ F ( z ) ] ) {\displaystyle \psi =\forall y(P)\exists z(\Phi \wedge [F(y)\vee \neg F(z)])} . Since ∀ y ∃ z ( F ( y ) ∨ ¬ F ( z ) ) {\displaystyle \forall y\exists z(F(y)\vee \neg F(z))} is clearly provable, it is easy to see that φ = ψ {\displaystyle \varphi =\psi } is provable.
Our generic formula φ now is a sentence, in normal form, and its prefix starts with a universal quantifier and ends with an existential quantifier. Let us call the class of all such formulas R. We are faced with proving that every formula in R is either refutable or satisfiable. Given our formula φ, we group strings of quantifiers of one kind together in blocks:
We define the degree of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } to be the number of universal quantifier blocks, separated by existential quantifier blocks as shown above, in the prefix of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } . The following lemma, which Gödel adapted from Skolem's proof of the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem, lets us sharply reduce the complexity of the generic formula φ {\displaystyle \varphi } we need to prove the theorem for:
Lemma. Let k ≥ 1. If every formula in R of degree k is either refutable or satisfiable, then so is every formula in R of degree k + 1.
Proof. Let φ be a formula of degree k + 1; then we can write it as
where (P) is the remainder of the prefix of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } (it is thus of degree k – 1) and ψ {\displaystyle \psi } is the quantifier-free matrix of φ {\displaystyle \varphi } . x, y, u and v denote here tuples of variables rather than single variables; e.g. ( ∀ x ) {\displaystyle (\forall x)} really stands for ∀ x 1 ∀ x 2 ⋯ ∀ x n {\displaystyle \forall x_{1}\forall x_{2}\cdots \forall x_{n}} where x 1 … x n {\displaystyle x_{1}\ldots x_{n}} are some distinct variables.
Let now x' and y' be tuples of previously unused variables of the same length as x and y respectively, and let Q be a previously unused relation symbol that takes as many arguments as the sum of lengths of x and y; we consider the formula
Clearly, Φ → φ {\displaystyle \Phi \rightarrow \varphi } is provable.
Now since the string of quantifiers ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) {\displaystyle (\forall u)(\exists v)(P)} does not contain variables from x or y, the following equivalence is easily provable with the help of whatever formalism we're using:
And since these two formulas are equivalent, if we replace the first with the second inside Φ, we obtain the formula Φ' such that Φ≡Φ':
Now Φ' has the form ( S ) ρ ∧ ( S ′ ) ρ ′ {\displaystyle (S)\rho \wedge (S')\rho '} , where (S) and (S') are some quantifier strings, ρ and ρ' are quantifier-free, and, furthermore, no variable of (S) occurs in ρ' and no variable of (S') occurs in ρ. Under such conditions every formula of the form ( T ) ( ρ ∧ ρ ′ ) {\displaystyle (T)(\rho \wedge \rho ')} , where (T) is a string of quantifiers containing all quantifiers in (S) and (S') interleaved among themselves in any fashion, but maintaining the relative order inside (S) and (S'), will be equivalent to the original formula Φ'(this is yet another basic result in first-order predicate calculus that we rely on). To wit, we form Ψ as follows:
and we have Φ ′ ≡ Ψ {\displaystyle \Phi '\equiv \Psi } .
Now Ψ {\displaystyle \Psi } is a formula of degree k and therefore by assumption either refutable or satisfiable. If Ψ {\displaystyle \Psi } is satisfiable in a structure M, then, considering Ψ ≡ Φ ′ ≡ Φ ∧ Φ → φ {\displaystyle \Psi \equiv \Phi '\equiv \Phi \wedge \Phi \rightarrow \varphi } , we see that φ {\displaystyle \varphi } is satisfiable as well. If Ψ {\displaystyle \Psi } is refutable, then so is Φ {\displaystyle \Phi } , which is equivalent to it; thus ¬ Φ {\displaystyle \neg \Phi } is provable. Now we can replace all occurrences of Q inside the provable formula ¬ Φ {\displaystyle \neg \Phi } by some other formula dependent on the same variables, and we will still get a provable formula. (This is yet another basic result of first-order predicate calculus. Depending on the particular formalism adopted for the calculus, it may be seen as a simple application of a "functional substitution" rule of inference, as in Gödel's paper, or it may be proved by considering the formal proof of ¬ Φ {\displaystyle \neg \Phi } , replacing in it all occurrences of Q by some other formula with the same free variables, and noting that all logical axioms in the formal proof remain logical axioms after the substitution, and all rules of inference still apply in the same way.)
In this particular case, we replace Q(x',y') in ¬ Φ {\displaystyle \neg \Phi } with the formula ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ ( x , y ∣ x ′ , y ′ ) {\displaystyle (\forall u)(\exists v)(P)\psi (x,y\mid x',y')} . Here (x,y | x',y') means that instead of ψ we are writing a different formula, in which x and y are replaced with x' and y'. Q(x,y) is simply replaced by ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ {\displaystyle (\forall u)(\exists v)(P)\psi } .
¬ Φ {\displaystyle \neg \Phi } then becomes
and this formula is provable; since the part under negation and after the ∧ {\displaystyle \wedge } sign is obviously provable, and the part under negation and before the ∧ {\displaystyle \wedge } sign is obviously φ, just with x and y replaced by x' and y', we see that ¬ φ {\displaystyle \neg \varphi } is provable, and φ is refutable. We have proved that φ is either satisfiable or refutable, and this concludes the proof of the Lemma.
Notice that we could not have used ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ ( x , y ∣ x ′ , y ′ ) {\displaystyle (\forall u)(\exists v)(P)\psi (x,y\mid x',y')} instead of Q(x',y') from the beginning, because Ψ {\displaystyle \Psi } would not have been a well-formed formula in that case. This is why we cannot naively use the argument appearing at the comment that precedes the proof.
As shown by the Lemma above, we only need to prove our theorem for formulas φ in R of degree 1. φ cannot be of degree 0, since formulas in R have no free variables and don't use constant symbols. So the formula φ has the general form:
Now we define an ordering of the k-tuples of natural numbers as follows: ( x 1 … x k ) < ( y 1 … y k ) {\displaystyle (x_{1}\ldots x_{k})<(y_{1}\ldots y_{k})} should hold if either Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) < Σ k ( y 1 … y k ) {\displaystyle \Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\ldots x_{k})<\Sigma _{k}(y_{1}\ldots y_{k})} , or Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) = Σ k ( y 1 … y k ) {\displaystyle \Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\ldots x_{k})=\Sigma _{k}(y_{1}\ldots y_{k})} , and ( x 1 … x k ) {\displaystyle (x_{1}\ldots x_{k})} precedes ( y 1 . . . y k ) {\displaystyle (y_{1}...y_{k})} in lexicographic order. [Here Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) {\displaystyle \Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\ldots x_{k})} denotes the sum of the terms of the tuple.] Denote the nth tuple in this order by ( a 1 n … a k n ) {\displaystyle (a_{1}^{n}\ldots a_{k}^{n})} .
Set the formula B n {\displaystyle B_{n}} as φ ( z a 1 n … z a k n , z ( n − 1 ) m + 2 , z ( n − 1 ) m + 3 … z n m + 1 ) {\displaystyle \varphi (z_{a_{1}^{n}}\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}},z_{(n-1)m+2},z_{(n-1)m+3}\ldots z_{nm+1})} . Then put D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} as
Lemma: For every n, φ → D n {\displaystyle \varphi \rightarrow D_{n}} .
Proof: By induction on n; we have D n ⇐ D n − 1 ∧ ( ∀ z 1 … z ( n − 1 ) m + 1 ) ( ∃ z ( n − 1 ) m + 2 … z n m + 1 ) B n ⇐ D n − 1 ∧ ( ∀ z a 1 n … z a k n ) ( ∃ y 1 … y m ) φ ( z a 1 n … z a k n , y 1 … y m ) {\displaystyle D_{n}\Leftarrow D_{n-1}\wedge (\forall z_{1}\ldots z_{(n-1)m+1})(\exists z_{(n-1)m+2}\ldots z_{nm+1})B_{n}\Leftarrow D_{n-1}\wedge (\forall z_{a_{1}^{n}}\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}})(\exists y_{1}\ldots y_{m})\varphi (z_{a_{1}^{n}}\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}},y_{1}\ldots y_{m})} , where the latter implication holds by variable substitution, since the ordering of the tuples is such that ( ∀ k ) ( a 1 n … a k n ) < ( n − 1 ) m + 2 {\displaystyle (\forall k)(a_{1}^{n}\ldots a_{k}^{n})<(n-1)m+2} . But the last formula is equivalent to D n − 1 ∧ {\displaystyle D_{n-1}\wedge } φ.
For the base case, D 1 ≡ ( ∃ z 1 … z m + 1 ) φ ( z a 1 1 … z a k 1 , z 2 , z 3 … z m + 1 ) ≡ ( ∃ z 1 … z m + 1 ) φ ( z 1 … z 1 , z 2 , z 3 … z m + 1 ) {\displaystyle D_{1}\equiv (\exists z_{1}\ldots z_{m+1})\varphi (z_{a_{1}^{1}}\ldots z_{a_{k}^{1}},z_{2},z_{3}\ldots z_{m+1})\equiv (\exists z_{1}\ldots z_{m+1})\varphi (z_{1}\ldots z_{1},z_{2},z_{3}\ldots z_{m+1})} is obviously a corollary of φ as well. So the Lemma is proven.
Now if D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} is refutable for some n, it follows that φ is refutable. On the other hand, suppose that D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} is not refutable for any n. Then for each n there is some way of assigning truth values to the distinct subpropositions E h {\displaystyle E_{h}} (ordered by their first appearance in D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} ; "distinct" here means either distinct predicates, or distinct bound variables) in B k {\displaystyle B_{k}} , such that D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} will be true when each proposition is evaluated in this fashion. This follows from the completeness of the underlying propositional logic.
We will now show that there is such an assignment of truth values to E h {\displaystyle E_{h}} , so that all D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} will be true: The E h {\displaystyle E_{h}} appear in the same order in every D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} ; we will inductively define a general assignment to them by a sort of "majority vote": Since there are infinitely many assignments (one for each D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} ) affecting E 1 {\displaystyle E_{1}} , either infinitely many make E 1 {\displaystyle E_{1}} true, or infinitely many make it false and only finitely many make it true. In the former case, we choose E 1 {\displaystyle E_{1}} to be true in general; in the latter we take it to be false in general. Then from the infinitely many n for which E 1 {\displaystyle E_{1}} through E h − 1 {\displaystyle E_{h-1}} are assigned the same truth value as in the general assignment, we pick a general assignment to E h {\displaystyle E_{h}} in the same fashion.
This general assignment must lead to every one of the B k {\displaystyle B_{k}} and D k {\displaystyle D_{k}} being true, since if one of the B k {\displaystyle B_{k}} were false under the general assignment, D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} would also be false for every n > k. But this contradicts the fact that for the finite collection of general E h {\displaystyle E_{h}} assignments appearing in D k {\displaystyle D_{k}} , there are infinitely many n where the assignment making D n {\displaystyle D_{n}} true matches the general assignment.
From this general assignment, which makes all of the D k {\displaystyle D_{k}} true, we construct an interpretation of the language's predicates that makes φ true. The universe of the model will be the natural numbers. Each i-ary predicate Ψ {\displaystyle \Psi } should be true of the naturals ( u 1 … u i ) {\displaystyle (u_{1}\ldots u_{i})} precisely when the proposition Ψ ( z u 1 … z u i ) {\displaystyle \Psi (z_{u_{1}}\ldots z_{u_{i}})} is either true in the general assignment, or not assigned by it (because it never appears in any of the D k {\displaystyle D_{k}} ).
In this model, each of the formulas ( ∃ y 1 … y m ) φ ( a 1 n … a k n , y 1 . . . y m ) {\displaystyle (\exists y_{1}\ldots y_{m})\varphi (a_{1}^{n}\ldots a_{k}^{n},y_{1}...y_{m})} is true by construction. But this implies that φ itself is true in the model, since the a n {\displaystyle a^{n}} range over all possible k-tuples of natural numbers. So φ is satisfiable, and we are done.
We may write each Bi as Φ(x1...xk,y1...ym) for some x-s, which we may call "first arguments" and y-s that we may call "last arguments".
Take B1 for example. Its "last arguments" are z2,z3...zm+1, and for every possible combination of k of these variables there is some j so that they appear as "first arguments" in Bj. Thus for large enough n1, Dn1 has the property that the "last arguments" of B1 appear, in every possible combinations of k of them, as "first arguments" in other Bj-s within Dn. For every Bi there is a Dni with the corresponding property.
Therefore in a model that satisfies all the Dn-s, there are objects corresponding to z1, z2... and each combination of k of these appear as "first arguments" in some Bj, meaning that for every k of these objects zp1...zpk there are zq1...zqm, which makes Φ(zp1...zpk,zq1...zqm) satisfied. By taking a submodel with only these z1, z2... objects, we have a model satisfying φ.
Gödel reduced a formula containing instances of the equality predicate to ones without it in an extended language. His method involves replacing a formula φ containing some instances of equality with the formula
Here A … Z {\displaystyle A\ldots Z} denote the predicates appearing in φ (with k … m {\displaystyle k\ldots m} their respective arities), and φ' is the formula φ with all occurrences of equality replaced with the new predicate Eq. If this new formula is refutable, the original φ was as well; the same is true of satisfiability, since we may take a quotient of satisfying model of the new formula by the equivalence relation representing Eq. This quotient is well-defined with respect to the other predicates, and therefore will satisfy the original formula φ.
Gödel also considered the case where there are a countably infinite collection of formulas. Using the same reductions as above, he was able to consider only those cases where each formula is of degree 1 and contains no uses of equality. For a countable collection of formulas φ i {\displaystyle \varphi ^{i}} of degree 1, we may define B k i {\displaystyle B_{k}^{i}} as above; then define D k {\displaystyle D_{k}} to be the closure of B 1 1 … B k 1 , … , B 1 k … B k k {\displaystyle B_{1}^{1}\ldots B_{k}^{1},\ldots ,B_{1}^{k}\ldots B_{k}^{k}} . The remainder of the proof then went through as before.
When there is an uncountably infinite collection of formulas, the Axiom of Choice (or at least some weak form of it) is needed. Using the full AC, one can well-order the formulas, and prove the uncountable case with the same argument as the countable one, except with transfinite induction. Other approaches can be used to prove that the completeness theorem in this case is equivalent to the Boolean prime ideal theorem, a weak form of AC. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The proof of Gödel's completeness theorem given by Kurt Gödel in his doctoral dissertation of 1929 (and a shorter version of the proof, published as an article in 1930, titled \"The completeness of the axioms of the functional calculus of logic\" (in German)) is not easy to read today; it uses concepts and formalisms that are no longer used and terminology that is often obscure. The version given below attempts to represent all the steps in the proof and all the important ideas faithfully, while restating the proof in the modern language of mathematical logic. This outline should not be considered a rigorous proof of the theorem.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "We work with first-order predicate calculus. Our languages allow constant, function and relation symbols. Structures consist of (non-empty) domains and interpretations of the relevant symbols as constant members, functions or relations over that domain.",
"title": "Assumptions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "We assume classical logic (as opposed to intuitionistic logic for example).",
"title": "Assumptions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "We fix some axiomatization (i.e. a syntax-based, machine-manageable proof system) of the predicate calculus: logical axioms and rules of inference. Any of the several well-known equivalent axiomatizations will do. Gödel's original proof assumed the Hilbert-Ackermann proof system.",
"title": "Assumptions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "We assume without proof all the basic well-known results about our formalism that we need, such as the normal form theorem or the soundness theorem.",
"title": "Assumptions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "We axiomatize predicate calculus without equality (sometimes confusingly called without identity), i.e. there are no special axioms expressing the properties of (object) equality as a special relation symbol. After the basic form of the theorem has been proved, it will be easy to extend it to the case of predicate calculus with equality.",
"title": "Assumptions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In the following, we state two equivalent forms of the theorem, and show their equivalence.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Later, we prove the theorem. This is done in the following steps:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "This is the most basic form of the completeness theorem. We immediately restate it in a form more convenient for our purposes: When we say \"all structures\", it is important to specify that the structures involved are classical (Tarskian) interpretations I, where I = <U,F> (U is a non-empty (possibly infinite) set of objects, whereas F is a set of functions from expressions of the interpreted symbolism into U). [By contrast, so-called \"free logics\" countenance possibly empty sets for U. For more regarding free logics, see the work of Karel Lambert.]",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "\"φ is refutable\" means by definition \"¬φ is provable\".",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "If Theorem 1 holds, and φ is not satisfiable in any structure, then ¬φ is valid in all structures and therefore provable, thus φ is refutable and Theorem 2 holds. If on the other hand Theorem 2 holds and φ is valid in all structures, then ¬φ is not satisfiable in any structure and therefore refutable; then ¬¬φ is provable and then so is φ, thus Theorem 1 holds.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "We approach the proof of Theorem 2 by successively restricting the class of all formulas φ for which we need to prove \"φ is either refutable or satisfiable\". At the beginning we need to prove this for all possible formulas φ in our language. However, suppose that for every formula φ there is some formula ψ taken from a more restricted class of formulas C, such that \"ψ is either refutable or satisfiable\" → \"φ is either refutable or satisfiable\". Then, once this claim (expressed in the previous sentence) is proved, it will suffice to prove \"φ is either refutable or satisfiable\" only for φ's belonging to the class C. If φ is provably equivalent to ψ (i.e., (φ≡ψ) is provable), then it is indeed the case that \"ψ is either refutable or satisfiable\" → \"φ is either refutable or satisfiable\" (the soundness theorem is needed to show this).",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "There are standard techniques for rewriting an arbitrary formula into one that does not use function or constant symbols, at the cost of introducing additional quantifiers; we will therefore assume that all formulas are free of such symbols. Gödel's paper uses a version of first-order predicate calculus that has no function or constant symbols to begin with.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Next we consider a generic formula φ (which no longer uses function or constant symbols) and apply the prenex form theorem to find a formula ψ in normal form such that φ≡ψ (ψ being in normal form means that all the quantifiers in ψ, if there are any, are found at the very beginning of ψ). It follows now that we need only prove Theorem 2 for formulas φ in normal form.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Next, we eliminate all free variables from φ by quantifying them existentially: if, say, x1...xn are free in φ, we form ψ = ∃ x 1 ⋯ ∃ x n φ {\\displaystyle \\psi =\\exists x_{1}\\cdots \\exists x_{n}\\varphi } . If ψ is satisfiable in a structure M, then certainly so is φ and if ψ is refutable, then ¬ ψ = ∀ x 1 ⋯ ∀ x n ¬ φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\psi =\\forall x_{1}\\cdots \\forall x_{n}\\neg \\varphi } is provable, and then so is ¬φ, thus φ is refutable. We see that we can restrict φ to be a sentence, that is, a formula with no free variables.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Finally, we would like, for reasons of technical convenience, that the prefix of φ (that is, the string of quantifiers at the beginning of φ, which is in normal form) begin with a universal quantifier and end with an existential quantifier. To achieve this for a generic φ (subject to restrictions we have already proved), we take some one-place relation symbol F unused in φ, and two new variables y and z.. If φ = (P)Φ, where (P) stands for the prefix of φ and Φ for the matrix (the remaining, quantifier-free part of φ) we form ψ = ∀ y ( P ) ∃ z ( Φ ∧ [ F ( y ) ∨ ¬ F ( z ) ] ) {\\displaystyle \\psi =\\forall y(P)\\exists z(\\Phi \\wedge [F(y)\\vee \\neg F(z)])} . Since ∀ y ∃ z ( F ( y ) ∨ ¬ F ( z ) ) {\\displaystyle \\forall y\\exists z(F(y)\\vee \\neg F(z))} is clearly provable, it is easy to see that φ = ψ {\\displaystyle \\varphi =\\psi } is provable.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Our generic formula φ now is a sentence, in normal form, and its prefix starts with a universal quantifier and ends with an existential quantifier. Let us call the class of all such formulas R. We are faced with proving that every formula in R is either refutable or satisfiable. Given our formula φ, we group strings of quantifiers of one kind together in blocks:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "We define the degree of φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } to be the number of universal quantifier blocks, separated by existential quantifier blocks as shown above, in the prefix of φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } . The following lemma, which Gödel adapted from Skolem's proof of the Löwenheim–Skolem theorem, lets us sharply reduce the complexity of the generic formula φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } we need to prove the theorem for:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Lemma. Let k ≥ 1. If every formula in R of degree k is either refutable or satisfiable, then so is every formula in R of degree k + 1.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Proof. Let φ be a formula of degree k + 1; then we can write it as",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "where (P) is the remainder of the prefix of φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } (it is thus of degree k – 1) and ψ {\\displaystyle \\psi } is the quantifier-free matrix of φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } . x, y, u and v denote here tuples of variables rather than single variables; e.g. ( ∀ x ) {\\displaystyle (\\forall x)} really stands for ∀ x 1 ∀ x 2 ⋯ ∀ x n {\\displaystyle \\forall x_{1}\\forall x_{2}\\cdots \\forall x_{n}} where x 1 … x n {\\displaystyle x_{1}\\ldots x_{n}} are some distinct variables.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Let now x' and y' be tuples of previously unused variables of the same length as x and y respectively, and let Q be a previously unused relation symbol that takes as many arguments as the sum of lengths of x and y; we consider the formula",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Clearly, Φ → φ {\\displaystyle \\Phi \\rightarrow \\varphi } is provable.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Now since the string of quantifiers ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) {\\displaystyle (\\forall u)(\\exists v)(P)} does not contain variables from x or y, the following equivalence is easily provable with the help of whatever formalism we're using:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "And since these two formulas are equivalent, if we replace the first with the second inside Φ, we obtain the formula Φ' such that Φ≡Φ':",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Now Φ' has the form ( S ) ρ ∧ ( S ′ ) ρ ′ {\\displaystyle (S)\\rho \\wedge (S')\\rho '} , where (S) and (S') are some quantifier strings, ρ and ρ' are quantifier-free, and, furthermore, no variable of (S) occurs in ρ' and no variable of (S') occurs in ρ. Under such conditions every formula of the form ( T ) ( ρ ∧ ρ ′ ) {\\displaystyle (T)(\\rho \\wedge \\rho ')} , where (T) is a string of quantifiers containing all quantifiers in (S) and (S') interleaved among themselves in any fashion, but maintaining the relative order inside (S) and (S'), will be equivalent to the original formula Φ'(this is yet another basic result in first-order predicate calculus that we rely on). To wit, we form Ψ as follows:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "and we have Φ ′ ≡ Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Phi '\\equiv \\Psi } .",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Now Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Psi } is a formula of degree k and therefore by assumption either refutable or satisfiable. If Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Psi } is satisfiable in a structure M, then, considering Ψ ≡ Φ ′ ≡ Φ ∧ Φ → φ {\\displaystyle \\Psi \\equiv \\Phi '\\equiv \\Phi \\wedge \\Phi \\rightarrow \\varphi } , we see that φ {\\displaystyle \\varphi } is satisfiable as well. If Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Psi } is refutable, then so is Φ {\\displaystyle \\Phi } , which is equivalent to it; thus ¬ Φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\Phi } is provable. Now we can replace all occurrences of Q inside the provable formula ¬ Φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\Phi } by some other formula dependent on the same variables, and we will still get a provable formula. (This is yet another basic result of first-order predicate calculus. Depending on the particular formalism adopted for the calculus, it may be seen as a simple application of a \"functional substitution\" rule of inference, as in Gödel's paper, or it may be proved by considering the formal proof of ¬ Φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\Phi } , replacing in it all occurrences of Q by some other formula with the same free variables, and noting that all logical axioms in the formal proof remain logical axioms after the substitution, and all rules of inference still apply in the same way.)",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In this particular case, we replace Q(x',y') in ¬ Φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\Phi } with the formula ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ ( x , y ∣ x ′ , y ′ ) {\\displaystyle (\\forall u)(\\exists v)(P)\\psi (x,y\\mid x',y')} . Here (x,y | x',y') means that instead of ψ we are writing a different formula, in which x and y are replaced with x' and y'. Q(x,y) is simply replaced by ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ {\\displaystyle (\\forall u)(\\exists v)(P)\\psi } .",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "¬ Φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\Phi } then becomes",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "and this formula is provable; since the part under negation and after the ∧ {\\displaystyle \\wedge } sign is obviously provable, and the part under negation and before the ∧ {\\displaystyle \\wedge } sign is obviously φ, just with x and y replaced by x' and y', we see that ¬ φ {\\displaystyle \\neg \\varphi } is provable, and φ is refutable. We have proved that φ is either satisfiable or refutable, and this concludes the proof of the Lemma.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Notice that we could not have used ( ∀ u ) ( ∃ v ) ( P ) ψ ( x , y ∣ x ′ , y ′ ) {\\displaystyle (\\forall u)(\\exists v)(P)\\psi (x,y\\mid x',y')} instead of Q(x',y') from the beginning, because Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Psi } would not have been a well-formed formula in that case. This is why we cannot naively use the argument appearing at the comment that precedes the proof.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "As shown by the Lemma above, we only need to prove our theorem for formulas φ in R of degree 1. φ cannot be of degree 0, since formulas in R have no free variables and don't use constant symbols. So the formula φ has the general form:",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Now we define an ordering of the k-tuples of natural numbers as follows: ( x 1 … x k ) < ( y 1 … y k ) {\\displaystyle (x_{1}\\ldots x_{k})<(y_{1}\\ldots y_{k})} should hold if either Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) < Σ k ( y 1 … y k ) {\\displaystyle \\Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\\ldots x_{k})<\\Sigma _{k}(y_{1}\\ldots y_{k})} , or Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) = Σ k ( y 1 … y k ) {\\displaystyle \\Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\\ldots x_{k})=\\Sigma _{k}(y_{1}\\ldots y_{k})} , and ( x 1 … x k ) {\\displaystyle (x_{1}\\ldots x_{k})} precedes ( y 1 . . . y k ) {\\displaystyle (y_{1}...y_{k})} in lexicographic order. [Here Σ k ( x 1 … x k ) {\\displaystyle \\Sigma _{k}(x_{1}\\ldots x_{k})} denotes the sum of the terms of the tuple.] Denote the nth tuple in this order by ( a 1 n … a k n ) {\\displaystyle (a_{1}^{n}\\ldots a_{k}^{n})} .",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Set the formula B n {\\displaystyle B_{n}} as φ ( z a 1 n … z a k n , z ( n − 1 ) m + 2 , z ( n − 1 ) m + 3 … z n m + 1 ) {\\displaystyle \\varphi (z_{a_{1}^{n}}\\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}},z_{(n-1)m+2},z_{(n-1)m+3}\\ldots z_{nm+1})} . Then put D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} as",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Lemma: For every n, φ → D n {\\displaystyle \\varphi \\rightarrow D_{n}} .",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Proof: By induction on n; we have D n ⇐ D n − 1 ∧ ( ∀ z 1 … z ( n − 1 ) m + 1 ) ( ∃ z ( n − 1 ) m + 2 … z n m + 1 ) B n ⇐ D n − 1 ∧ ( ∀ z a 1 n … z a k n ) ( ∃ y 1 … y m ) φ ( z a 1 n … z a k n , y 1 … y m ) {\\displaystyle D_{n}\\Leftarrow D_{n-1}\\wedge (\\forall z_{1}\\ldots z_{(n-1)m+1})(\\exists z_{(n-1)m+2}\\ldots z_{nm+1})B_{n}\\Leftarrow D_{n-1}\\wedge (\\forall z_{a_{1}^{n}}\\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}})(\\exists y_{1}\\ldots y_{m})\\varphi (z_{a_{1}^{n}}\\ldots z_{a_{k}^{n}},y_{1}\\ldots y_{m})} , where the latter implication holds by variable substitution, since the ordering of the tuples is such that ( ∀ k ) ( a 1 n … a k n ) < ( n − 1 ) m + 2 {\\displaystyle (\\forall k)(a_{1}^{n}\\ldots a_{k}^{n})<(n-1)m+2} . But the last formula is equivalent to D n − 1 ∧ {\\displaystyle D_{n-1}\\wedge } φ.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "For the base case, D 1 ≡ ( ∃ z 1 … z m + 1 ) φ ( z a 1 1 … z a k 1 , z 2 , z 3 … z m + 1 ) ≡ ( ∃ z 1 … z m + 1 ) φ ( z 1 … z 1 , z 2 , z 3 … z m + 1 ) {\\displaystyle D_{1}\\equiv (\\exists z_{1}\\ldots z_{m+1})\\varphi (z_{a_{1}^{1}}\\ldots z_{a_{k}^{1}},z_{2},z_{3}\\ldots z_{m+1})\\equiv (\\exists z_{1}\\ldots z_{m+1})\\varphi (z_{1}\\ldots z_{1},z_{2},z_{3}\\ldots z_{m+1})} is obviously a corollary of φ as well. So the Lemma is proven.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Now if D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} is refutable for some n, it follows that φ is refutable. On the other hand, suppose that D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} is not refutable for any n. Then for each n there is some way of assigning truth values to the distinct subpropositions E h {\\displaystyle E_{h}} (ordered by their first appearance in D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} ; \"distinct\" here means either distinct predicates, or distinct bound variables) in B k {\\displaystyle B_{k}} , such that D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} will be true when each proposition is evaluated in this fashion. This follows from the completeness of the underlying propositional logic.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "We will now show that there is such an assignment of truth values to E h {\\displaystyle E_{h}} , so that all D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} will be true: The E h {\\displaystyle E_{h}} appear in the same order in every D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} ; we will inductively define a general assignment to them by a sort of \"majority vote\": Since there are infinitely many assignments (one for each D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} ) affecting E 1 {\\displaystyle E_{1}} , either infinitely many make E 1 {\\displaystyle E_{1}} true, or infinitely many make it false and only finitely many make it true. In the former case, we choose E 1 {\\displaystyle E_{1}} to be true in general; in the latter we take it to be false in general. Then from the infinitely many n for which E 1 {\\displaystyle E_{1}} through E h − 1 {\\displaystyle E_{h-1}} are assigned the same truth value as in the general assignment, we pick a general assignment to E h {\\displaystyle E_{h}} in the same fashion.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "This general assignment must lead to every one of the B k {\\displaystyle B_{k}} and D k {\\displaystyle D_{k}} being true, since if one of the B k {\\displaystyle B_{k}} were false under the general assignment, D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} would also be false for every n > k. But this contradicts the fact that for the finite collection of general E h {\\displaystyle E_{h}} assignments appearing in D k {\\displaystyle D_{k}} , there are infinitely many n where the assignment making D n {\\displaystyle D_{n}} true matches the general assignment.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "From this general assignment, which makes all of the D k {\\displaystyle D_{k}} true, we construct an interpretation of the language's predicates that makes φ true. The universe of the model will be the natural numbers. Each i-ary predicate Ψ {\\displaystyle \\Psi } should be true of the naturals ( u 1 … u i ) {\\displaystyle (u_{1}\\ldots u_{i})} precisely when the proposition Ψ ( z u 1 … z u i ) {\\displaystyle \\Psi (z_{u_{1}}\\ldots z_{u_{i}})} is either true in the general assignment, or not assigned by it (because it never appears in any of the D k {\\displaystyle D_{k}} ).",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In this model, each of the formulas ( ∃ y 1 … y m ) φ ( a 1 n … a k n , y 1 . . . y m ) {\\displaystyle (\\exists y_{1}\\ldots y_{m})\\varphi (a_{1}^{n}\\ldots a_{k}^{n},y_{1}...y_{m})} is true by construction. But this implies that φ itself is true in the model, since the a n {\\displaystyle a^{n}} range over all possible k-tuples of natural numbers. So φ is satisfiable, and we are done.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "We may write each Bi as Φ(x1...xk,y1...ym) for some x-s, which we may call \"first arguments\" and y-s that we may call \"last arguments\".",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Take B1 for example. Its \"last arguments\" are z2,z3...zm+1, and for every possible combination of k of these variables there is some j so that they appear as \"first arguments\" in Bj. Thus for large enough n1, Dn1 has the property that the \"last arguments\" of B1 appear, in every possible combinations of k of them, as \"first arguments\" in other Bj-s within Dn. For every Bi there is a Dni with the corresponding property.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Therefore in a model that satisfies all the Dn-s, there are objects corresponding to z1, z2... and each combination of k of these appear as \"first arguments\" in some Bj, meaning that for every k of these objects zp1...zpk there are zq1...zqm, which makes Φ(zp1...zpk,zq1...zqm) satisfied. By taking a submodel with only these z1, z2... objects, we have a model satisfying φ.",
"title": "Statement of the theorem and its proof"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Gödel reduced a formula containing instances of the equality predicate to ones without it in an extended language. His method involves replacing a formula φ containing some instances of equality with the formula",
"title": "Extensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Here A … Z {\\displaystyle A\\ldots Z} denote the predicates appearing in φ (with k … m {\\displaystyle k\\ldots m} their respective arities), and φ' is the formula φ with all occurrences of equality replaced with the new predicate Eq. If this new formula is refutable, the original φ was as well; the same is true of satisfiability, since we may take a quotient of satisfying model of the new formula by the equivalence relation representing Eq. This quotient is well-defined with respect to the other predicates, and therefore will satisfy the original formula φ.",
"title": "Extensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Gödel also considered the case where there are a countably infinite collection of formulas. Using the same reductions as above, he was able to consider only those cases where each formula is of degree 1 and contains no uses of equality. For a countable collection of formulas φ i {\\displaystyle \\varphi ^{i}} of degree 1, we may define B k i {\\displaystyle B_{k}^{i}} as above; then define D k {\\displaystyle D_{k}} to be the closure of B 1 1 … B k 1 , … , B 1 k … B k k {\\displaystyle B_{1}^{1}\\ldots B_{k}^{1},\\ldots ,B_{1}^{k}\\ldots B_{k}^{k}} . The remainder of the proof then went through as before.",
"title": "Extensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "When there is an uncountably infinite collection of formulas, the Axiom of Choice (or at least some weak form of it) is needed. Using the full AC, one can well-order the formulas, and prove the uncountable case with the same argument as the countable one, except with transfinite induction. Other approaches can be used to prove that the completeness theorem in this case is equivalent to the Boolean prime ideal theorem, a weak form of AC.",
"title": "Extensions"
}
]
| The proof of Gödel's completeness theorem given by Kurt Gödel in his doctoral dissertation of 1929 is not easy to read today; it uses concepts and formalisms that are no longer used and terminology that is often obscure. The version given below attempts to represent all the steps in the proof and all the important ideas faithfully, while restating the proof in the modern language of mathematical logic. This outline should not be considered a rigorous proof of the theorem. | 2001-10-14T23:58:15Z | 2023-08-15T15:42:19Z | [
"Template:Math",
"Template:Cite journal"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_proof_of_G%C3%B6del%27s_completeness_theorem |
12,729 | Grits | Grits are a type of porridge made from coarsely ground dried maize or hominy, the latter being maize that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are cooked in warm salted water or milk They are often served with flavorings as a breakfast dish. Grits can be savory or sweet, with savory seasonings being more common. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta and mieliepap. The dish originated in the Southern United States but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of a dinner entrée shrimp and grits, served primarily in the South.
The word "grits" is derived from the Old English word grytt, meaning "coarse meal". In the Charleston, South Carolina area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as "hominy" until the 1980s.
The dish originated with the Native American Muscogee tribe using maize. American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple.
At that time, maize or hominy for grits was ground on a stone mill. The ground material was passed through screens, the finer sifted material used as grit meal, and the coarser as grits.
Three-quarters of the grits sold in the U.S. are bought in the South, in an area stretching from Lower Texas to Washington, D.C., that is sometimes called the "grits belt". The state of Georgia declared grits to be its official prepared food in 2002. A similar bill was introduced in South Carolina to name it the official state food, but it did not advance. Nevertheless, South Carolina still has an entire chapter of legislation dealing exclusively with corn meal and grits. State law in South Carolina requires grits and rice meal to be enriched, similar to the requirement for flour.
Grits may be either yellow or white, depending on the color of the maize used. The most common version in supermarkets is "quick" grits, which are made from non-hominy maize and have the germ and hull removed. Whole kernel grits are sometimes called "speckled".
Grits are prepared by mixing water or milk and the dry grits and stirring them over heat, if one uses cornmeal, the food is called mush. Whole grain grits require much longer to become soft than "quick grits".
Grits are eaten with a wide variety of foods, such as eggs and bacon, fried catfish, shrimp, salmon croquettes, or country ham.
Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish in the coastal communities in the South Carolina Lowcountry and Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain.
Solidified cooked grits can be sliced and fried in vegetable oil, butter, or bacon grease, or they can first be breaded in beaten egg and bread crumbs. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Grits are a type of porridge made from coarsely ground dried maize or hominy, the latter being maize that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are cooked in warm salted water or milk They are often served with flavorings as a breakfast dish. Grits can be savory or sweet, with savory seasonings being more common. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta and mieliepap. The dish originated in the Southern United States but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of a dinner entrée shrimp and grits, served primarily in the South.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The word \"grits\" is derived from the Old English word grytt, meaning \"coarse meal\". In the Charleston, South Carolina area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as \"hominy\" until the 1980s.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The dish originated with the Native American Muscogee tribe using maize. American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "At that time, maize or hominy for grits was ground on a stone mill. The ground material was passed through screens, the finer sifted material used as grit meal, and the coarser as grits.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Three-quarters of the grits sold in the U.S. are bought in the South, in an area stretching from Lower Texas to Washington, D.C., that is sometimes called the \"grits belt\". The state of Georgia declared grits to be its official prepared food in 2002. A similar bill was introduced in South Carolina to name it the official state food, but it did not advance. Nevertheless, South Carolina still has an entire chapter of legislation dealing exclusively with corn meal and grits. State law in South Carolina requires grits and rice meal to be enriched, similar to the requirement for flour.",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Grits may be either yellow or white, depending on the color of the maize used. The most common version in supermarkets is \"quick\" grits, which are made from non-hominy maize and have the germ and hull removed. Whole kernel grits are sometimes called \"speckled\".",
"title": "Origin"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Grits are prepared by mixing water or milk and the dry grits and stirring them over heat, if one uses cornmeal, the food is called mush. Whole grain grits require much longer to become soft than \"quick grits\".",
"title": "Preparation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Grits are eaten with a wide variety of foods, such as eggs and bacon, fried catfish, shrimp, salmon croquettes, or country ham.",
"title": "Dishes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish in the coastal communities in the South Carolina Lowcountry and Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain.",
"title": "Dishes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Solidified cooked grits can be sliced and fried in vegetable oil, butter, or bacon grease, or they can first be breaded in beaten egg and bread crumbs.",
"title": "Dishes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "",
"title": "References"
}
]
| Grits are a type of porridge made from coarsely ground dried maize or hominy, the latter being maize that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp removed. Grits are cooked in warm salted water or milk They are often served with flavorings as a breakfast dish. Grits can be savory or sweet, with savory seasonings being more common. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta and mieliepap. The dish originated in the Southern United States but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of a dinner entrée shrimp and grits, served primarily in the South. The word "grits" is derived from the Old English word grytt, meaning "coarse meal". In the Charleston, South Carolina area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as "hominy" until the 1980s. | 2001-10-15T20:55:12Z | 2023-12-17T18:18:50Z | [
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Infobox food",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:About",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Cookbook",
"Template:Cite web"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits |
12,730 | General Electric | General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 and incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. The company has several divisions, including aerospace, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing, and venture capital and finance.
In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE – Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) – have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide itself into three public companies. On July 18, 2022, GE unveiled the brand names of the companies it will create through its planned separation: GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare and GE Vernova. The new companies will be focused on aerospace, healthcare, and energy (renewable energy, power, and digital). The first spin-off of GE HealthCare was finalized on January 4, 2023; GE continues to hold 13.5% of shares and intends to sell the remaining over time. This will be followed by the spin-off of GE's portfolio of energy businesses which plan to become GE Vernova in 2024. Following these transactions, GE will be an aviation-focused company; GE Aerospace will be the legal successor of the original GE.
During 1889, Thomas Edison (1847–1931) had business interests in many electricity-related companies, including Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and financial arm for Edison's lighting experiments, backed by J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) and the Vanderbilt family.
In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel financed Edison's research and helped merge several of Edison's separate companies under one corporation forming Edison General Electric Company, which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company acquired Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company in the same year. The consolidation did not involve all of the companies established by Edison; notably, the Edison Illuminating Company, which would later become Consolidated Edison, was not part of the merger.
In 1880, Gerald Waldo Hart formed the American Electric Company of New Britain, Connecticut, which merged a few years later with Thomson-Houston Electric Company, led by Charles Coffin. In 1887, Hart left to become superintendent of the Edison Electric Company. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. The original plants of both companies continue to operate under the GE banner to this day.
The General Electric business was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.
In 1893, General Electric bought the business of Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New York, along with all of its patents and designs. Eickemeyer's firm had developed transformers for use in the transmission of electrical power.
In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average, where it remained a part of the index for 122 years, though not continuously.
In 1911, General Electric absorbed the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) into its lighting business. GE established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. The lighting division has since remained in the same location.
Owen D. Young, through GE, founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919, after purchasing the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. He aimed to expand international radio communications. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales. In 1926, RCA co-founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which built two radio broadcasting networks. In 1930, General Electric was charged with antitrust violations and was ordered to divest itself of RCA.
In 1927, Ernst Alexanderson of GE made the first demonstration of television broadcast reception at his General Electric Realty Plot home at 1132 Adams Road in Schenectady, New York. On January 13, 1928, he made what was said to be the first broadcast to the public in the United States on GE's W2XAD: the pictures were picked up on 1.5 square inch (9.7 square centimeter) screens in the homes of four GE executives. The sound was broadcast on GE's WGY (AM).
Experimental television station W2XAD evolved into the station WRGB which, along with WGY and WGFM (now WRVE), was owned and operated by General Electric until 1983. In 1965, the company expanded into cable with the launch of a franchise, which was awarded to a non-exclusive franchise in Schenectady through subsidiary General Electric Cablevision Corporation. On February 15, 1965, General Electric expanded its holdings in order to acquire more television stations to meet the maximum limit of the FCC, and more cable holdings through subsidiaries General Electric Broadcasting Company and General Electric Cablevision Corporation.
The company also owned television stations such as KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV) in Denver and WSIX-TV (later WNGE-TV, now WKRN) in Nashville, but like WRGB, General Electric sold off most of its broadcasting holdings, but held on to the Denver television station until in 1986, when General Electric bought out RCA and made it into an owned-and-operated station by NBC. It even stayed on until 1995 when it was transferred to a joint venture between CBS and Group W in a swap deal, alongside KUTV in Salt Lake City for longtime CBS O&O in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV.
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
Led by Sanford Alexander Moss, GE moved into the new field of aircraft turbo superchargers. This technology also led to the development of industrial gas turbine engines used for power production. GE introduced the first set of superchargers during World War I, and continued to develop them during the interwar period. Superchargers became indispensable in the years immediately prior to World War II. GE supplied 300,000 turbo superchargers for use in fighter and bomber engines. This work led the U.S. Army Air Corps to select GE to develop the nation's first jet engine during the war. This experience, in turn, made GE a natural selection to develop the Whittle W.1 jet engine that was demonstrated in the United States in 1941. GE was ranked ninth among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. Although, their early work with Whittle's designs was later handed to Allison Engine Company. GE Aviation then emerged as one of the world's largest engine manufacturers, bypassing the British company, Rolls-Royce plc.
Some consumers boycotted GE light bulbs, refrigerators and other products during the 1980s and 1990s. The purpose of the boycott was to protest against GE's role in nuclear weapons production.
In 2002, GE acquired the wind power assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings. Enron Wind was the only surviving U.S. manufacturer of large wind turbines at the time, and GE increased engineering and supplies for the Wind Division and doubled the annual sales to $1.2 billion in 2003. It acquired ScanWind in 2009.
In 2018, GE Power garnered press attention when a model 7HA gas turbine in Texas was shut down for two months due to the break of a turbine blade. This model uses similar blade technology to GE's newest and most efficient model, the 9HA. After the break, GE developed new protective coatings and heat treatment methods. Gas turbines represent a significant portion of GE Power's revenue, and also represent a significant portion of the power generation fleet of several utility companies in the United States. Chubu Electric of Japan and Électricité de France also had units that were impacted. Initially, GE did not realize the turbine blade issue of the 9FB unit would impact the new HA units.
GE was one of the eight major computer companies of the 1960s along with IBM, Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, and UNIVAC. GE had a line of general purpose and special purpose computers, including the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real-time process control computers, and the DATANET-30 and Datanet 355 message switching computers (DATANET-30 and 355 were also used as front end processors for GE mainframe computers). A Datanet 500 computer was designed, but never sold.
In 1956 Homer Oldfield had been promoted to General Manager of GE's Computer Department. He facilitated the invention and construction of the Bank of America ERMA system, the first computerized system designed to read magnetized numbers on checks. But he was fired from GE in 1958 by Ralph J. Cordiner for overstepping his bounds and successfully gaining the ERMA contract. Cordiner was strongly against GE entering the computer business because he did not see the potential in it.
In 1962, GE started developing its GECOS (later renamed GCOS) operating system, originally for batch processing, but later extended to time-sharing and transaction processing. Versions of GCOS are still in use today. From 1964 to 1969, GE and Bell Laboratories (which soon dropped out) joined with MIT to develop the Multics operating system on the GE 645 mainframe computer. The project took longer than expected and was not a major commercial success, but it demonstrated concepts such as single-level storage, dynamic linking, hierarchical file system, and ring-oriented security. Active development of Multics continued until 1985.
GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside the United States federal government, aside from being the first business in the world to own a computer. Its major appliance manufacturing plant "Appliance Park" was the first non-governmental site to host one. However, in 1970, GE sold its computer division to Honeywell, exiting the computer manufacturing industry, though it retained its timesharing operations for some years afterwards. GE was a major provider of computer time-sharing services, through General Electric Information Services (GEIS, now GXS), offering online computing services that included GEnie.
In 2000, when United Technologies Corp. planned to buy Honeywell, GE made a counter-offer that was approved by Honeywell. On July 3, 2001, the European Union issued a statement that "prohibit the proposed acquisition by General Electric Co. of Honeywell Inc.". The reasons given were it "would create or strengthen dominant positions on several markets and that the remedies proposed by GE were insufficient to resolve the competition concerns resulting from the proposed acquisition of Honeywell".
On June 27, 2014, GE partnered with collaborative design company Quirky to announce its connected LED bulb called Link. The Link bulb is designed to communicate with smartphones and tablets using a mobile app called Wink.
In December 1985, GE reacquired the RCA Corporation, primarily to gain ownership of the NBC television network (also parent of Telemundo Communications Group) for $6.28 billion; this merger surpassed the Capital Cities/ABC merger that happened earlier that year as the largest non-oil merger in world business history. The remainder of RCA was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann which absorbed RCA Records and Thomson SA, which licensed the manufacture of RCA branded electronics, traced its roots to Thomson-Houston, one of the original components of GE. Also in 1986, Kidder, Peabody & Co., a U.S.-based securities firm, was sold to GE and following heavy losses was sold to PaineWebber in 1994.
In 2002, Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GXS is a provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority stake in GXS. Also in 2002, GE Wind Energy was formed when GE bought the wind turbine manufacturing assets of Enron Wind after the Enron scandals.
In 2004, GE bought 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the parent of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. Vivendi bought 20% of NBC forming the company NBCUniversal. GE then owned 80% of NBCUniversal and Vivendi owned 20%. In 2004, GE completed the spin-off of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia.
Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India-based BPO. GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact today, for services in customer service, finance, information technology, and analytics.
In May 2007, GE acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion. Also in 2007, GE Oil & Gas acquired Vetco Gray for $1.9 billion, followed by the acquisition of Hydril Pressure & Control in 2008 for $1.1 billion.
GE Plastics was sold in 2008 to SABIC (Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation). In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of its consumer and industrial business.
On December 3, 2009, it was announced that NBCUniversal would become a joint venture between GE and cable television operator Comcast. Comcast would hold a controlling interest in the company, while GE would retain a 49% stake and would buy out shares owned by Vivendi.
Vivendi would sell its 20% stake in NBCUniversal to GE for US$5.8 billion. Vivendi would sell 7.66% of NBCUniversal to GE for US$2 billion if the GE/Comcast deal was not completed by September 2010 and then sell the remaining 12.34% stake of NBCUniversal to GE for US$3.8 billion when the deal was completed or to the public via an IPO if the deal was not completed.
On March 1, 2010, GE announced plans to sell its 20.85% stake in Turkey-based Garanti Bank. In August 2010, GE Healthcare signed a strategic partnership to bring cardiovascular Computed Tomography (CT) technology from start-up Arineta Ltd. of Israel to the hospital market. In October 2010, GE acquired gas engines manufacturer Dresser Industries in a $3 billion deal and also bought a $1.6 billion portfolio of retail credit cards from Citigroup Inc. On October 14, 2010, GE announced the acquisition of data migration & SCADA simulation specialists Opal Software. In December 2010, for the second time that year (after the Dresser acquisition), GE bought the oil sector company Wellstream, an oil pipe maker, for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).
In March 2011, GE announced that it had completed the acquisition of privately held Lineage Power Holdings from The Gores Group. In April 2011, GE announced it had completed its purchase of John Wood plc's Well Support Division for $2.8 billion.
In 2011, GE Capital sold its $2 billion Mexican assets to Santander for $162 million and exited the business in Mexico. Santander additionally assumed the portfolio debts of GE Capital in the country. Following this, GE Capital focused in its core business and shed its non-core assets.
In June 2012, CEO and President of GE Jeff Immelt said that the company would invest ₹3 billion to accelerate its businesses in Karnataka. In October 2012, GE acquired $7 billion worth of bank deposits from MetLife Inc.
On March 19, 2013, Comcast bought GE's shares in NBCU for $16.7 billion, ending the company's longtime stake in television and film media.
In April 2013, GE acquired oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries for $2.98 billion.
In April 2014, it was announced that GE was in talks to acquire the global power division of French engineering group Alstom for a figure of around $13 billion. A rival joint bid was submitted in June 2014 by Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) with Siemens seeking to acquire Alstom's gas turbine business for €3.9 billion, and MHI proposing a joint venture in steam turbines, plus a €3.1 billion cash investment. In June 2014 a formal offer from GE worth $17 billion was agreed by the Alstom board. Part of the transaction involved the French government taking a 20% stake in Alstom to help secure France's energy and transport interests and French jobs. A rival offer from Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was rejected. The acquisition was expected to be completed in 2015. In October 2014, GE announced it was considering the sale of its Polish banking business Bank BPH.
Later in 2014, General Electric announced plans to open its global operations center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Global Operations Center opened in October 2016 as home to GE's multifunctional shared services organization. It supports the company's finance/accounting, human resources, information technology, supply chain, legal and commercial operations, and is one of GE's four multifunctional shared services centers worldwide in Pudong, China; Budapest, Hungary; and Monterrey, Mexico.
In April 2015, GE announced its intention to sell off its property portfolio, worth $26.5 billion, to Wells Fargo and The Blackstone Group. It was announced in April 2015 that GE would sell most of its finance unit and return around $90 billion to shareholders as the firm looked to trim down on its holdings and rid itself of its image of a "hybrid" company, working in both banking and manufacturing. In August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its Healthcare Financial Services business to Capital One for US$9 billion. The transaction involved US$8.5 billion of loans made to a wide array of sectors including senior housing, hospitals, medical offices, outpatient services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Also in August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell GE Capital Bank's on-line deposit platform to Goldman Sachs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the sale included US$8 billion of on-line deposits and another US$8 billion of brokered certificates of deposit. The sale was part of GE's strategic plan to exit the U.S. banking sector and to free itself from tightening banking regulations. GE also aimed to shed its status as a "systematically important financial institution".
In September 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its transportation-finance unit to Canada's Bank of Montreal. The unit sold had US$8.7 billion (CA$11.5 billion) of assets, 600 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada. Exact terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the final price would be based on the value of the assets at closing, plus a premium according to the parties. In October 2015, activist investor Nelson Peltz's fund Trian bought a $2.5 billion stake in the company.
In January 2016, Haier acquired GE's appliance division for $5.4 billion. In October 2016, GE Renewable Energy agreed to pay €1.5 billion to Doughty Hanson & Co for LM Wind Power during 2017.
At the end of October 2016, it was announced that GE was under negotiations for a deal valued at about $30 billion to combine GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes. The transaction would create a publicly traded entity controlled by GE. It was announced that GE Oil & Gas would sell off its water treatment business, GE Water & Process Technologies, as part of its divestment agreement with Baker Hughes. The deal was cleared by the EU in May 2017, and by the United States Department of Justice in June 2017. The merger agreement was approved by shareholders at the end of June 2017. On July 3, 2017, the transaction was completed and Baker Hughes became a GE company and was renamed Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE). In November 2018, GE reduced its stake in Baker Hughes to 50.4%. On October 18, 2019, GE reduced its stake to 36.8% and the company was renamed back to Baker Hughes.
In May 2017, GE had signed $15 billion of business deals with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of GE's largest customers. In September 2017, GE announced the sale of its Industrial Solutions Business to ABB. The deal closed on June 30, 2018.
On August 15, 2019, Harry Markopolos, a financial fraud investigator known for his discovery of a Ponzi Scheme run by Bernard Madoff, accused General Electric of being a "bigger fraud than Enron", alleging $38 billion in accounting fraud. GE denied wrongdoing.
On October 6, 2020, General Electric reported it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission stating the SEC may take civil action for possible violations of securities laws.
It is alleged that GE is "hiding" (i.e. under-reserved) $29 billion in losses related to its long-term care business.
According to an August 2019 Fitch Ratings report, there are concerns that GE has not set aside enough money to cover its long-term care liabilities.
In 2018, a lawsuit (the Bezio case) was filed in New York state court on behalf of participants in GE's 401(k) plan and shareowners alleging violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 based on alleged misstatements and omissions related to insurance reserves and performance of GE's business segments.
The Kansas Insurance Department (KID) is requiring General Electric to make $14.5 billion of capital contributions for its insurance contracts during the 7-year period ending in 2024.
GE reported the total liability related to its insurance contracts increased significantly from 2016 to 2019:
In 2018, GE announced the issuance of the new standard by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regarding Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944) will materially affect its financial statements. Mr. Markopolos estimated there will be a $US 10.5 billion charge when the new accounting standard is adopted in the first quarter of 2021.
In 2017, GE acquired a 62.5% interest in Baker Hughes (BHGE) when it combined its oil & gas business with Baker Hughes Incorporated. In 2018, GE reduced its interest to 50.4%, resulting in the realization of a $2.1 billion loss. GE is planning to divest its remaining interest and has warned that the divestment will result in an additional loss of $8.4 billion (assuming a BHGE share price of $23.57 per share). In response to the fraud allegations, GE noted the amount of the loss would be $7.4 billion if the divestment occurred on July 26, 2019. Mr. Markopolos noted that BHGE is an asset available for sale and therefore mark-to-market accounting is required.
Markopolos noted GE's current ratio was only 0.67. He expressed concerns that GE may file for bankruptcy if there is a recession.
In 2018, the GE Pension Plan reported losses of US$3.3 billion on plan assets.
In 2018, General Electric changed the discount rate used to calculate the actuarial liabilities of its pension plans. The rate was increased from 3.64% to 4.34%. Consequently, the reported liability for the underfunded pension plans decreased by $7 billion year-over-year, from $34.2 billion in 2017 to $27.2 billion in 2018.
In October 2018, General Electric announced it would "freeze pensions" for about 20,000 salaried U.S. employees. The employees will be moved to a defined-contribution retirement plan in 2021.
On March 30, 2020, General Electric factory workers protested to convert jet engine factories to make ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis.
In June 2020, GE made an agreement to sell its Lighting business to Savant Systems, Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
In November 2020, General Electric warned it would be cutting jobs waiting for a recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
General Electric was a longtime "dividend aristocrat" (a company with a long history of maintaining dividend payments to shareholders). Until 2017, the company had never cut dividends for 119 years before a 50% dividend reduction from 24 cents per share to 12 cents per share. In 2018, GE further reduced its quarterly dividend from 12 cents to 1 cent per share.
As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, GE stock was one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1907 to 2018, the longest continuous presence of any company on the index, and during this time the only company which was part of the original Dow Jones Industrial Index created in 1896. In August 2000, the company had a market capitalization of $601 billion, and was the most valuable company in the world. On June 26, 2018, the stock was removed from the index and replaced with Walgreens Boots Alliance. In the years leading to its removal, GE was the worst performing stock in the Dow, falling more than 55 percent year on year and more than 25 percent year to date. The company continued to lose value after being removed from the index.
General Electric Co. announced on July 30, 2021 (the completion of) a reverse stock split of GE common stock at a ratio of 1-for-8 and trading on a split-adjusted basis with a new ISIN number (US3696043013) starting on August 2, 2021.
In 1959, General Electric was accused of promoting the largest illegal cartel in the United States since the adoption of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 in order to maintain artificially high prices. In total, 29 companies and 45 executives would be convicted. Subsequent parliamentary inquiries revealed that "white-collar crime" was by far the most costly form of crime for the United States' finances.
GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. However its main offices are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in New York City, known now as the Comcast Building. It was formerly known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof; NBC's headquarters and main studios are also located in the building. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the center since its construction in the 1930s. GE moved its corporate headquarters from the GE Building on Lexington Avenue to Fairfield, Connecticut in 1974. In 2016, GE announced a move to the South Boston Waterfront neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, partly as a result of an incentive package provide by state and city governments. The first group of workers arrived in the summer of 2016, and the full move will be completed by 2018. Due to poor financial performance and corporate downsizing, GE sold the land it planned to build its new headquarters building on, instead choosing to occupy neighboring leased buildings.
GE's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically. As of 2011, the company spent more on U.S. lobbying than any other company.
In 2005, GE launched its "Ecomagination" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a "green" company. GE is one of the biggest players in the wind power industry and is developing environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company "plans to build the largest solar-panel-making factory in the U.S.", and has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
On May 21, 2007, GE announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer SABIC for net proceeds of $11.6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO.
In July 2010, GE agreed to pay $23.4 million to settle an SEC complaint without admitting or denying the allegations that two of its subsidiaries bribed Iraqi government officials to win contracts under the U.N. oil-for-food program between 2002 and 2003.
In February 2017, GE announced that the company intends to close the gender gap by promising to hire and place 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020. The company is also seeking to have a 50:50 male to female gender representation in all entry-level technical programs.
In October 2017, GE announced they would be closing research and development centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro. The company spent $5 billion on R&D in the last year.
On February 25, 2019, GE sold its diesel locomotive business to Wabtec.
As of October 2018, John L. Flannery was replaced by H. Lawrence Culp Jr. as chairman and CEO in a unanimous vote of the GE Board of Directors.
In 2011, Fortune ranked GE the sixth-largest firm in the U.S., and the 14th-most profitable. Other rankings for 2011–2012 include the following:
In 2012, GE's brand was valued at $28.8 billion. CEO Jeff Immelt had a set of changes in the presentation of the brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE.
Tom Geismar later stated that looking back at the logos of the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, one can clearly judge that they are old-fashioned. Chermayeff & Geismar, along with colleagues Bill Brown and Ivan Chermaev, created the modern 1980 logo. They, in turn, argued that even now the old logos look out of date, earlier they were good. The changes included a new corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira) and a new slogan, "Imagination at work", composed by David Lucas, to replace the slogan "We Bring Good Things to Life" used since 1979. The standard requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual "white space" to documents and advertising. The changes were designed by Wolff Olins and are used on GE's marketing, literature, and website. In 2014, a second typeface family was introduced: GE Sans and Serif by Bold Monday created under art direction by Wolff Olins.
As of 2016, GE had appeared on the Fortune 500 list for 22 years and held the 11th rank. GE was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 28, 2018, after the value had dropped below 1% of the index's weight.
GE's primary business divisions are:
Through these businesses, GE participates in markets that include the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services. It has a presence in over 100 countries.
General Imaging manufacturers GE digital cameras.
Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT Corporation, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc.) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success.
As of August 2015 GE is planning to set up a silicon carbide chip packaging R&D center in coalition with SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York. The project will create 470 jobs with the potential to grow to 820 jobs within 10 years.
On September 14, 2015, GE announced the creation of a new unit: GE Digital, which will bring together its software and IT capabilities. The new business unit will be headed by Bill Ruh, who joined GE in 2011 from Cisco Systems and has since worked on GE's software efforts.
GE Industrial was a division providing appliances, lighting and industrial products; factory automation systems; plastics, silicones and quartz products; security and sensors technology, and equipment financing, management and operating services. As of 2007 it had 70,000 employees generating $17.7 billion in revenue. After some major realignments in late 2007, GE Industrial was organized in two main sub businesses:
The former GE Plastics division was sold in August 2007 and is now SABIC Innovative Plastics.
On May 4, 2008, it was announced that GE would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5–8 billion. However, this plan fell through as a result of the recession.
The former GE Appliances and Lighting segment was dissolved in 2014 when GE's appliance division was attempted to be sold to Electrolux for $5.4 billion, but eventually sold it to Haier in June 2016 due to antitrust filing against Electrolux. GE Lighting (consumer lighting) and the newly created Current, powered by GE, which deals in commercial LED, solar, EV, and energy storage, became stand-alone businesses within the company, until the sale of the latter to American Industrial Partners in April 2019.
The former GE Transportation division merged with Wabtec on February 25, 2019, leaving GE with a 24.9% holding in Wabtec.
On July 1, 2020, GE Lighting was acquired by Savant Systems and remains headquartered at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio.
General Electric Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,080 Kt (-310 /-13% y-o-y). There has been a consistent declining trend in reported emissions since 2016.
Some of GE's activities have given rise to large-scale air and water pollution. Based on data from 2000, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States (behind only E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., United States Steel Corp., and ConocoPhillips), with more than 4.4 million pounds per year (2,000 tons) of toxic chemicals released into the air. GE has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents, only the United States Government, Honeywell, and Chevron Corporation are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites.
In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel GE to pay for the clean-up of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped from their plant in Waterford, New York, which polluted nearby groundwater and the Hudson River. In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River (at Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.
In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not "provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment", EPA issued an administrative order for the company to "address cleanup at the GE site" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs.
The nuclear reactors involved in the 2011 crisis at Fukushima I in Japan were GE designs, and the architectural designs were done by Ebasco, formerly owned by GE. Concerns over the design and safety of these reactors were raised as early as 1972, but tsunami danger was not discussed at that time. As of 2014, the same model nuclear reactors designed by GE are operating in the US; however, as of May 31, 2019, the controversial Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has been shut down and is in the process of decommission.
GE heavily contaminated the Hudson River with PCBs between 1947 and 1977. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river. In 1983 EPA declared a 200-mile (320 km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a Superfund site requiring cleanup. This Superfund site is considered to be one of the largest in the nation. In addition to receiving extensive fines, GE is continuing its sediment removal operations, pursuant to the Superfund orders, in the 21st century.
From c. 1932 until 1977, GE polluted the Housatonic River with PCB discharges from its plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. EPA designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic to be a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, products manufactured by Monsanto, were the principal contaminants that were discharged to the river. The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found in Woods Pond in Lenox, Massachusetts, just south of Pittsfield, where they have been measured up to 110 mg/kg in the sediment. About 50% of all the PCBs currently in the river are estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) of PCBs. Former filled oxbows are also polluted. Waterfowl and fish who live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and can present health risks if consumed. In 2020 GE completed remediation and restoration of its 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city of Pittsfield. As of 2023 plans for cleanup of the river south of the city are not finalized.
The environmental work and research of GE can be seen as early as 1968 with the experimental Delta electric car built by the GE Research and Development Center led by Bruce Laumeister. The electric car led to the production shortly after of the cutting-edge technology of the first commercially produced all-electric Elec-Trak garden tractor, which was manufactured from around 1969 until 1975.
On June 6, 2011, GE announced that it has licensed solar thermal technology from California-based eSolar for use in power plants that use both solar and natural gas.
On May 26, 2011, GE unveiled its EV Solar Carport, a carport that incorporates solar panels on its roof, with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover.
In May 2005, GE announced the launch of a program called "Ecomagination", intended, in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt, "to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology". The announcement prompted an op-ed piece in The New York Times to observe that, "while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy."
GE has said that it will invest $1.4 billion in clean technology research and development in 2008 as part of its Ecomagination initiative. As of October 2008, the scheme had resulted in 70 green products being brought to market, ranging from halogen lamps to biogas engines. In 2007, GE raised the annual revenue target for its Ecomagination initiative from $20 billion in 2010 to $25 billion following positive market response to its new product lines. In 2010, GE continued to raise its investment by adding $10 billion into Ecomagination over the next five years.
GE Energy's renewable energy business has expanded greatly, to keep up with growing U.S. and global demand for clean energy. Since entering the renewable energy industry in 2002, GE has invested more than $850 million in renewable energy commercialization. In August 2008, it acquired Kelman Ltd, a Northern Ireland-based company specializing in advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers used in renewable energy generation and announced an expansion of its business in Northern Ireland in May 2010. In 2009, GE's renewable energy initiatives, which include solar power, wind power and GE Jenbacher gas engines using renewable and non-renewable methane-based gases, employ more than 4,900 people globally and have created more than 10,000 supporting jobs.
GE Energy and Orion New Zealand (Orion) have announced the implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. GE's ENMAC Distribution Management System is the foundation of Orion's initiative. The system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company's ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur.
In June 2018, GE Volunteers, an internal group of GE employees, along with Malaysian Nature Society, transplanted more than 270 plants from the Taman Tugu forest reserve so that they may be replanted in a forest trail which is under construction.
GE Healthcare is collaborating with the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina to offer an integrated radiology curriculum during their respective MD Programs led by investigators of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study. GE has donated over one million dollars of Logiq E Ultrasound equipment to these two institutions.
Between September 2011 and April 2013, GE ran a content marketing campaign dedicated to telling the stories of "innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention". The initiative included 30 3-minute films from leading documentary film directors (Albert Maysles, Jessica Yu, Leslie Iwerks, Steve James, Alex Gibney, Lixin Fan, Gary Hustwit and others), and a user-generated competition that received over 600 submissions, out of which 20 finalists were chosen.
Short Films, Big Ideas was launched at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in partnership with cinelan. Stories included breakthroughs in Slingshot (water vapor distillation system), cancer research, energy production, pain management and food access. Each of the 30 films received world premiere screenings at a major international film festival, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The winning amateur director film, The Cyborg Foundation, was awarded a US$100,000 prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. According to GE, the campaign garnered more than 1.5 billion total media impressions, 14 million online views, and was seen in 156 countries.
In January 2017, GE signed an estimated $7 million deal with the Boston Celtics to have its corporate logo put on the NBA team's jersey.
On March 3, 2022, GE published an international memo pledging to donate $4.5 million to Ukraine amid Russian invasion. According to the memo, $4 million will be used for medical equipment, $400,000 for emergency cash for refugees and $100,000 will go to Airlink, a NGO that helps communities in crisis.
In the 1950s, GE sponsored Ronald Reagan's TV career and launched him on the lecture circuit. GE has also designed social programs, supported civil rights organizations, and funded minority education programs.
In the early 1950s, Kurt Vonnegut was a writer for GE. A number of his novels and stories (notably Cat's Cradle and Player Piano) refer to the fictional city of Ilium, which appears to be loosely based on Schenectady, New York. The Ilium Works is the setting for the short story "Deer in the Works".
In 1981, GE won a Clio award for its :30 Soft White Light Bulbs commercial, We Bring Good Things to Life. The slogan "We Bring Good Things to Life" was created by Phil Dusenberry at the ad agency BBDO.
GE was the primary focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award-winning documentary, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, that juxtaposed GE's "We Bring Good Things To Life" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been affected by the company's activities involving nuclear weapons.
GE was frequently mentioned and parodied in the NBC comedy sitcom 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch even cameoed as himself appearing in the season four episode "Future Husband". The episode is a satirical reference to the real-world acquisition of NBC Universal from General Electric by Comcast in November 2009.
In 2013, GE received a National Jefferson Award for Outstanding Service by a Major Corporation.
The General Electric logo has a blue circle with a white outline. It has four white lines which "suggest[s] the blades of a midcentury tabletop fan". In the center of the circle is the letters "GE", which its design has changed little through the company's history. The logo is officially known as the Monogram, but is also known by some as "the meatball". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 and incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. The company has several divisions, including aerospace, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing, and venture capital and finance.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE – Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) – have been awarded the Nobel Prize.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide itself into three public companies. On July 18, 2022, GE unveiled the brand names of the companies it will create through its planned separation: GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare and GE Vernova. The new companies will be focused on aerospace, healthcare, and energy (renewable energy, power, and digital). The first spin-off of GE HealthCare was finalized on January 4, 2023; GE continues to hold 13.5% of shares and intends to sell the remaining over time. This will be followed by the spin-off of GE's portfolio of energy businesses which plan to become GE Vernova in 2024. Following these transactions, GE will be an aviation-focused company; GE Aerospace will be the legal successor of the original GE.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "During 1889, Thomas Edison (1847–1931) had business interests in many electricity-related companies, including Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and financial arm for Edison's lighting experiments, backed by J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) and the Vanderbilt family.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel financed Edison's research and helped merge several of Edison's separate companies under one corporation forming Edison General Electric Company, which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company acquired Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company in the same year. The consolidation did not involve all of the companies established by Edison; notably, the Edison Illuminating Company, which would later become Consolidated Edison, was not part of the merger.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1880, Gerald Waldo Hart formed the American Electric Company of New Britain, Connecticut, which merged a few years later with Thomson-Houston Electric Company, led by Charles Coffin. In 1887, Hart left to become superintendent of the Edison Electric Company. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. The original plants of both companies continue to operate under the GE banner to this day.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The General Electric business was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1893, General Electric bought the business of Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New York, along with all of its patents and designs. Eickemeyer's firm had developed transformers for use in the transmission of electrical power.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average, where it remained a part of the index for 122 years, though not continuously.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In 1911, General Electric absorbed the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) into its lighting business. GE established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. The lighting division has since remained in the same location.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Owen D. Young, through GE, founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919, after purchasing the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. He aimed to expand international radio communications. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales. In 1926, RCA co-founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which built two radio broadcasting networks. In 1930, General Electric was charged with antitrust violations and was ordered to divest itself of RCA.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 1927, Ernst Alexanderson of GE made the first demonstration of television broadcast reception at his General Electric Realty Plot home at 1132 Adams Road in Schenectady, New York. On January 13, 1928, he made what was said to be the first broadcast to the public in the United States on GE's W2XAD: the pictures were picked up on 1.5 square inch (9.7 square centimeter) screens in the homes of four GE executives. The sound was broadcast on GE's WGY (AM).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Experimental television station W2XAD evolved into the station WRGB which, along with WGY and WGFM (now WRVE), was owned and operated by General Electric until 1983. In 1965, the company expanded into cable with the launch of a franchise, which was awarded to a non-exclusive franchise in Schenectady through subsidiary General Electric Cablevision Corporation. On February 15, 1965, General Electric expanded its holdings in order to acquire more television stations to meet the maximum limit of the FCC, and more cable holdings through subsidiaries General Electric Broadcasting Company and General Electric Cablevision Corporation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The company also owned television stations such as KOA-TV (now KCNC-TV) in Denver and WSIX-TV (later WNGE-TV, now WKRN) in Nashville, but like WRGB, General Electric sold off most of its broadcasting holdings, but held on to the Denver television station until in 1986, when General Electric bought out RCA and made it into an owned-and-operated station by NBC. It even stayed on until 1995 when it was transferred to a joint venture between CBS and Group W in a swap deal, alongside KUTV in Salt Lake City for longtime CBS O&O in Philadelphia, WCAU-TV.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Led by Sanford Alexander Moss, GE moved into the new field of aircraft turbo superchargers. This technology also led to the development of industrial gas turbine engines used for power production. GE introduced the first set of superchargers during World War I, and continued to develop them during the interwar period. Superchargers became indispensable in the years immediately prior to World War II. GE supplied 300,000 turbo superchargers for use in fighter and bomber engines. This work led the U.S. Army Air Corps to select GE to develop the nation's first jet engine during the war. This experience, in turn, made GE a natural selection to develop the Whittle W.1 jet engine that was demonstrated in the United States in 1941. GE was ranked ninth among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. Although, their early work with Whittle's designs was later handed to Allison Engine Company. GE Aviation then emerged as one of the world's largest engine manufacturers, bypassing the British company, Rolls-Royce plc.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Some consumers boycotted GE light bulbs, refrigerators and other products during the 1980s and 1990s. The purpose of the boycott was to protest against GE's role in nuclear weapons production.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 2002, GE acquired the wind power assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings. Enron Wind was the only surviving U.S. manufacturer of large wind turbines at the time, and GE increased engineering and supplies for the Wind Division and doubled the annual sales to $1.2 billion in 2003. It acquired ScanWind in 2009.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 2018, GE Power garnered press attention when a model 7HA gas turbine in Texas was shut down for two months due to the break of a turbine blade. This model uses similar blade technology to GE's newest and most efficient model, the 9HA. After the break, GE developed new protective coatings and heat treatment methods. Gas turbines represent a significant portion of GE Power's revenue, and also represent a significant portion of the power generation fleet of several utility companies in the United States. Chubu Electric of Japan and Électricité de France also had units that were impacted. Initially, GE did not realize the turbine blade issue of the 9FB unit would impact the new HA units.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "GE was one of the eight major computer companies of the 1960s along with IBM, Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, and UNIVAC. GE had a line of general purpose and special purpose computers, including the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real-time process control computers, and the DATANET-30 and Datanet 355 message switching computers (DATANET-30 and 355 were also used as front end processors for GE mainframe computers). A Datanet 500 computer was designed, but never sold.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1956 Homer Oldfield had been promoted to General Manager of GE's Computer Department. He facilitated the invention and construction of the Bank of America ERMA system, the first computerized system designed to read magnetized numbers on checks. But he was fired from GE in 1958 by Ralph J. Cordiner for overstepping his bounds and successfully gaining the ERMA contract. Cordiner was strongly against GE entering the computer business because he did not see the potential in it.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1962, GE started developing its GECOS (later renamed GCOS) operating system, originally for batch processing, but later extended to time-sharing and transaction processing. Versions of GCOS are still in use today. From 1964 to 1969, GE and Bell Laboratories (which soon dropped out) joined with MIT to develop the Multics operating system on the GE 645 mainframe computer. The project took longer than expected and was not a major commercial success, but it demonstrated concepts such as single-level storage, dynamic linking, hierarchical file system, and ring-oriented security. Active development of Multics continued until 1985.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside the United States federal government, aside from being the first business in the world to own a computer. Its major appliance manufacturing plant \"Appliance Park\" was the first non-governmental site to host one. However, in 1970, GE sold its computer division to Honeywell, exiting the computer manufacturing industry, though it retained its timesharing operations for some years afterwards. GE was a major provider of computer time-sharing services, through General Electric Information Services (GEIS, now GXS), offering online computing services that included GEnie.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 2000, when United Technologies Corp. planned to buy Honeywell, GE made a counter-offer that was approved by Honeywell. On July 3, 2001, the European Union issued a statement that \"prohibit the proposed acquisition by General Electric Co. of Honeywell Inc.\". The reasons given were it \"would create or strengthen dominant positions on several markets and that the remedies proposed by GE were insufficient to resolve the competition concerns resulting from the proposed acquisition of Honeywell\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "On June 27, 2014, GE partnered with collaborative design company Quirky to announce its connected LED bulb called Link. The Link bulb is designed to communicate with smartphones and tablets using a mobile app called Wink.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In December 1985, GE reacquired the RCA Corporation, primarily to gain ownership of the NBC television network (also parent of Telemundo Communications Group) for $6.28 billion; this merger surpassed the Capital Cities/ABC merger that happened earlier that year as the largest non-oil merger in world business history. The remainder of RCA was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann which absorbed RCA Records and Thomson SA, which licensed the manufacture of RCA branded electronics, traced its roots to Thomson-Houston, one of the original components of GE. Also in 1986, Kidder, Peabody & Co., a U.S.-based securities firm, was sold to GE and following heavy losses was sold to PaineWebber in 1994.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 2002, Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GXS is a provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority stake in GXS. Also in 2002, GE Wind Energy was formed when GE bought the wind turbine manufacturing assets of Enron Wind after the Enron scandals.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 2004, GE bought 80% of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, the parent of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. Vivendi bought 20% of NBC forming the company NBCUniversal. GE then owned 80% of NBCUniversal and Vivendi owned 20%. In 2004, GE completed the spin-off of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India-based BPO. GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact today, for services in customer service, finance, information technology, and analytics.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In May 2007, GE acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion. Also in 2007, GE Oil & Gas acquired Vetco Gray for $1.9 billion, followed by the acquisition of Hydril Pressure & Control in 2008 for $1.1 billion.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "GE Plastics was sold in 2008 to SABIC (Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation). In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of its consumer and industrial business.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "On December 3, 2009, it was announced that NBCUniversal would become a joint venture between GE and cable television operator Comcast. Comcast would hold a controlling interest in the company, while GE would retain a 49% stake and would buy out shares owned by Vivendi.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Vivendi would sell its 20% stake in NBCUniversal to GE for US$5.8 billion. Vivendi would sell 7.66% of NBCUniversal to GE for US$2 billion if the GE/Comcast deal was not completed by September 2010 and then sell the remaining 12.34% stake of NBCUniversal to GE for US$3.8 billion when the deal was completed or to the public via an IPO if the deal was not completed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "On March 1, 2010, GE announced plans to sell its 20.85% stake in Turkey-based Garanti Bank. In August 2010, GE Healthcare signed a strategic partnership to bring cardiovascular Computed Tomography (CT) technology from start-up Arineta Ltd. of Israel to the hospital market. In October 2010, GE acquired gas engines manufacturer Dresser Industries in a $3 billion deal and also bought a $1.6 billion portfolio of retail credit cards from Citigroup Inc. On October 14, 2010, GE announced the acquisition of data migration & SCADA simulation specialists Opal Software. In December 2010, for the second time that year (after the Dresser acquisition), GE bought the oil sector company Wellstream, an oil pipe maker, for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In March 2011, GE announced that it had completed the acquisition of privately held Lineage Power Holdings from The Gores Group. In April 2011, GE announced it had completed its purchase of John Wood plc's Well Support Division for $2.8 billion.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In 2011, GE Capital sold its $2 billion Mexican assets to Santander for $162 million and exited the business in Mexico. Santander additionally assumed the portfolio debts of GE Capital in the country. Following this, GE Capital focused in its core business and shed its non-core assets.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In June 2012, CEO and President of GE Jeff Immelt said that the company would invest ₹3 billion to accelerate its businesses in Karnataka. In October 2012, GE acquired $7 billion worth of bank deposits from MetLife Inc.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "On March 19, 2013, Comcast bought GE's shares in NBCU for $16.7 billion, ending the company's longtime stake in television and film media.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In April 2013, GE acquired oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries for $2.98 billion.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In April 2014, it was announced that GE was in talks to acquire the global power division of French engineering group Alstom for a figure of around $13 billion. A rival joint bid was submitted in June 2014 by Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) with Siemens seeking to acquire Alstom's gas turbine business for €3.9 billion, and MHI proposing a joint venture in steam turbines, plus a €3.1 billion cash investment. In June 2014 a formal offer from GE worth $17 billion was agreed by the Alstom board. Part of the transaction involved the French government taking a 20% stake in Alstom to help secure France's energy and transport interests and French jobs. A rival offer from Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was rejected. The acquisition was expected to be completed in 2015. In October 2014, GE announced it was considering the sale of its Polish banking business Bank BPH.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Later in 2014, General Electric announced plans to open its global operations center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Global Operations Center opened in October 2016 as home to GE's multifunctional shared services organization. It supports the company's finance/accounting, human resources, information technology, supply chain, legal and commercial operations, and is one of GE's four multifunctional shared services centers worldwide in Pudong, China; Budapest, Hungary; and Monterrey, Mexico.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In April 2015, GE announced its intention to sell off its property portfolio, worth $26.5 billion, to Wells Fargo and The Blackstone Group. It was announced in April 2015 that GE would sell most of its finance unit and return around $90 billion to shareholders as the firm looked to trim down on its holdings and rid itself of its image of a \"hybrid\" company, working in both banking and manufacturing. In August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its Healthcare Financial Services business to Capital One for US$9 billion. The transaction involved US$8.5 billion of loans made to a wide array of sectors including senior housing, hospitals, medical offices, outpatient services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Also in August 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell GE Capital Bank's on-line deposit platform to Goldman Sachs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the sale included US$8 billion of on-line deposits and another US$8 billion of brokered certificates of deposit. The sale was part of GE's strategic plan to exit the U.S. banking sector and to free itself from tightening banking regulations. GE also aimed to shed its status as a \"systematically important financial institution\".",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In September 2015, GE Capital agreed to sell its transportation-finance unit to Canada's Bank of Montreal. The unit sold had US$8.7 billion (CA$11.5 billion) of assets, 600 employees and 15 offices in the U.S. and Canada. Exact terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the final price would be based on the value of the assets at closing, plus a premium according to the parties. In October 2015, activist investor Nelson Peltz's fund Trian bought a $2.5 billion stake in the company.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In January 2016, Haier acquired GE's appliance division for $5.4 billion. In October 2016, GE Renewable Energy agreed to pay €1.5 billion to Doughty Hanson & Co for LM Wind Power during 2017.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "At the end of October 2016, it was announced that GE was under negotiations for a deal valued at about $30 billion to combine GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes. The transaction would create a publicly traded entity controlled by GE. It was announced that GE Oil & Gas would sell off its water treatment business, GE Water & Process Technologies, as part of its divestment agreement with Baker Hughes. The deal was cleared by the EU in May 2017, and by the United States Department of Justice in June 2017. The merger agreement was approved by shareholders at the end of June 2017. On July 3, 2017, the transaction was completed and Baker Hughes became a GE company and was renamed Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE). In November 2018, GE reduced its stake in Baker Hughes to 50.4%. On October 18, 2019, GE reduced its stake to 36.8% and the company was renamed back to Baker Hughes.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "In May 2017, GE had signed $15 billion of business deals with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of GE's largest customers. In September 2017, GE announced the sale of its Industrial Solutions Business to ABB. The deal closed on June 30, 2018.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "On August 15, 2019, Harry Markopolos, a financial fraud investigator known for his discovery of a Ponzi Scheme run by Bernard Madoff, accused General Electric of being a \"bigger fraud than Enron\", alleging $38 billion in accounting fraud. GE denied wrongdoing.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "On October 6, 2020, General Electric reported it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission stating the SEC may take civil action for possible violations of securities laws.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "It is alleged that GE is \"hiding\" (i.e. under-reserved) $29 billion in losses related to its long-term care business.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "According to an August 2019 Fitch Ratings report, there are concerns that GE has not set aside enough money to cover its long-term care liabilities.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "In 2018, a lawsuit (the Bezio case) was filed in New York state court on behalf of participants in GE's 401(k) plan and shareowners alleging violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 based on alleged misstatements and omissions related to insurance reserves and performance of GE's business segments.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The Kansas Insurance Department (KID) is requiring General Electric to make $14.5 billion of capital contributions for its insurance contracts during the 7-year period ending in 2024.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "GE reported the total liability related to its insurance contracts increased significantly from 2016 to 2019:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In 2018, GE announced the issuance of the new standard by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regarding Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944) will materially affect its financial statements. Mr. Markopolos estimated there will be a $US 10.5 billion charge when the new accounting standard is adopted in the first quarter of 2021.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In 2017, GE acquired a 62.5% interest in Baker Hughes (BHGE) when it combined its oil & gas business with Baker Hughes Incorporated. In 2018, GE reduced its interest to 50.4%, resulting in the realization of a $2.1 billion loss. GE is planning to divest its remaining interest and has warned that the divestment will result in an additional loss of $8.4 billion (assuming a BHGE share price of $23.57 per share). In response to the fraud allegations, GE noted the amount of the loss would be $7.4 billion if the divestment occurred on July 26, 2019. Mr. Markopolos noted that BHGE is an asset available for sale and therefore mark-to-market accounting is required.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Markopolos noted GE's current ratio was only 0.67. He expressed concerns that GE may file for bankruptcy if there is a recession.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In 2018, the GE Pension Plan reported losses of US$3.3 billion on plan assets.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "In 2018, General Electric changed the discount rate used to calculate the actuarial liabilities of its pension plans. The rate was increased from 3.64% to 4.34%. Consequently, the reported liability for the underfunded pension plans decreased by $7 billion year-over-year, from $34.2 billion in 2017 to $27.2 billion in 2018.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In October 2018, General Electric announced it would \"freeze pensions\" for about 20,000 salaried U.S. employees. The employees will be moved to a defined-contribution retirement plan in 2021.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "On March 30, 2020, General Electric factory workers protested to convert jet engine factories to make ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In June 2020, GE made an agreement to sell its Lighting business to Savant Systems, Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "In November 2020, General Electric warned it would be cutting jobs waiting for a recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "General Electric was a longtime \"dividend aristocrat\" (a company with a long history of maintaining dividend payments to shareholders). Until 2017, the company had never cut dividends for 119 years before a 50% dividend reduction from 24 cents per share to 12 cents per share. In 2018, GE further reduced its quarterly dividend from 12 cents to 1 cent per share.",
"title": "Financial performance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, GE stock was one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1907 to 2018, the longest continuous presence of any company on the index, and during this time the only company which was part of the original Dow Jones Industrial Index created in 1896. In August 2000, the company had a market capitalization of $601 billion, and was the most valuable company in the world. On June 26, 2018, the stock was removed from the index and replaced with Walgreens Boots Alliance. In the years leading to its removal, GE was the worst performing stock in the Dow, falling more than 55 percent year on year and more than 25 percent year to date. The company continued to lose value after being removed from the index.",
"title": "Stock"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "General Electric Co. announced on July 30, 2021 (the completion of) a reverse stock split of GE common stock at a ratio of 1-for-8 and trading on a split-adjusted basis with a new ISIN number (US3696043013) starting on August 2, 2021.",
"title": "Stock"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In 1959, General Electric was accused of promoting the largest illegal cartel in the United States since the adoption of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 in order to maintain artificially high prices. In total, 29 companies and 45 executives would be convicted. Subsequent parliamentary inquiries revealed that \"white-collar crime\" was by far the most costly form of crime for the United States' finances.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. However its main offices are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in New York City, known now as the Comcast Building. It was formerly known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof; NBC's headquarters and main studios are also located in the building. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the center since its construction in the 1930s. GE moved its corporate headquarters from the GE Building on Lexington Avenue to Fairfield, Connecticut in 1974. In 2016, GE announced a move to the South Boston Waterfront neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, partly as a result of an incentive package provide by state and city governments. The first group of workers arrived in the summer of 2016, and the full move will be completed by 2018. Due to poor financial performance and corporate downsizing, GE sold the land it planned to build its new headquarters building on, instead choosing to occupy neighboring leased buildings.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "GE's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically. As of 2011, the company spent more on U.S. lobbying than any other company.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "In 2005, GE launched its \"Ecomagination\" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a \"green\" company. GE is one of the biggest players in the wind power industry and is developing environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company \"plans to build the largest solar-panel-making factory in the U.S.\", and has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "On May 21, 2007, GE announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer SABIC for net proceeds of $11.6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "In July 2010, GE agreed to pay $23.4 million to settle an SEC complaint without admitting or denying the allegations that two of its subsidiaries bribed Iraqi government officials to win contracts under the U.N. oil-for-food program between 2002 and 2003.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "In February 2017, GE announced that the company intends to close the gender gap by promising to hire and place 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020. The company is also seeking to have a 50:50 male to female gender representation in all entry-level technical programs.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "In October 2017, GE announced they would be closing research and development centers in Shanghai, Munich and Rio de Janeiro. The company spent $5 billion on R&D in the last year.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "On February 25, 2019, GE sold its diesel locomotive business to Wabtec.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "As of October 2018, John L. Flannery was replaced by H. Lawrence Culp Jr. as chairman and CEO in a unanimous vote of the GE Board of Directors.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In 2011, Fortune ranked GE the sixth-largest firm in the U.S., and the 14th-most profitable. Other rankings for 2011–2012 include the following:",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "In 2012, GE's brand was valued at $28.8 billion. CEO Jeff Immelt had a set of changes in the presentation of the brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Tom Geismar later stated that looking back at the logos of the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, one can clearly judge that they are old-fashioned. Chermayeff & Geismar, along with colleagues Bill Brown and Ivan Chermaev, created the modern 1980 logo. They, in turn, argued that even now the old logos look out of date, earlier they were good. The changes included a new corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira) and a new slogan, \"Imagination at work\", composed by David Lucas, to replace the slogan \"We Bring Good Things to Life\" used since 1979. The standard requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual \"white space\" to documents and advertising. The changes were designed by Wolff Olins and are used on GE's marketing, literature, and website. In 2014, a second typeface family was introduced: GE Sans and Serif by Bold Monday created under art direction by Wolff Olins.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "As of 2016, GE had appeared on the Fortune 500 list for 22 years and held the 11th rank. GE was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 28, 2018, after the value had dropped below 1% of the index's weight.",
"title": "Corporate affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "GE's primary business divisions are:",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "Through these businesses, GE participates in markets that include the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services. It has a presence in over 100 countries.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "General Imaging manufacturers GE digital cameras.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT Corporation, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc.) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "As of August 2015 GE is planning to set up a silicon carbide chip packaging R&D center in coalition with SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York. The project will create 470 jobs with the potential to grow to 820 jobs within 10 years.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "On September 14, 2015, GE announced the creation of a new unit: GE Digital, which will bring together its software and IT capabilities. The new business unit will be headed by Bill Ruh, who joined GE in 2011 from Cisco Systems and has since worked on GE's software efforts.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "GE Industrial was a division providing appliances, lighting and industrial products; factory automation systems; plastics, silicones and quartz products; security and sensors technology, and equipment financing, management and operating services. As of 2007 it had 70,000 employees generating $17.7 billion in revenue. After some major realignments in late 2007, GE Industrial was organized in two main sub businesses:",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "The former GE Plastics division was sold in August 2007 and is now SABIC Innovative Plastics.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "On May 4, 2008, it was announced that GE would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5–8 billion. However, this plan fell through as a result of the recession.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "The former GE Appliances and Lighting segment was dissolved in 2014 when GE's appliance division was attempted to be sold to Electrolux for $5.4 billion, but eventually sold it to Haier in June 2016 due to antitrust filing against Electrolux. GE Lighting (consumer lighting) and the newly created Current, powered by GE, which deals in commercial LED, solar, EV, and energy storage, became stand-alone businesses within the company, until the sale of the latter to American Industrial Partners in April 2019.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "The former GE Transportation division merged with Wabtec on February 25, 2019, leaving GE with a 24.9% holding in Wabtec.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "On July 1, 2020, GE Lighting was acquired by Savant Systems and remains headquartered at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio.",
"title": "Businesses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "General Electric Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,080 Kt (-310 /-13% y-o-y). There has been a consistent declining trend in reported emissions since 2016.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "Some of GE's activities have given rise to large-scale air and water pollution. Based on data from 2000, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States (behind only E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., United States Steel Corp., and ConocoPhillips), with more than 4.4 million pounds per year (2,000 tons) of toxic chemicals released into the air. GE has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents, only the United States Government, Honeywell, and Chevron Corporation are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel GE to pay for the clean-up of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped from their plant in Waterford, New York, which polluted nearby groundwater and the Hudson River. In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River (at Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not \"provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment\", EPA issued an administrative order for the company to \"address cleanup at the GE site\" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "The nuclear reactors involved in the 2011 crisis at Fukushima I in Japan were GE designs, and the architectural designs were done by Ebasco, formerly owned by GE. Concerns over the design and safety of these reactors were raised as early as 1972, but tsunami danger was not discussed at that time. As of 2014, the same model nuclear reactors designed by GE are operating in the US; however, as of May 31, 2019, the controversial Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has been shut down and is in the process of decommission.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "GE heavily contaminated the Hudson River with PCBs between 1947 and 1977. This pollution caused a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river. In 1983 EPA declared a 200-mile (320 km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a Superfund site requiring cleanup. This Superfund site is considered to be one of the largest in the nation. In addition to receiving extensive fines, GE is continuing its sediment removal operations, pursuant to the Superfund orders, in the 21st century.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "From c. 1932 until 1977, GE polluted the Housatonic River with PCB discharges from its plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. EPA designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic to be a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, products manufactured by Monsanto, were the principal contaminants that were discharged to the river. The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found in Woods Pond in Lenox, Massachusetts, just south of Pittsfield, where they have been measured up to 110 mg/kg in the sediment. About 50% of all the PCBs currently in the river are estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) of PCBs. Former filled oxbows are also polluted. Waterfowl and fish who live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and can present health risks if consumed. In 2020 GE completed remediation and restoration of its 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city of Pittsfield. As of 2023 plans for cleanup of the river south of the city are not finalized.",
"title": "Environmental record"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "The environmental work and research of GE can be seen as early as 1968 with the experimental Delta electric car built by the GE Research and Development Center led by Bruce Laumeister. The electric car led to the production shortly after of the cutting-edge technology of the first commercially produced all-electric Elec-Trak garden tractor, which was manufactured from around 1969 until 1975.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "On June 6, 2011, GE announced that it has licensed solar thermal technology from California-based eSolar for use in power plants that use both solar and natural gas.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "On May 26, 2011, GE unveiled its EV Solar Carport, a carport that incorporates solar panels on its roof, with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "In May 2005, GE announced the launch of a program called \"Ecomagination\", intended, in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt, \"to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology\". The announcement prompted an op-ed piece in The New York Times to observe that, \"while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy.\"",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "GE has said that it will invest $1.4 billion in clean technology research and development in 2008 as part of its Ecomagination initiative. As of October 2008, the scheme had resulted in 70 green products being brought to market, ranging from halogen lamps to biogas engines. In 2007, GE raised the annual revenue target for its Ecomagination initiative from $20 billion in 2010 to $25 billion following positive market response to its new product lines. In 2010, GE continued to raise its investment by adding $10 billion into Ecomagination over the next five years.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "GE Energy's renewable energy business has expanded greatly, to keep up with growing U.S. and global demand for clean energy. Since entering the renewable energy industry in 2002, GE has invested more than $850 million in renewable energy commercialization. In August 2008, it acquired Kelman Ltd, a Northern Ireland-based company specializing in advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers used in renewable energy generation and announced an expansion of its business in Northern Ireland in May 2010. In 2009, GE's renewable energy initiatives, which include solar power, wind power and GE Jenbacher gas engines using renewable and non-renewable methane-based gases, employ more than 4,900 people globally and have created more than 10,000 supporting jobs.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "GE Energy and Orion New Zealand (Orion) have announced the implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. GE's ENMAC Distribution Management System is the foundation of Orion's initiative. The system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company's ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "In June 2018, GE Volunteers, an internal group of GE employees, along with Malaysian Nature Society, transplanted more than 270 plants from the Taman Tugu forest reserve so that they may be replanted in a forest trail which is under construction.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "GE Healthcare is collaborating with the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina to offer an integrated radiology curriculum during their respective MD Programs led by investigators of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study. GE has donated over one million dollars of Logiq E Ultrasound equipment to these two institutions.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "Between September 2011 and April 2013, GE ran a content marketing campaign dedicated to telling the stories of \"innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention\". The initiative included 30 3-minute films from leading documentary film directors (Albert Maysles, Jessica Yu, Leslie Iwerks, Steve James, Alex Gibney, Lixin Fan, Gary Hustwit and others), and a user-generated competition that received over 600 submissions, out of which 20 finalists were chosen.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "Short Films, Big Ideas was launched at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in partnership with cinelan. Stories included breakthroughs in Slingshot (water vapor distillation system), cancer research, energy production, pain management and food access. Each of the 30 films received world premiere screenings at a major international film festival, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The winning amateur director film, The Cyborg Foundation, was awarded a US$100,000 prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. According to GE, the campaign garnered more than 1.5 billion total media impressions, 14 million online views, and was seen in 156 countries.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "In January 2017, GE signed an estimated $7 million deal with the Boston Celtics to have its corporate logo put on the NBA team's jersey.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "On March 3, 2022, GE published an international memo pledging to donate $4.5 million to Ukraine amid Russian invasion. According to the memo, $4 million will be used for medical equipment, $400,000 for emergency cash for refugees and $100,000 will go to Airlink, a NGO that helps communities in crisis.",
"title": "Social responsibility"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "In the 1950s, GE sponsored Ronald Reagan's TV career and launched him on the lecture circuit. GE has also designed social programs, supported civil rights organizations, and funded minority education programs.",
"title": "Political affiliation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "In the early 1950s, Kurt Vonnegut was a writer for GE. A number of his novels and stories (notably Cat's Cradle and Player Piano) refer to the fictional city of Ilium, which appears to be loosely based on Schenectady, New York. The Ilium Works is the setting for the short story \"Deer in the Works\".",
"title": "Notable appearances in media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "In 1981, GE won a Clio award for its :30 Soft White Light Bulbs commercial, We Bring Good Things to Life. The slogan \"We Bring Good Things to Life\" was created by Phil Dusenberry at the ad agency BBDO.",
"title": "Notable appearances in media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "GE was the primary focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award-winning documentary, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, that juxtaposed GE's \"We Bring Good Things To Life\" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been affected by the company's activities involving nuclear weapons.",
"title": "Notable appearances in media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "GE was frequently mentioned and parodied in the NBC comedy sitcom 30 Rock from 2006 to 2013. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch even cameoed as himself appearing in the season four episode \"Future Husband\". The episode is a satirical reference to the real-world acquisition of NBC Universal from General Electric by Comcast in November 2009.",
"title": "Notable appearances in media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "In 2013, GE received a National Jefferson Award for Outstanding Service by a Major Corporation.",
"title": "Notable appearances in media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "The General Electric logo has a blue circle with a white outline. It has four white lines which \"suggest[s] the blades of a midcentury tabletop fan\". In the center of the circle is the letters \"GE\", which its design has changed little through the company's history. The logo is officially known as the Monogram, but is also known by some as \"the meatball\".",
"title": "Logo"
}
]
| General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 and incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. The company has several divisions, including aerospace, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing, and venture capital and finance. In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE – Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) – have been awarded the Nobel Prize. On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide itself into three public companies. On July 18, 2022, GE unveiled the brand names of the companies it will create through its planned separation: GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare and GE Vernova. The new companies will be focused on aerospace, healthcare, and energy. The first spin-off of GE HealthCare was finalized on January 4, 2023; GE continues to hold 13.5% of shares and intends to sell the remaining over time. This will be followed by the spin-off of GE's portfolio of energy businesses which plan to become GE Vernova in 2024. Following these transactions, GE will be an aviation-focused company; GE Aerospace will be the legal successor of the original GE. | 2001-10-14T21:16:21Z | 2023-12-24T22:58:47Z | [
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Use American English",
"Template:More citations needed section",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox company",
"Template:Toclimit",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Finance links",
"Template:Houston Astros owners",
"Template:Thomas Edison",
"Template:Further",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Needs update",
"Template:Better source needed",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:US$",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Main",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite AV media",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Ubl",
"Template:Update inline",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:General Electric",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Cite press release",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Circa"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric |
12,731 | George Harrison | George Harrison MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry.
By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help! He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement. After the band's break-up in 1970, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, "My Sweet Lord", and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar. He also organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles' Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce the Monty Python troupe's comedy film The Life of Brian (1979).
Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood, and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 31 in their 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. He is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004.
Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani. A lifelong cigarette smoker, Harrison died of numerous cancers in 2001 at the age of 58, two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder at his home, Friar Park. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. He left an estate of almost £100 million.
Harrison was born at 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool, on 25 February 1943. He was the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves (or Hargrove) Harrison (1909–1978) and Louise (née French; 1911–1970). Harold was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line, and Louise was a shop assistant of Irish Catholic descent. He had one sister, Louise (16 August 1931 – 29 January 2023), and two brothers, Harold (born 1934) and Peter (20 July 1940 – 1 June 2007).
According to Boyd, Harrison's mother was particularly supportive: "All she wanted for her children is that they should be happy, and she recognised that nothing made George quite as happy as making music." Louise was an enthusiastic music fan, and she was known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons' windows. When Louise was pregnant with George, she often listened to the weekly broadcast Radio India. Harrison's biographer Joshua Greene wrote, "Every Sunday she tuned in to mystical sounds evoked by sitars and tablas, hoping that the exotic music would bring peace and calm to the baby in the womb."
For the first four years of his life, Harrison lived at 12 Arnold Grove, a terraced house on a cul-de-sac. The home had an outdoor toilet and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1949, the family was offered a council house and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke. In 1948, at the age of five, Harrison enrolled at Dovedale Primary School. He passed the eleven-plus exam and attended Liverpool Institute High School for Boys from 1954 to 1959. Though the institute did offer a music course, Harrison was disappointed with the absence of guitars, and felt the school "moulded [students] into being frightened".
Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby, Cab Calloway, Django Reinhardt and Hoagy Carmichael; by the 1950s, Carl Perkins and Lonnie Donegan were significant influences. In early 1956, he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in rock and roll. He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, "I was totally into guitars." Harrison cited Slim Whitman as another early influence: "The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were definitely coming in."
At first, Harold Harrison was apprehensive about his son's interest in pursuing a music career. However, in 1956, he bought George a Dutch Egmond flat-top acoustic guitar, which according to Harold, cost £3.10s.– (equivalent to £90 in 2023). One of his father's friends taught Harrison how to play "Whispering", "Sweet Sue" and "Dinah". Inspired by Donegan's music, Harrison formed a skiffle group, the Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. On the bus to school, Harrison met Paul McCartney, who also attended the Liverpool Institute, and the pair bonded over their shared love of music.
McCartney and his friend John Lennon were in a skiffle group called the Quarrymen. In March 1958, at McCartney's urging, Harrison auditioned for the Quarrymen at Rory Storm's Morgue Skiffle Club, playing Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith's "Guitar Boogie Shuffle", but Lennon felt that Harrison, having just turned 15, was too young to join the band. McCartney arranged a second meeting, on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, during which Harrison impressed Lennon by performing the lead guitar part for the instrumental "Raunchy". He began socialising with the group, filling in on guitar as needed, and then became accepted as a member. Although his father wanted him to continue his education, Harrison left school at 16 and worked for several months as an apprentice electrician at Blacklers, a local department store. During the group's first tour of Scotland, in 1960, Harrison used the pseudonym "Carl Harrison", in reference to Carl Perkins.
In 1960, promoter Allan Williams arranged for the band, now calling themselves the Beatles, to play at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs in Hamburg, both owned by Bruno Koschmider. Their first residency in Hamburg ended prematurely when Harrison was deported for being too young to work in nightclubs. When Brian Epstein became their manager in December 1961, he polished up their image and later secured them a recording contract with EMI. The group's first single, "Love Me Do", peaked at number 17 on the Record Retailer chart, and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me, was released in early 1963, Beatlemania had arrived. Often serious and focused while on stage with the band, Harrison was known as "the quiet Beatle". That moniker arose when the Beatles arrived in the United States in early 1964, and Harrison was ill with a case of Strep throat and a fever and was medically advised to limit speaking as much as possible until he performed on The Ed Sullivan Show as scheduled. As such, the press noticed Harrison's apparent laconic nature in public appearances on that tour and the subsequent nickname stuck, much to Harrison's amusement. He had two lead vocal credits on the LP, including the Lennon–McCartney song "Do You Want to Know a Secret?", and three on their second album, With the Beatles (1963). The latter included "Don't Bother Me", Harrison's first solo writing credit.
Harrison served as the Beatles' scout for new American releases, being especially knowledgeable about soul music. By 1965's Rubber Soul, he had begun to lead the other Beatles into folk rock through his interest in the Byrds and Bob Dylan, and towards Indian classical music through his use of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". He later called Rubber Soul his "favourite [Beatles] album". Revolver (1966) included three of his compositions: "Taxman", selected as the album's opening track, "Love You To" and "I Want to Tell You". His drone-like tambura part on Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows" exemplified the band's ongoing exploration of non-Western instruments, while the sitar- and tabla-based "Love You To" represented the Beatles' first genuine foray into Indian music. According to the ethnomusicologist David Reck, the latter song set a precedent in popular music as an example of Asian culture being represented by Westerners respectfully and without parody. Author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1978 that following Harrison's increased association with the sitar after "Norwegian Wood", he became known as "the maharaja of raga-rock". Harrison continued to develop his interest in non-Western instrumentation, playing swarmandal on "Strawberry Fields Forever".
By late 1966, Harrison's interests had moved away from the Beatles. This was reflected in his choice of Eastern gurus and religious leaders for inclusion on the album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. His sole composition on the album was the Indian-inspired "Within You Without You", to which no other Beatle contributed. He played sitar and tambura on the track, backed by musicians from the London Asian Music Circle on dilruba, swarmandal and tabla. He later commented on the Sgt. Pepper album: "It was a millstone and a milestone in the music industry ... There's about half the songs I like and the other half I can't stand."
In January 1968, he recorded the basic track for his song "The Inner Light" at EMI's studio in Bombay, using a group of local musicians playing traditional Indian instruments. Released as the B-side to McCartney's "Lady Madonna", it was the first Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single. Derived from a quotation from the Tao Te Ching, the song's lyric reflected Harrison's deepening interest in Hinduism and meditation. During the recording of The Beatles that same year, tensions within the group ran high, and drummer Ringo Starr quit briefly. Harrison's four songwriting contributions to the double album included "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which featured Eric Clapton on lead guitar, and the horn-driven "Savoy Truffle".
Dylan and the Band were a major musical influence on Harrison at the end of his career with the Beatles. While on a visit to Woodstock in late 1968, he established a friendship with Dylan and found himself drawn to the Band's sense of communal music-making and to the creative equality among the band members, which contrasted with Lennon and McCartney's domination of the Beatles' songwriting and creative direction. This coincided with a prolific period in his songwriting and a growing desire to assert his independence from the Beatles. Tensions among the group surfaced again in January 1969, at Twickenham Studios, during the filmed rehearsals that became the 1970 documentary Let It Be. Frustrated by the cold and sterile film studio, by Lennon's creative disengagement from the Beatles, and by what he perceived as a domineering attitude from McCartney, Harrison quit the group on 10 January. He returned 12 days later, after his bandmates had agreed to move the film project to their own Apple Studio and to abandon McCartney's plan for making a return to public performance.
Relations among the Beatles were more cordial, though still strained, when the band recorded their 1969 album Abbey Road. The LP included what Lavezzoli describes as "two classic contributions" from Harrison – "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" – that saw him "finally achieve equal songwriting status" with Lennon and McCartney. During the album's recording, Harrison asserted more creative control than before, rejecting suggestions for changes to his music, particularly from McCartney. "Something" became his first A-side when issued on a double A-side single with "Come Together"; the song was number one in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and West Germany, and the combined sides topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. In the 1970s Frank Sinatra recorded "Something" twice (1970 and 1979) and later dubbed it "the greatest love song of the past fifty years". Lennon considered it the best song on Abbey Road, and it became the Beatles' second most covered song after "Yesterday".
In May 1970, Harrison's song "For You Blue" was coupled on a US single with McCartney's "The Long and Winding Road" and became Harrison's second chart-topper when the sides were listed together at number one on the Hot 100. His increased productivity meant that by the time of their break-up he had amassed a stockpile of unreleased compositions. While Harrison grew as a songwriter, his compositional presence on Beatles albums remained limited to two or three songs, increasing his frustration, and significantly contributing to the band's break-up. Harrison's last recording session with the Beatles was on 4 January 1970, when he, McCartney and Starr recorded his song "I Me Mine" for the Let It Be soundtrack album.
Before the Beatles' break-up, Harrison had already recorded and released two solo albums: Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound, both of which contain mainly instrumental compositions. Wonderwall Music, a soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall, blends Indian and Western instrumentation, while Electronic Sound is an experimental album that prominently features a Moog synthesizer. Released in November 1968, Wonderwall Music was the first solo album by a Beatle and the first LP released by Apple Records. Indian musicians Aashish Khan and Shivkumar Sharma performed on the album, which contains the experimental sound collage "Dream Scene", recorded several months before Lennon's "Revolution 9".
In December 1969, Harrison participated in a brief tour of Europe with the American group Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. During the tour, which included Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, drummer Jim Gordon and band leaders Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Harrison began to play slide guitar, and also began to write "My Sweet Lord", which became his first single as a solo artist.
For many years, Harrison was restricted in his songwriting contributions to the Beatles' albums, but he released All Things Must Pass, a triple album with two discs of his songs and the third of recordings of Harrison jamming with friends. The album was regarded by many as his best work, and it topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The number-one hit single "My Sweet Lord" and the top-ten single "What Is Life" were taken from the album, which was co-produced by Phil Spector using his "Wall of Sound" approach; the musicians included Starr, Clapton, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, the whole of Delaney and Bonnie's Friends band, and the Apple group Badfinger. On its release, All Things Must Pass was received with critical acclaim; Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described it as being "of classic Spectorian proportions, Wagnerian, Brucknerian, the music of mountain tops and vast horizons". Author and musicologist Ian Inglis considers the lyrics of the album's title track "a recognition of the impermanence of human existence ... a simple and poignant conclusion" to Harrison's former band. In 1971, Bright Tunes sued Harrison for copyright infringement over "My Sweet Lord", owing to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons hit "He's So Fine". When the case was heard in the United States district court in 1976, he denied deliberately plagiarising the song, but lost the case, as the judge ruled that he had done so subconsciously.
In 2000, Apple Records released a thirtieth-anniversary edition of the album, and Harrison actively participated in its promotion. In an interview, he reflected on the work: "It's just something that was like my continuation from the Beatles, really. It was me sort of getting out of the Beatles and just going my own way ... it was a very happy occasion." He commented on the production: "Well, in those days it was like the reverb was kind of used a bit more than what I would do now. In fact, I don't use reverb at all. I can't stand it ... You know, it's hard to go back to anything thirty years later and expect it to be how you would want it now."
Harrison responded to a request from Ravi Shankar by organising a charity event, the Concert for Bangladesh, which took place on 1 August 1971. The event drew over 40,000 people to two shows in New York's Madison Square Garden. The goal of the event was to raise money to aid starving refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Shankar opened the show, which featured popular musicians such as Dylan, Clapton, Leon Russell, Badfinger, Preston and Starr.
A triple album, The Concert for Bangladesh, was released by Apple in December, followed by a concert film in 1972. Credited to "George Harrison and Friends", the album topped the UK chart and peaked at number 2 in the US, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Tax troubles and questionable expenses later tied up many of the proceeds, but Harrison commented: "Mainly the concert was to attract attention to the situation ... The money we raised was secondary, and although we had some money problems ... they still got plenty ... even though it was a drop in the ocean. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended."
Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World held the number one spot on the Billboard albums chart for five weeks, and the album's single, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", also reached number one in the US. In the UK, the LP peaked at number two and the single reached number 8. The album was lavishly produced and packaged, and its dominant message was Harrison's Hindu beliefs. In Greene's opinion it "contained many of the strongest compositions of his career". Stephen Holden, writing in Rolling Stone, felt the album was "vastly appealing" and "profoundly seductive", and that it stood "alone as an article of faith, miraculous in its radiance". Other reviewers were less enthusiastic, describing the release as awkward, sanctimonious and overly sentimental.
In November 1974, Harrison became the first ex-Beatle to tour North America when he began his 45-date Dark Horse Tour. The shows included guest spots by his band members Billy Preston and Tom Scott, and traditional and contemporary Indian music performed by "Ravi Shankar, Family and Friends". Despite numerous positive reviews, the consensus reaction to the tour was negative. Some fans found Shankar's significant presence to be a bizarre disappointment, and many were affronted by what Inglis described as Harrison's "sermonizing". Further, he reworked the lyrics to several Beatles songs, and his laryngitis-affected vocals led to some critics calling the tour "dark hoarse". The author Robert Rodriguez commented: "While the Dark Horse tour might be considered a noble failure, there were a number of fans who were tuned-in to what was being attempted. They went away ecstatic, conscious that they had just witnessed something so uplifting that it could never be repeated." Simon Leng called the tour "groundbreaking" and "revolutionary in its presentation of Indian Music".
In December, Harrison released Dark Horse, which was an album that earned him the least favourable reviews of his career. Rolling Stone called it "the chronicle of a performer out of his element, working to a deadline, enfeebling his overtaxed talents by a rush to deliver a new 'LP product', rehearse a band, and assemble a cross-country tour, all within three weeks". The album reached number 4 on the Billboard chart and the single "Dark Horse" reached number 15, but they failed to make an impact in the UK. The music critic Mikal Gilmore described Dark Horse as "one of Harrison's most fascinating works – a record about change and loss".
Harrison's final studio album for EMI and Apple Records, the soul music-inspired Extra Texture (Read All About It) (1975), peaked at number 8 on the Billboard chart and number 16 in the UK. Harrison considered it the least satisfactory of the three albums he had recorded since All Things Must Pass. Leng identified "bitterness and dismay" in many of the tracks; his long-time friend Klaus Voormann commented: "He wasn't up for it ... It was a terrible time because I think there was a lot of cocaine going around, and that's when I got out of the picture ... I didn't like his frame of mind". He released two singles from the LP: "You", which reached the Billboard top 20, and "This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)", Apple's final original single release.
Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976), Harrison's first album release on his own Dark Horse Records label, produced the hit singles "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", both of which reached the top 25 in the US. The surreal humour of "Crackerbox Palace" reflected Harrison's association with Monty Python's Eric Idle, who directed a comical music video for the song. With an emphasis on melody and musicianship, and a more subtle subject matter than the pious message of his earlier works, Thirty Three & 1/3 earned Harrison his most favourable critical notices in the US since All Things Must Pass. The album peaked just outside the top ten there, but outsold his previous two LPs. As part of his promotion for the release, Harrison performed on Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon.
In 1979, Harrison released George Harrison, which followed his second marriage and the birth of his son Dhani. Co-produced by Russ Titelman, the album and the single "Blow Away" both made the Billboard top 20. The album marked the beginning of Harrison's gradual retreat from the music business, with several of the songs having been written in the tranquil setting of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago. Leng described George Harrison as "melodic and lush ... peaceful ... the work of a man who had lived the rock and roll dream twice over and was now embracing domestic as well as spiritual bliss".
The murder of John Lennon on 8 December 1980 disturbed Harrison and reinforced his decades-long concern about stalkers. The tragedy was also a deep personal loss, although Harrison and Lennon had little contact in the years before Lennon was killed. Following the murder, Harrison commented: "After all we went through together I had and still have great love and respect for John Lennon. I am shocked and stunned." Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Starr to make the song a tribute to Lennon. "All Those Years Ago", which included vocal contributions from Paul and Linda McCartney, as well as Starr's original drum part, peaked at number two in the US charts. The single was included on the album Somewhere in England in 1981.
Harrison did not release any new albums for five years after 1982's Gone Troppo received little notice from critics or the public. During this period he made several guest appearances, including a 1985 performance at a tribute to Carl Perkins titled Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session. In March 1986 he made a surprise appearance during the finale of the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert, an event organised to raise money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital. The following year, he appeared at The Prince's Trust concert at London's Wembley Arena, performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun". In February 1987 he joined Dylan, John Fogerty and Jesse Ed Davis on stage for a two-hour performance with the blues musician Taj Mahal. Harrison recalled: "Bob rang me up and asked if I wanted to come out for the evening and see Taj Mahal ... So we went there and had a few of these Mexican beers – and had a few more ... Bob says, 'Hey, why don't we all get up and play, and you can sing?' But every time I got near the microphone, Dylan comes up and just starts singing this rubbish in my ear, trying to throw me."
In November 1987, Harrison released the platinum album Cloud Nine. Co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the album included Harrison's rendition of James Ray's "Got My Mind Set on You", which went to number one in the US and number two in the UK. The accompanying music video received substantial airplay, and another single, "When We Was Fab", a retrospective of the Beatles' career, earned two MTV Music Video Awards nominations in 1988. Recorded at his estate in Friar Park, Harrison's slide guitar playing featured prominently on the album, which included several of his long-time musical collaborators, including Clapton, Jim Keltner and Jim Horn. Cloud Nine reached number eight and number ten on the US and UK charts respectively, and several tracks from the album achieved placement on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart – "Devil's Radio", "This Is Love" and "Cloud 9".
In 1988, Harrison formed the Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. The band had gathered in Dylan's garage to record a song for a Harrison European single release. Harrison's record company decided the track, "Handle with Care", was too good for its original purpose as a B-side and asked for a full album. The LP, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, was released in October 1988 and recorded under pseudonyms as half-brothers, supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury Sr. It reached number 16 in the UK and number 3 in the US, where it was certified triple platinum. Harrison's pseudonym on the album was "Nelson Wilbury"; he used the name "Spike Wilbury" for their second album.
In 1989, Harrison and Starr appeared in the music video for Petty's song "I Won't Back Down". In October that year, Harrison assembled and released Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989, a compilation of his later solo work. The album included three new songs, including "Cheer Down", which Harrison had recently contributed to the Lethal Weapon 2 film soundtrack.
Following Orbison's death in December 1988, the Wilburys recorded as a four-piece. Their second album, issued in October 1990, was mischievously titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. According to Lynne, "That was George's idea. He said, 'Let's confuse the buggers.'" It peaked at number 14 in the UK and number 11 in the US, where it was certified platinum. The Wilburys never performed live, and the group did not record together again following the release of their second album.
In December 1991, Harrison joined Clapton for a tour of Japan. It was Harrison's first since 1974 and no others followed. On 6 April 1992, Harrison held a benefit concert for the Natural Law Party at the Royal Albert Hall, his first London performance since the Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert. In October 1992, he performed at a Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, playing alongside Dylan, Clapton, McGuinn, Petty and Neil Young.
In 1994, Harrison began a collaboration with McCartney, Starr and producer Jeff Lynne for the Beatles Anthology project. This included the recording of two new Beatles songs built around solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by Lennon as well as lengthy interviews about the Beatles' career. Released in December 1995, "Free as a Bird" was the first new Beatles single since 1970. In March 1996, they released a second single, "Real Love". They also attempted to finish a third single, "Now and Then", but did not finish it because the audio quality of the cassette was, according to Harrison, "fucking rubbish." The song was later finished by McCartney and Starr and released in 2023. He later commented on the project: "I hope somebody does this to all my crap demos when I'm dead, make them into hit songs."
After the Anthology project, Harrison collaborated with Ravi Shankar on the latter's Chants of India. Harrison's final television appearance was a VH-1 special to promote the album, taped in May 1997. Soon afterwards, Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer; he was treated with radiotherapy, which was thought at the time to be successful. He publicly blamed years of smoking for the illness.
In January 1998, Harrison attended Carl Perkins' funeral in Jackson, Tennessee, where he performed a brief rendition of Perkins' song "Your True Love". In May, he represented the Beatles at London's High Court in their successful bid to gain control of unauthorised recordings made of a 1962 performance by the band at the Star-Club in Hamburg. The following year, he was the most active of the former Beatles in promoting the reissue of their 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine.
On 30 December 1999, Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked at their home, Friar Park. Michael Abram, a 34-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, broke in and attacked Harrison with a kitchen knife, puncturing a lung and causing head injuries before his wife incapacitated the assailant by striking him repeatedly with a fireplace poker and a lamp. Harrison later commented, "I felt exhausted and could feel the strength draining from me. I vividly remember a deliberate thrust to my chest. I could hear my lung exhaling and had blood in my mouth. I believed I had been fatally stabbed." Following the attack, Harrison was hospitalised with more than 40 stab wounds, and part of his punctured lung was removed. He released a statement soon afterwards regarding his assailant: "He wasn't a burglar, and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys. Adi Shankara, an Indian historical, spiritual and groovy-type person, once said, 'Life is fragile like a raindrop on a lotus leaf.' And you'd better believe it." Upon being released from a mental hospital in 2002, Abram said: "If I could turn back the clock, I would give anything not to have done what I did in attacking George Harrison, but looking back on it now, I have come to understand that I was at the time not in control of my actions. I can only hope the Harrison family might somehow find it in their hearts to accept my apologies."
The injuries inflicted on Harrison during the home invasion were downplayed by his family in their comments to the press. Having seen Harrison looking so healthy beforehand, those in his social circle believed that the attack brought about a change in him and was the cause for his cancer's return. In May 2001, it was revealed that Harrison had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and in July, it was reported that he was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland. While in Switzerland, Starr visited him but had to cut short his stay to travel to Boston, where his daughter was undergoing emergency brain surgery. Harrison, who was very weak, quipped: "Do you want me to come with you?" In November 2001, he began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non–small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. When the news was made public, Harrison bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages.
On 29 November 2001, Harrison died at a property belonging to McCartney, on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He was 58 years old. He died in the company of Olivia, Dhani, Shankar and the latter's wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami, who chanted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. His final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: "Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another." He was cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and his funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. His close family scattered his ashes according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi, India. He left almost £100 million in his will.
Harrison's final studio album, Brainwashed (2002), was released posthumously after it was completed by his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne. A quotation from the Bhagavad Gita is included in the album's liner notes: "There never was a time when you or I did not exist. Nor will there be any future when we shall cease to be." A media-only single, "Stuck Inside a Cloud", which Leng describes as "a uniquely candid reaction to illness and mortality", achieved number 27 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The single "Any Road", released in May 2003, peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. "Marwa Blues" went on to receive the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, while "Any Road" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Harrison's guitar work with the Beatles was varied and flexible. Although not fast or flashy, his lead guitar playing was solid and typified the more subdued lead guitar style of the early 1960s. His rhythm guitar playing was innovative, for example when he used a capo to shorten the strings on an acoustic guitar, as on the Rubber Soul (1965) album and "Here Comes the Sun", to create a bright, sweet sound. Eric Clapton felt that Harrison was "clearly an innovator" as he was "taking certain elements of R&B and rock and rockabilly and creating something unique". Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner described Harrison as "a guitarist who was never showy but who had an innate, eloquent melodic sense. He played exquisitely in the service of the song". The guitar picking style of Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins influenced Harrison, giving a country music feel to many of the Beatles' recordings. He identified Chuck Berry as another early influence.
In 1961, the Beatles recorded "Cry for a Shadow", a blues-inspired instrumental co-written by Lennon and Harrison, who is credited with composing the song's lead guitar part, building on unusual chord voicings and imitating the style of other English groups such as the Shadows. Harrison's liberal use of the diatonic scale in his guitar playing reveals the influence of Buddy Holly, and his interest in Berry inspired him to compose songs based on the blues scale while incorporating a rockabilly feel in the style of Perkins. Another of Harrison's musical techniques was the use of guitar lines written in octaves, as on "I'll Be on My Way".
By 1964, he had begun to develop a distinctive personal style as a guitarist, writing parts that featured the use of nonresolving tones, as with the ending chord arpeggios on "A Hard Day's Night". On this and other songs from the period, he used a Rickenbacker 360/12 – an electric guitar with twelve strings, the low eight of which are tuned in pairs, one octave apart, with the higher four being pairs tuned in unison. His use of the Rickenbacker on A Hard Day's Night helped to popularise the model, and the jangly sound became so prominent that Melody Maker termed it the Beatles' "secret weapon". In 1965, Harrison used an expression pedal to control his guitar's volume on "I Need You", creating a syncopated flautando effect with the melody resolving its dissonance through tonal displacements. He used the same volume-swell technique on "Yes It Is", applying what Everett described as "ghostly articulation" to the song's natural harmonics.
In 1966, Harrison contributed innovative musical ideas to Revolver. He played backwards guitar on Lennon's composition "I'm Only Sleeping" and a guitar counter-melody on "And Your Bird Can Sing" that moved in parallel octaves above McCartney's bass downbeats. His guitar playing on "I Want to Tell You" exemplified the pairing of altered chordal colours with descending chromatic lines and his guitar part for Sgt Pepper's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" mirrors Lennon's vocal line in much the same way that a sarangi player accompanies a khyal singer in a Hindu devotional song.
Everett described Harrison's guitar solo from "Old Brown Shoe" as "stinging [and] highly Claptonesque". He identified two of the composition's significant motifs: a bluesy trichord and a diminished triad with roots in A and E. Huntley called the song "a sizzling rocker with a ferocious ... solo". In Greene's opinion, Harrison's demo for "Old Brown Shoe" contains "one of the most complex lead guitar solos on any Beatles song".
Harrison's playing on Abbey Road, and in particular on "Something", marked a significant moment in his development as a guitarist. The song's guitar solo shows a varied range of influences, incorporating the blues guitar style of Clapton and the styles of Indian gamakas. According to author and musicologist Kenneth Womack: "'Something' meanders toward the most unforgettable of Harrison's guitar solos ... A masterpiece in simplicity, [it] reaches toward the sublime".
After Delaney Bramlett inspired him to learn slide guitar, Harrison began to incorporate it into his solo work, which allowed him to mimic many traditional Indian instruments, including the sarangi and the dilruba. Leng described Harrison's slide guitar solo on Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?" as a departure for "the sweet soloist of 'Something'", calling his playing "rightly famed ... one of Harrison's greatest guitar statements". Lennon commented: "That's the best he's ever fucking played in his life."
A Hawaiian influence is notable in much of Harrison's music, ranging from his slide guitar work on Gone Troppo (1982) to his televised performance of the Cab Calloway standard "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" on ukulele in 1992. Lavezzoli described Harrison's slide playing on the Grammy-winning instrumental "Marwa Blues" (2002) as demonstrating Hawaiian influences while comparing the melody to an Indian sarod or veena, calling it "yet another demonstration of Harrison's unique slide approach". Harrison was an admirer of George Formby and a member of the Ukulele Society of Great Britain, and played a ukulele solo in the style of Formby at the end of "Free as a Bird". He performed at a Formby convention in 1991, and served as the honorary president of the George Formby Appreciation Society. Harrison played bass guitar on a few tracks, including the Beatles songs "She Said She Said", "Golden Slumbers", "Birthday" and "Honey Pie". He also played bass on several solo recordings, including "Faster", "Wake Up My Love" and "Bye Bye Love".
During the Beatles' American tour in August 1965, Harrison's friend David Crosby of the Byrds introduced him to Indian classical music and the work of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Harrison described Shankar as "the first person who ever impressed me in my life ... and he was the only person who didn't try to impress me." Harrison became fascinated with the sitar and immersed himself in Indian music. According to Lavezzoli, Harrison's introduction of the instrument on the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood" "opened the floodgates for Indian instrumentation in rock music, triggering what Shankar would call 'The Great Sitar Explosion' of 1966–67". Lavezzoli recognises Harrison as "the man most responsible for this phenomenon".
In June 1966, Harrison met Shankar at the home of Mrs Angadi of the Asian Music Circle, asked to be his student, and was accepted. Before this meeting, Harrison had recorded his Revolver track "Love You To", contributing a sitar part that Lavezzoli describes as an "astonishing improvement" over "Norwegian Wood" and "the most accomplished performance on sitar by any rock musician". On 6 July, Harrison travelled to India to buy a sitar from Rikhi Ram & Sons in New Delhi. In September, following the Beatles' final tour, he returned to India to study sitar for six weeks with Shankar. He initially stayed in Bombay until fans learned of his arrival, then moved to a houseboat on a remote lake in Kashmir. During this visit, he also received tutelage from Shambhu Das, Shankar's protégé.
Harrison studied the instrument until 1968, when, following a discussion with Shankar about the need to find his "roots", an encounter with Clapton and Jimi Hendrix at a hotel in New York convinced him to return to guitar playing. Harrison commented: "I decided ... I'm not going to be a great sitar player ... because I should have started at least fifteen years earlier." Harrison continued to use Indian instrumentation occasionally on his solo albums and remained strongly associated with the genre. Lavezzoli groups him with Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel as the three rock musicians who have given the most "mainstream exposure to non-Western musics, or the concept of 'world music'".
Harrison wrote his first song, "Don't Bother Me", while sick in a hotel bed in Bournemouth during August 1963, as "an exercise to see if I could write a song", as he remembered. His songwriting ability improved throughout the Beatles' career, but his material did not earn full respect from Lennon, McCartney and producer George Martin until near the group's break-up. In 1969, McCartney told Lennon: "Until this year, our songs have been better than George's. Now this year his songs are at least as good as ours". Harrison often had difficulty getting the band to record his songs. Most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contain at least two Harrison compositions; three of his songs appear on Revolver, "the album on which Harrison came of age as a songwriter", according to Inglis.
Harrison wrote the chord progression of "Don't Bother Me" almost exclusively in the Dorian mode, demonstrating an interest in exotic tones that eventually culminated in his embrace of Indian music. The latter proved a strong influence on his songwriting and contributed to his innovation within the Beatles. According to Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone, "Harrison's openness to new sounds and textures cleared new paths for his rock and roll compositions. His use of dissonance on ... 'Taxman' and 'I Want to Tell You' was revolutionary in popular music – and perhaps more originally creative than the avant-garde mannerisms that Lennon and McCartney borrowed from the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, Edgard Varèse and Igor Stravinsky ..."
Of the 1967 Harrison song "Within You Without You", author Gerry Farrell said that Harrison had created a "new form", calling the composition "a quintessential fusion of pop and Indian music". Lennon called the song one of Harrison's best: "His mind and his music are clear. There is his innate talent, he brought that sound together." In his next fully Indian-styled song, "The Inner Light", Harrison embraced the Karnatak discipline of Indian music, rather than the Hindustani style he had used in "Love You To" and "Within You Without You". Writing in 1997, Farrell commented: "It is a mark of Harrison's sincere involvement with Indian music that, nearly thirty years on, the Beatles' 'Indian' songs remain the most imaginative and successful examples of this type of fusion – for example, 'Blue Jay Way' and 'The Inner Light'."
Beatles biographer Bob Spitz described "Something" as a masterpiece, and "an intensely stirring romantic ballad that would challenge 'Yesterday' and 'Michelle' as one of the most recognizable songs they ever produced". Inglis considered Abbey Road a turning point in Harrison's development as a songwriter and musician. He described Harrison's two contributions to the LP, "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", as "exquisite", declaring them equal to any previous Beatles songs.
From 1968 onwards, Harrison collaborated with other musicians; he brought in Eric Clapton to play lead guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for the 1968 Beatles' White Album, and collaborated with John Barham on his 1968 debut solo album, Wonderwall Music, which included contributions from Clapton again, as well as Peter Tork from the Monkees. He played on tracks by Dave Mason, Nicky Hopkins, Alvin Lee, Ronnie Wood, Billy Preston and Tom Scott. Harrison co-wrote songs and music with Dylan, Clapton, Preston, Doris Troy, David Bromberg, Gary Wright, Wood, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty, among others. Harrison's music projects during the final years of the Beatles included producing Apple Records artists Doris Troy, Jackie Lomax and Billy Preston.
Harrison co-wrote the song "Badge" with Clapton, which was included on Cream's 1969 album, Goodbye. Harrison played rhythm guitar on the track, using the pseudonym "L'Angelo Misterioso" for contractual reasons. In May 1970, he played guitar on several songs during a recording session for Dylan's album New Morning. Between 1971 and 1973, he co-wrote and/or produced three top ten hits for Starr: "It Don't Come Easy", "Back Off Boogaloo" and "Photograph". Aside from "How Do You Sleep?", his contributions to Lennon's 1971 album Imagine included a slide guitar solo on "Gimme Some Truth" and dobro on "Crippled Inside". Also that year, he produced and played slide guitar on Badfinger's top ten hit "Day After Day", and a dobro on Preston's "I Wrote a Simple Song". He worked with Harry Nilsson on "You're Breakin' My Heart" (1972) and with Cheech & Chong on "Basketball Jones" (1973).
In 1974, Harrison founded Dark Horse Records as an avenue for collaboration with other musicians. He wanted Dark Horse to serve as a creative outlet for artists, as Apple Records had for the Beatles. Eric Idle commented: "He's extremely generous, and he backs and supports all sorts of people that you'll never, ever hear of." The first acts signed to the new label were Ravi Shankar and the duo Splinter. Harrison produced and made multiple musical contributions to Splinter's debut album, The Place I Love, which provided Dark Horse with its first hit, "Costafine Town". He also produced and played guitar and autoharp on Shankar's Shankar Family & Friends, the label's other inaugural release. Other artists signed by Dark Horse include Attitudes, Henry McCullough, Jiva and Stairsteps.
Harrison collaborated with Tom Scott on Scott's 1975 album New York Connection, and in 1981 he played guitar on "Walk a Thin Line", from Mick Fleetwood's The Visitor. His contributions to Starr's solo career continued with "Wrack My Brain", a 1981 US top 40 hit written and produced by Harrison, and guitar overdubs to two tracks on Vertical Man (1998). In 1996, Harrison recorded "Distance Makes No Difference With Love" with Carl Perkins for the latter's album Go Cat Go!, and, in 1990, he played slide guitar on the title track of Dylan's Under the Red Sky album. In 2001, he performed as a guest musician on Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra's comeback album Zoom, and on the song "Love Letters" for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He also co-wrote a new song with his son Dhani, "Horse to the Water", which was recorded on 2 October, eight weeks before his death. It appeared on Jools Holland's album Small World, Big Band.
When Harrison joined the Quarrymen in 1958, his main guitar was a Höfner President Acoustic, which he soon traded for a Höfner Club 40 model. His first solid-body electric guitar was a Czech-built Jolana Futurama/Grazioso. The guitars he used on early recordings were mainly Gretsch models, played through a Vox amplifier, including a Gretsch Duo Jet that he bought secondhand in 1961 and posed with on the album cover for Cloud Nine (1987). He also bought a Gretsch Tennessean and a Gretsch Country Gentleman, which he played on "She Loves You", and during the Beatles' 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1963, he bought a Rickenbacker 425 Fireglo, and in 1964 he acquired a Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar, which was the second of its kind to be manufactured. Harrison obtained his first Fender Stratocaster in 1965 and first used it during the recording of the Help! album that February; he also used it when recording Rubber Soul later that year, most notably on the song "Nowhere Man".
In early 1966, Harrison and Lennon each purchased Epiphone Casinos, which they used on Revolver. Harrison also used a Gibson J-160E and a Gibson SG Standard while recording the album. He later painted his Stratocaster in a psychedelic design that included the word "Bebopalula" above the pickguard and the guitar's nickname, "Rocky", on the headstock. He played this guitar in the Magical Mystery Tour (1967) film and throughout his solo career. In July 1968, Clapton gave him a Gibson Les Paul that had been stripped of its original finish and stained cherry red, which Harrison nicknamed "Lucy". Around this time, he obtained a Gibson Jumbo J-200 acoustic guitar, which he subsequently gave to Dylan to use at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival. In late 1968, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation gave Harrison a custom-made Fender Telecaster Rosewood prototype, made especially for him by Philip Kubicki. In August 2017, Fender released a "Limited Edition George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster" modelled after a Telecaster that Roger Rossmeisl originally created for Harrison.
Harrison helped finance Ravi Shankar's documentary Raga and released it through Apple Films in 1971. He also produced, with Apple manager Allen Klein, the Concert for Bangladesh film. In 1973, he produced the feature film Little Malcolm, but the project was lost amid the litigation surrounding the former Beatles ending their business ties with Klein.
In 1973, Peter Sellers introduced Harrison to Denis O'Brien. Soon after, the two went into business together. In 1978, to produce Monty Python's Life of Brian, they formed the film production and distribution company HandMade Films. Their opportunity for investment came after EMI Films withdrew funding at the demand of their chief executive, Bernard Delfont. Harrison financed the production of Life of Brian in part by mortgaging his home, which Idle later called "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history". The film grossed $21 million at the box office in the US. The first film distributed by HandMade Films was The Long Good Friday (1980), and the first they produced was Time Bandits (1981), a co-scripted project by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. The film featured a new song by Harrison, "Dream Away", in the closing credits. Time Bandits became one of HandMade's most successful and acclaimed efforts; with a budget of $5 million, it earned $35 million in the US within ten weeks of its release.
Harrison served as executive producer for 23 films with HandMade, including A Private Function (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Withnail and I (1987) and How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989). He made cameo appearances in several of these films, including a role as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise, for which he recorded five new songs. According to Ian Inglis, "[Harrison's] executive role in HandMade Films helped to sustain British cinema at a time of crisis, producing some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s." Following a series of box office bombs in the late 1980s, and excessive debt incurred by O'Brien which was guaranteed by Harrison, HandMade's financial situation became precarious. The company ceased operations in 1991 and was sold three years later to Paragon Entertainment, a Canadian corporation. Afterwards, Harrison sued O'Brien for $25 million for fraud and negligence, resulting in an $11.6 million judgement in 1996.
Harrison was involved in humanitarian and political activism throughout his life. In the 1960s, the Beatles supported the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. In early 1971, Ravi Shankar consulted Harrison about how to provide aid to the people of Bangladesh after the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Harrison hastily wrote and recorded the song "Bangla Desh", which became pop music's first charity single when issued by Apple Records in late July. He also pushed Apple to release Shankar's Joi Bangla EP in an effort to raise further awareness for the cause. Shankar asked for Harrison's advice about planning a small charity event in the US. Harrison responded by organising the Concert for Bangladesh, which raised more than $240,000. Around $13.5 million was generated through the album and film releases, although most of the funds were frozen in an Internal Revenue Service audit for ten years, due to Klein's failure to register the event as a UNICEF benefit beforehand. In June 1972, UNICEF honoured Harrison and Shankar, and Klein, with the "Child Is the Father of Man" award at an annual ceremony in recognition of their fundraising efforts for Bangladesh.
From 1980, Harrison became a vocal supporter of Greenpeace and CND. He also protested against the use of nuclear energy with Friends of the Earth, and helped finance Vole, a green magazine launched by Monty Python member Terry Jones. In 1990, he helped promote his wife Olivia's Romanian Angel Appeal on behalf of the thousands of Romanian orphans left abandoned by the state following the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Harrison recorded a benefit single, "Nobody's Child", with the Traveling Wilburys, and assembled a fundraising album with contributions from other artists including Clapton, Starr, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Donovan and Van Morrison.
The Concert for Bangladesh has been described as an innovative precursor for the large-scale charity rock shows that followed, including Live Aid. The George Harrison Humanitarian Fund for UNICEF, a joint effort between the Harrison family and the US Fund for UNICEF, aims to support programmes that help children caught in humanitarian emergencies. In December 2007, they donated $450,000 to help the victims of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh. On 13 October 2009, the first George Harrison Humanitarian Award went to Ravi Shankar for his efforts in saving the lives of children, and his involvement with the Concert for Bangladesh.
By the mid-1960s, Harrison had become an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles. During the filming of Help! in the Bahamas, they met the founder of Sivananda Yoga, Swami Vishnu-devananda, who gave each of them a signed copy of his book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. Between the end of the last Beatles tour in 1966 and the beginning of the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, he made a pilgrimage to India with his first wife, Pattie Boyd; there, he studied sitar with Ravi Shankar, met several gurus, and visited various holy places. In 1968, he travelled with the other Beatles to Rishikesh in northern India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Harrison's experiences with LSD in the mid-1960s served as a catalyst for his early pursuance of Hinduism. In a 1977 interview, George recalled:
For me, it was like a flash. The first time I had acid, it just opened up something in my head that was inside of me, and I realized a lot of things. I didn't learn them because I already knew them, but that happened to be the key that opened the door to reveal them. From the moment I had that, I wanted to have it all the time – these thoughts about the yogis and the Himalayas, and Ravi's music.
However, Harrison stopped using LSD after a disenchanting experience in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. He recounted in The Beatles Anthology:
That was the turning point for me – that's when I went right off the whole drug cult and stopped taking the dreaded lysergic acid. I had some in a little bottle – it was liquid. I put it under a microscope, and it looked like bits of old rope. I thought that I couldn't put that into my brain any more.
In line with the Hindu yoga tradition, Harrison became a vegetarian in the late 1960s. After being given various religious texts by Shankar in 1966, he remained a lifelong advocate of the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda – yogis and authors, respectively, of Raja Yoga and Autobiography of a Yogi. In mid-1969, he produced the single "Hare Krishna Mantra", performed by members of the London Radha Krishna Temple. Having also helped the Temple devotees become established in Britain, Harrison then met their leader, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, whom he described as "my friend ... my master" and "a perfect example of everything he preached". Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition, particularly japa-yoga chanting with beads, and became a lifelong devotee. In 1972 he donated his Letchmore Heath mansion north of London to the devotees. It was later converted to a temple and renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor.
Regarding other faiths, he once remarked: "All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call." He commented on his beliefs:
Krishna actually was in a body as a person ... What makes it complicated is, if he's God, what's he doing fighting on a battlefield? It took me ages to try to figure that out, and again it was Yogananda's spiritual interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita that made me realise what it was. Our idea of Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield in the chariot. So this is the point – that we're in these bodies, which is like a kind of chariot, and we're going through this incarnation, this life, which is kind of a battlefield. The senses of the body ... are the horses pulling the chariot, and we have to get control over the chariot by getting control over the reins. And Arjuna in the end says, "Please Krishna, you drive the chariot" because unless we bring Christ or Krishna or Buddha or whichever of our spiritual guides ... we're going to crash our chariot, and we're going to turn over, and we're going to get killed in the battlefield. That's why we say "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna", asking Krishna to come and take over the chariot.
Inglis comments that "Harrison's spiritual journey was seen as a serious and important development that reflected popular music's increasing maturity ... what he, and the Beatles, had managed to overturn was the paternalistic assumption that popular musicians had no role other than to stand on stage and sing their hit songs."
Harrison married model Pattie Boyd on 21 January 1966, with McCartney serving as best man. Harrison and Boyd had met on set in 1964 during the production of the film A Hard Day's Night, in which the 19-year-old Boyd had been cast as a schoolgirl. During a lunch break, George 'playfully' proposed to her. They separated in 1974 and their divorce was finalised in 1977. Boyd said her decision to end the marriage was due largely to George's repeated infidelities. The last infidelity culminated in an affair with Ringo's wife Maureen, which Boyd called "the final straw". She characterised the last year of their marriage as "fuelled by alcohol and cocaine", and she stated: "George used coke excessively, and I think it changed him ... it froze his emotions and hardened his heart." She subsequently moved in with Eric Clapton, and they married in 1979.
On 2 September 1978, Harrison married Olivia Trinidad Arias, who was a marketing executive for A&M Records, and later Dark Horse Records. As Dark Horse was a subsidiary of A&M, the couple had first met over the phone working on record company business, and then in person at the A&M Records offices in Los Angeles in 1974. Together they had one son, Dhani Harrison, born on 1 August 1978.
Harrison restored the English manor house and grounds of Friar Park, his home in Henley-on-Thames, where several of his music videos, including "Crackerbox Palace", were filmed; the grounds also served as the background for the cover of All Things Must Pass. He employed ten workers to maintain the 36-acre (15 ha) garden. Harrison commented on gardening as a form of escapism: "Sometimes I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet, and it's great when I'm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate I think: 'What the hell am I doing here?'" His autobiography, I, Me, Mine, is dedicated "to gardeners everywhere". The former Beatles publicist Derek Taylor helped Harrison write the book, which said little about the Beatles, focusing instead on Harrison's hobbies, music and lyrics. Taylor commented: "George is not disowning the Beatles ... but it was a long time ago and actually a short part of his life."
Harrison had an interest in sports cars and motor racing; he was one of the 100 people who purchased the McLaren F1 road car. He had collected photos of racing drivers and their cars since he was young; at 12, he had attended his first race, the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree. He wrote "Faster" as a tribute to the Formula One racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Ronnie Peterson. Proceeds from its release went to the Gunnar Nilsson cancer charity, set up after the Swedish driver's death from the disease in 1978. Harrison's first extravagant car, a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, was sold at auction on 7 December 2011 in London. An anonymous Beatles collector paid £350,000 for the vehicle that Harrison had bought new in January 1965.
For most of the Beatles' career, the relationships in the group were close. According to Hunter Davies, "the Beatles spent their lives not living a communal life, but communally living the same life. They were each other's greatest friends." Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd described how the Beatles "all belonged to each other" and admitted, "George has a lot with the others that I can never know about. Nobody, not even the wives, can break through or even comprehend it." Starr said, "We really looked out for each other and we had so many laughs together. In the old days we'd have the biggest hotel suites, the whole floor of the hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom, just to be with each other." He added, "there were some really loving, caring moments between four people: a hotel room here and there – a really amazing closeness. Just four guys who loved each other. It was pretty sensational."
Lennon stated that his relationship with Harrison was "one of young follower and older guy ... [he] was like a disciple of mine when we started." The two later bonded over their LSD experiences, finding common ground as seekers of spirituality. They took radically different paths thereafter, with, according to biographer Gary Tillery, Harrison finding God and Lennon coming to the conclusion that people are the creators of their own lives. In 1974, Harrison said of his former bandmate: "John Lennon is a saint and he's heavy-duty, and he's great and I love him. But at the same time, he's such a bastard – but that's the great thing about him, you see?"
Harrison and McCartney were the first of the Beatles to meet, having shared a school bus, and often learned and rehearsed new guitar chords together. McCartney said that he and Harrison usually shared a bedroom while touring. McCartney has referred to Harrison as his "baby brother". In a 1974 BBC radio interview with Alan Freeman, Harrison stated: "[McCartney] ruined me as a guitar player". In the same interview, however, Harrison stated that "I just know that whatever we've been through, there's always been something that's tied us together." Perhaps the most significant obstacle to a Beatles reunion after the death of Lennon was Harrison and McCartney's personal relationship, as both men admitted that they often got on each other's nerves. Rodriguez commented: "Even to the end of George's days, theirs was a volatile relationship". When, in a Yahoo! online chat in February 2001, he was asked if Paul "[pisses] you off", Harrison replied "Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass -- You know his faults -- Then let his foibles pass. Old Victorian Proverb. I'm sure there's enough about me that pisses him off, but I think we have now grown old enough to realize that we're both pretty damn cute!"
In June 1965, Harrison and the other Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). They received their insignia from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 26 October. In 1971, the Beatles received an Academy Award for the best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be. The minor planet 4149 Harrison, discovered in 1984, was named after him, as was a variety of Dahlia flower. In December 1992, he became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, an honour presented to music artists for significant bodies of work. The award recognised Harrison's "critical role in laying the groundwork for the modern concept of world music" and for his having "advanced society's comprehension of the spiritual and altruistic power of popular music". Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". He is also in number 65 in the list of "100 greatest songwriters of all time" by the same magazine.
In 2002, on the first anniversary of his death, the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall. Eric Clapton organised the event, which included performances by many of Harrison's friends and musical collaborators, including McCartney and Starr. Eric Idle, who described Harrison as "one of the few morally good people that rock and roll has produced", was among the performers of Monty Python's "Lumberjack Song". The profits from the concert went to Harrison's charity, the Material World Charitable Foundation.
In 2004, Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist by his former bandmates Lynne and Petty, and into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame in 2006 for the Concert for Bangladesh. On 14 April 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol Records Building. McCartney, Lynne and Petty were present when the star was unveiled. Harrison's widow Olivia, the actor Tom Hanks and Idle made speeches at the ceremony, and Harrison's son Dhani spoke the Hare Krishna mantra.
A documentary film titled George Harrison: Living in the Material World, directed by Martin Scorsese, was released in October 2011. The film features interviews with Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Terry Gilliam, Starr, Clapton, McCartney, Keltner and Astrid Kirchherr.
Harrison was posthumously honoured with The Recording Academy's Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in February 2015.
An Illinois State Historical Society marker in Benton, Illinois, commemorates Harrison's visit in the town in 1963 to see his sister, making him the first Beatle to visit the United States. In 2017, a mural instillation was unveiled in the town of Harrison painted by artist John Cerney. Statues of Harrison can be found around the world, including several across his native Liverpool and a bust in the Shadhinotar Shagram Triangle Sculpture Garden in Dhaka, Bangladesh, commemorating Harrison's contributions to Bangladeshi culture. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "George Harrison MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called \"the quiet Beatle\", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include \"Taxman\", \"Within You Without You\", \"While My Guitar Gently Weeps\", \"Here Comes the Sun\" and \"Something\". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help! He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with \"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)\". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement. After the band's break-up in 1970, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, \"My Sweet Lord\", and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar. He also organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles' Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce the Monty Python troupe's comedy film The Life of Brian (1979).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood, and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 31 in their 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. He is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani. A lifelong cigarette smoker, Harrison died of numerous cancers in 2001 at the age of 58, two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder at his home, Friar Park. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. He left an estate of almost £100 million.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Harrison was born at 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool, on 25 February 1943. He was the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves (or Hargrove) Harrison (1909–1978) and Louise (née French; 1911–1970). Harold was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line, and Louise was a shop assistant of Irish Catholic descent. He had one sister, Louise (16 August 1931 – 29 January 2023), and two brothers, Harold (born 1934) and Peter (20 July 1940 – 1 June 2007).",
"title": " Early years: 1943–1958"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "According to Boyd, Harrison's mother was particularly supportive: \"All she wanted for her children is that they should be happy, and she recognised that nothing made George quite as happy as making music.\" Louise was an enthusiastic music fan, and she was known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons' windows. When Louise was pregnant with George, she often listened to the weekly broadcast Radio India. Harrison's biographer Joshua Greene wrote, \"Every Sunday she tuned in to mystical sounds evoked by sitars and tablas, hoping that the exotic music would bring peace and calm to the baby in the womb.\"",
"title": " Early years: 1943–1958"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "For the first four years of his life, Harrison lived at 12 Arnold Grove, a terraced house on a cul-de-sac. The home had an outdoor toilet and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1949, the family was offered a council house and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke. In 1948, at the age of five, Harrison enrolled at Dovedale Primary School. He passed the eleven-plus exam and attended Liverpool Institute High School for Boys from 1954 to 1959. Though the institute did offer a music course, Harrison was disappointed with the absence of guitars, and felt the school \"moulded [students] into being frightened\".",
"title": " Early years: 1943–1958"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby, Cab Calloway, Django Reinhardt and Hoagy Carmichael; by the 1950s, Carl Perkins and Lonnie Donegan were significant influences. In early 1956, he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard Elvis Presley's \"Heartbreak Hotel\" playing from a nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in rock and roll. He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, \"I was totally into guitars.\" Harrison cited Slim Whitman as another early influence: \"The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were definitely coming in.\"",
"title": " Early years: 1943–1958"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "At first, Harold Harrison was apprehensive about his son's interest in pursuing a music career. However, in 1956, he bought George a Dutch Egmond flat-top acoustic guitar, which according to Harold, cost £3.10s.– (equivalent to £90 in 2023). One of his father's friends taught Harrison how to play \"Whispering\", \"Sweet Sue\" and \"Dinah\". Inspired by Donegan's music, Harrison formed a skiffle group, the Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. On the bus to school, Harrison met Paul McCartney, who also attended the Liverpool Institute, and the pair bonded over their shared love of music.",
"title": " Early years: 1943–1958"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "McCartney and his friend John Lennon were in a skiffle group called the Quarrymen. In March 1958, at McCartney's urging, Harrison auditioned for the Quarrymen at Rory Storm's Morgue Skiffle Club, playing Arthur \"Guitar Boogie\" Smith's \"Guitar Boogie Shuffle\", but Lennon felt that Harrison, having just turned 15, was too young to join the band. McCartney arranged a second meeting, on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, during which Harrison impressed Lennon by performing the lead guitar part for the instrumental \"Raunchy\". He began socialising with the group, filling in on guitar as needed, and then became accepted as a member. Although his father wanted him to continue his education, Harrison left school at 16 and worked for several months as an apprentice electrician at Blacklers, a local department store. During the group's first tour of Scotland, in 1960, Harrison used the pseudonym \"Carl Harrison\", in reference to Carl Perkins.",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1960, promoter Allan Williams arranged for the band, now calling themselves the Beatles, to play at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs in Hamburg, both owned by Bruno Koschmider. Their first residency in Hamburg ended prematurely when Harrison was deported for being too young to work in nightclubs. When Brian Epstein became their manager in December 1961, he polished up their image and later secured them a recording contract with EMI. The group's first single, \"Love Me Do\", peaked at number 17 on the Record Retailer chart, and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me, was released in early 1963, Beatlemania had arrived. Often serious and focused while on stage with the band, Harrison was known as \"the quiet Beatle\". That moniker arose when the Beatles arrived in the United States in early 1964, and Harrison was ill with a case of Strep throat and a fever and was medically advised to limit speaking as much as possible until he performed on The Ed Sullivan Show as scheduled. As such, the press noticed Harrison's apparent laconic nature in public appearances on that tour and the subsequent nickname stuck, much to Harrison's amusement. He had two lead vocal credits on the LP, including the Lennon–McCartney song \"Do You Want to Know a Secret?\", and three on their second album, With the Beatles (1963). The latter included \"Don't Bother Me\", Harrison's first solo writing credit.",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Harrison served as the Beatles' scout for new American releases, being especially knowledgeable about soul music. By 1965's Rubber Soul, he had begun to lead the other Beatles into folk rock through his interest in the Byrds and Bob Dylan, and towards Indian classical music through his use of the sitar on \"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)\". He later called Rubber Soul his \"favourite [Beatles] album\". Revolver (1966) included three of his compositions: \"Taxman\", selected as the album's opening track, \"Love You To\" and \"I Want to Tell You\". His drone-like tambura part on Lennon's \"Tomorrow Never Knows\" exemplified the band's ongoing exploration of non-Western instruments, while the sitar- and tabla-based \"Love You To\" represented the Beatles' first genuine foray into Indian music. According to the ethnomusicologist David Reck, the latter song set a precedent in popular music as an example of Asian culture being represented by Westerners respectfully and without parody. Author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1978 that following Harrison's increased association with the sitar after \"Norwegian Wood\", he became known as \"the maharaja of raga-rock\". Harrison continued to develop his interest in non-Western instrumentation, playing swarmandal on \"Strawberry Fields Forever\".",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "By late 1966, Harrison's interests had moved away from the Beatles. This was reflected in his choice of Eastern gurus and religious leaders for inclusion on the album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. His sole composition on the album was the Indian-inspired \"Within You Without You\", to which no other Beatle contributed. He played sitar and tambura on the track, backed by musicians from the London Asian Music Circle on dilruba, swarmandal and tabla. He later commented on the Sgt. Pepper album: \"It was a millstone and a milestone in the music industry ... There's about half the songs I like and the other half I can't stand.\"",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In January 1968, he recorded the basic track for his song \"The Inner Light\" at EMI's studio in Bombay, using a group of local musicians playing traditional Indian instruments. Released as the B-side to McCartney's \"Lady Madonna\", it was the first Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single. Derived from a quotation from the Tao Te Ching, the song's lyric reflected Harrison's deepening interest in Hinduism and meditation. During the recording of The Beatles that same year, tensions within the group ran high, and drummer Ringo Starr quit briefly. Harrison's four songwriting contributions to the double album included \"While My Guitar Gently Weeps\", which featured Eric Clapton on lead guitar, and the horn-driven \"Savoy Truffle\".",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Dylan and the Band were a major musical influence on Harrison at the end of his career with the Beatles. While on a visit to Woodstock in late 1968, he established a friendship with Dylan and found himself drawn to the Band's sense of communal music-making and to the creative equality among the band members, which contrasted with Lennon and McCartney's domination of the Beatles' songwriting and creative direction. This coincided with a prolific period in his songwriting and a growing desire to assert his independence from the Beatles. Tensions among the group surfaced again in January 1969, at Twickenham Studios, during the filmed rehearsals that became the 1970 documentary Let It Be. Frustrated by the cold and sterile film studio, by Lennon's creative disengagement from the Beatles, and by what he perceived as a domineering attitude from McCartney, Harrison quit the group on 10 January. He returned 12 days later, after his bandmates had agreed to move the film project to their own Apple Studio and to abandon McCartney's plan for making a return to public performance.",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Relations among the Beatles were more cordial, though still strained, when the band recorded their 1969 album Abbey Road. The LP included what Lavezzoli describes as \"two classic contributions\" from Harrison – \"Here Comes the Sun\" and \"Something\" – that saw him \"finally achieve equal songwriting status\" with Lennon and McCartney. During the album's recording, Harrison asserted more creative control than before, rejecting suggestions for changes to his music, particularly from McCartney. \"Something\" became his first A-side when issued on a double A-side single with \"Come Together\"; the song was number one in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and West Germany, and the combined sides topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. In the 1970s Frank Sinatra recorded \"Something\" twice (1970 and 1979) and later dubbed it \"the greatest love song of the past fifty years\". Lennon considered it the best song on Abbey Road, and it became the Beatles' second most covered song after \"Yesterday\".",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In May 1970, Harrison's song \"For You Blue\" was coupled on a US single with McCartney's \"The Long and Winding Road\" and became Harrison's second chart-topper when the sides were listed together at number one on the Hot 100. His increased productivity meant that by the time of their break-up he had amassed a stockpile of unreleased compositions. While Harrison grew as a songwriter, his compositional presence on Beatles albums remained limited to two or three songs, increasing his frustration, and significantly contributing to the band's break-up. Harrison's last recording session with the Beatles was on 4 January 1970, when he, McCartney and Starr recorded his song \"I Me Mine\" for the Let It Be soundtrack album.",
"title": "The Beatles: 1958–1970"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Before the Beatles' break-up, Harrison had already recorded and released two solo albums: Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound, both of which contain mainly instrumental compositions. Wonderwall Music, a soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall, blends Indian and Western instrumentation, while Electronic Sound is an experimental album that prominently features a Moog synthesizer. Released in November 1968, Wonderwall Music was the first solo album by a Beatle and the first LP released by Apple Records. Indian musicians Aashish Khan and Shivkumar Sharma performed on the album, which contains the experimental sound collage \"Dream Scene\", recorded several months before Lennon's \"Revolution 9\".",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In December 1969, Harrison participated in a brief tour of Europe with the American group Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. During the tour, which included Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, drummer Jim Gordon and band leaders Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Harrison began to play slide guitar, and also began to write \"My Sweet Lord\", which became his first single as a solo artist.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "For many years, Harrison was restricted in his songwriting contributions to the Beatles' albums, but he released All Things Must Pass, a triple album with two discs of his songs and the third of recordings of Harrison jamming with friends. The album was regarded by many as his best work, and it topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The number-one hit single \"My Sweet Lord\" and the top-ten single \"What Is Life\" were taken from the album, which was co-produced by Phil Spector using his \"Wall of Sound\" approach; the musicians included Starr, Clapton, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, the whole of Delaney and Bonnie's Friends band, and the Apple group Badfinger. On its release, All Things Must Pass was received with critical acclaim; Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described it as being \"of classic Spectorian proportions, Wagnerian, Brucknerian, the music of mountain tops and vast horizons\". Author and musicologist Ian Inglis considers the lyrics of the album's title track \"a recognition of the impermanence of human existence ... a simple and poignant conclusion\" to Harrison's former band. In 1971, Bright Tunes sued Harrison for copyright infringement over \"My Sweet Lord\", owing to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons hit \"He's So Fine\". When the case was heard in the United States district court in 1976, he denied deliberately plagiarising the song, but lost the case, as the judge ruled that he had done so subconsciously.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 2000, Apple Records released a thirtieth-anniversary edition of the album, and Harrison actively participated in its promotion. In an interview, he reflected on the work: \"It's just something that was like my continuation from the Beatles, really. It was me sort of getting out of the Beatles and just going my own way ... it was a very happy occasion.\" He commented on the production: \"Well, in those days it was like the reverb was kind of used a bit more than what I would do now. In fact, I don't use reverb at all. I can't stand it ... You know, it's hard to go back to anything thirty years later and expect it to be how you would want it now.\"",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Harrison responded to a request from Ravi Shankar by organising a charity event, the Concert for Bangladesh, which took place on 1 August 1971. The event drew over 40,000 people to two shows in New York's Madison Square Garden. The goal of the event was to raise money to aid starving refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Shankar opened the show, which featured popular musicians such as Dylan, Clapton, Leon Russell, Badfinger, Preston and Starr.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "A triple album, The Concert for Bangladesh, was released by Apple in December, followed by a concert film in 1972. Credited to \"George Harrison and Friends\", the album topped the UK chart and peaked at number 2 in the US, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Tax troubles and questionable expenses later tied up many of the proceeds, but Harrison commented: \"Mainly the concert was to attract attention to the situation ... The money we raised was secondary, and although we had some money problems ... they still got plenty ... even though it was a drop in the ocean. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended.\"",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World held the number one spot on the Billboard albums chart for five weeks, and the album's single, \"Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)\", also reached number one in the US. In the UK, the LP peaked at number two and the single reached number 8. The album was lavishly produced and packaged, and its dominant message was Harrison's Hindu beliefs. In Greene's opinion it \"contained many of the strongest compositions of his career\". Stephen Holden, writing in Rolling Stone, felt the album was \"vastly appealing\" and \"profoundly seductive\", and that it stood \"alone as an article of faith, miraculous in its radiance\". Other reviewers were less enthusiastic, describing the release as awkward, sanctimonious and overly sentimental.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In November 1974, Harrison became the first ex-Beatle to tour North America when he began his 45-date Dark Horse Tour. The shows included guest spots by his band members Billy Preston and Tom Scott, and traditional and contemporary Indian music performed by \"Ravi Shankar, Family and Friends\". Despite numerous positive reviews, the consensus reaction to the tour was negative. Some fans found Shankar's significant presence to be a bizarre disappointment, and many were affronted by what Inglis described as Harrison's \"sermonizing\". Further, he reworked the lyrics to several Beatles songs, and his laryngitis-affected vocals led to some critics calling the tour \"dark hoarse\". The author Robert Rodriguez commented: \"While the Dark Horse tour might be considered a noble failure, there were a number of fans who were tuned-in to what was being attempted. They went away ecstatic, conscious that they had just witnessed something so uplifting that it could never be repeated.\" Simon Leng called the tour \"groundbreaking\" and \"revolutionary in its presentation of Indian Music\".",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In December, Harrison released Dark Horse, which was an album that earned him the least favourable reviews of his career. Rolling Stone called it \"the chronicle of a performer out of his element, working to a deadline, enfeebling his overtaxed talents by a rush to deliver a new 'LP product', rehearse a band, and assemble a cross-country tour, all within three weeks\". The album reached number 4 on the Billboard chart and the single \"Dark Horse\" reached number 15, but they failed to make an impact in the UK. The music critic Mikal Gilmore described Dark Horse as \"one of Harrison's most fascinating works – a record about change and loss\".",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Harrison's final studio album for EMI and Apple Records, the soul music-inspired Extra Texture (Read All About It) (1975), peaked at number 8 on the Billboard chart and number 16 in the UK. Harrison considered it the least satisfactory of the three albums he had recorded since All Things Must Pass. Leng identified \"bitterness and dismay\" in many of the tracks; his long-time friend Klaus Voormann commented: \"He wasn't up for it ... It was a terrible time because I think there was a lot of cocaine going around, and that's when I got out of the picture ... I didn't like his frame of mind\". He released two singles from the LP: \"You\", which reached the Billboard top 20, and \"This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)\", Apple's final original single release.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976), Harrison's first album release on his own Dark Horse Records label, produced the hit singles \"This Song\" and \"Crackerbox Palace\", both of which reached the top 25 in the US. The surreal humour of \"Crackerbox Palace\" reflected Harrison's association with Monty Python's Eric Idle, who directed a comical music video for the song. With an emphasis on melody and musicianship, and a more subtle subject matter than the pious message of his earlier works, Thirty Three & 1/3 earned Harrison his most favourable critical notices in the US since All Things Must Pass. The album peaked just outside the top ten there, but outsold his previous two LPs. As part of his promotion for the release, Harrison performed on Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In 1979, Harrison released George Harrison, which followed his second marriage and the birth of his son Dhani. Co-produced by Russ Titelman, the album and the single \"Blow Away\" both made the Billboard top 20. The album marked the beginning of Harrison's gradual retreat from the music business, with several of the songs having been written in the tranquil setting of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago. Leng described George Harrison as \"melodic and lush ... peaceful ... the work of a man who had lived the rock and roll dream twice over and was now embracing domestic as well as spiritual bliss\".",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The murder of John Lennon on 8 December 1980 disturbed Harrison and reinforced his decades-long concern about stalkers. The tragedy was also a deep personal loss, although Harrison and Lennon had little contact in the years before Lennon was killed. Following the murder, Harrison commented: \"After all we went through together I had and still have great love and respect for John Lennon. I am shocked and stunned.\" Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Starr to make the song a tribute to Lennon. \"All Those Years Ago\", which included vocal contributions from Paul and Linda McCartney, as well as Starr's original drum part, peaked at number two in the US charts. The single was included on the album Somewhere in England in 1981.",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Harrison did not release any new albums for five years after 1982's Gone Troppo received little notice from critics or the public. During this period he made several guest appearances, including a 1985 performance at a tribute to Carl Perkins titled Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session. In March 1986 he made a surprise appearance during the finale of the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert, an event organised to raise money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital. The following year, he appeared at The Prince's Trust concert at London's Wembley Arena, performing \"While My Guitar Gently Weeps\" and \"Here Comes the Sun\". In February 1987 he joined Dylan, John Fogerty and Jesse Ed Davis on stage for a two-hour performance with the blues musician Taj Mahal. Harrison recalled: \"Bob rang me up and asked if I wanted to come out for the evening and see Taj Mahal ... So we went there and had a few of these Mexican beers – and had a few more ... Bob says, 'Hey, why don't we all get up and play, and you can sing?' But every time I got near the microphone, Dylan comes up and just starts singing this rubbish in my ear, trying to throw me.\"",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In November 1987, Harrison released the platinum album Cloud Nine. Co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the album included Harrison's rendition of James Ray's \"Got My Mind Set on You\", which went to number one in the US and number two in the UK. The accompanying music video received substantial airplay, and another single, \"When We Was Fab\", a retrospective of the Beatles' career, earned two MTV Music Video Awards nominations in 1988. Recorded at his estate in Friar Park, Harrison's slide guitar playing featured prominently on the album, which included several of his long-time musical collaborators, including Clapton, Jim Keltner and Jim Horn. Cloud Nine reached number eight and number ten on the US and UK charts respectively, and several tracks from the album achieved placement on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart – \"Devil's Radio\", \"This Is Love\" and \"Cloud 9\".",
"title": "Solo career: 1968–1987"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 1988, Harrison formed the Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. The band had gathered in Dylan's garage to record a song for a Harrison European single release. Harrison's record company decided the track, \"Handle with Care\", was too good for its original purpose as a B-side and asked for a full album. The LP, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, was released in October 1988 and recorded under pseudonyms as half-brothers, supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury Sr. It reached number 16 in the UK and number 3 in the US, where it was certified triple platinum. Harrison's pseudonym on the album was \"Nelson Wilbury\"; he used the name \"Spike Wilbury\" for their second album.",
"title": "Later career: 1988–1996"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In 1989, Harrison and Starr appeared in the music video for Petty's song \"I Won't Back Down\". In October that year, Harrison assembled and released Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989, a compilation of his later solo work. The album included three new songs, including \"Cheer Down\", which Harrison had recently contributed to the Lethal Weapon 2 film soundtrack.",
"title": "Later career: 1988–1996"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Following Orbison's death in December 1988, the Wilburys recorded as a four-piece. Their second album, issued in October 1990, was mischievously titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. According to Lynne, \"That was George's idea. He said, 'Let's confuse the buggers.'\" It peaked at number 14 in the UK and number 11 in the US, where it was certified platinum. The Wilburys never performed live, and the group did not record together again following the release of their second album.",
"title": "Later career: 1988–1996"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In December 1991, Harrison joined Clapton for a tour of Japan. It was Harrison's first since 1974 and no others followed. On 6 April 1992, Harrison held a benefit concert for the Natural Law Party at the Royal Albert Hall, his first London performance since the Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert. In October 1992, he performed at a Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, playing alongside Dylan, Clapton, McGuinn, Petty and Neil Young.",
"title": "Later career: 1988–1996"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In 1994, Harrison began a collaboration with McCartney, Starr and producer Jeff Lynne for the Beatles Anthology project. This included the recording of two new Beatles songs built around solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by Lennon as well as lengthy interviews about the Beatles' career. Released in December 1995, \"Free as a Bird\" was the first new Beatles single since 1970. In March 1996, they released a second single, \"Real Love\". They also attempted to finish a third single, \"Now and Then\", but did not finish it because the audio quality of the cassette was, according to Harrison, \"fucking rubbish.\" The song was later finished by McCartney and Starr and released in 2023. He later commented on the project: \"I hope somebody does this to all my crap demos when I'm dead, make them into hit songs.\"",
"title": "Later career: 1988–1996"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "After the Anthology project, Harrison collaborated with Ravi Shankar on the latter's Chants of India. Harrison's final television appearance was a VH-1 special to promote the album, taped in May 1997. Soon afterwards, Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer; he was treated with radiotherapy, which was thought at the time to be successful. He publicly blamed years of smoking for the illness.",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In January 1998, Harrison attended Carl Perkins' funeral in Jackson, Tennessee, where he performed a brief rendition of Perkins' song \"Your True Love\". In May, he represented the Beatles at London's High Court in their successful bid to gain control of unauthorised recordings made of a 1962 performance by the band at the Star-Club in Hamburg. The following year, he was the most active of the former Beatles in promoting the reissue of their 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine.",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "On 30 December 1999, Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked at their home, Friar Park. Michael Abram, a 34-year-old paranoid schizophrenic, broke in and attacked Harrison with a kitchen knife, puncturing a lung and causing head injuries before his wife incapacitated the assailant by striking him repeatedly with a fireplace poker and a lamp. Harrison later commented, \"I felt exhausted and could feel the strength draining from me. I vividly remember a deliberate thrust to my chest. I could hear my lung exhaling and had blood in my mouth. I believed I had been fatally stabbed.\" Following the attack, Harrison was hospitalised with more than 40 stab wounds, and part of his punctured lung was removed. He released a statement soon afterwards regarding his assailant: \"He wasn't a burglar, and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys. Adi Shankara, an Indian historical, spiritual and groovy-type person, once said, 'Life is fragile like a raindrop on a lotus leaf.' And you'd better believe it.\" Upon being released from a mental hospital in 2002, Abram said: \"If I could turn back the clock, I would give anything not to have done what I did in attacking George Harrison, but looking back on it now, I have come to understand that I was at the time not in control of my actions. I can only hope the Harrison family might somehow find it in their hearts to accept my apologies.\"",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The injuries inflicted on Harrison during the home invasion were downplayed by his family in their comments to the press. Having seen Harrison looking so healthy beforehand, those in his social circle believed that the attack brought about a change in him and was the cause for his cancer's return. In May 2001, it was revealed that Harrison had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and in July, it was reported that he was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland. While in Switzerland, Starr visited him but had to cut short his stay to travel to Boston, where his daughter was undergoing emergency brain surgery. Harrison, who was very weak, quipped: \"Do you want me to come with you?\" In November 2001, he began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non–small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. When the news was made public, Harrison bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages.",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "On 29 November 2001, Harrison died at a property belonging to McCartney, on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He was 58 years old. He died in the company of Olivia, Dhani, Shankar and the latter's wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami, who chanted verses from the Bhagavad Gita. His final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: \"Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.\" He was cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and his funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. His close family scattered his ashes according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi, India. He left almost £100 million in his will.",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Harrison's final studio album, Brainwashed (2002), was released posthumously after it was completed by his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne. A quotation from the Bhagavad Gita is included in the album's liner notes: \"There never was a time when you or I did not exist. Nor will there be any future when we shall cease to be.\" A media-only single, \"Stuck Inside a Cloud\", which Leng describes as \"a uniquely candid reaction to illness and mortality\", achieved number 27 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The single \"Any Road\", released in May 2003, peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. \"Marwa Blues\" went on to receive the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, while \"Any Road\" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.",
"title": "Later life and death: 1997–2001"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Harrison's guitar work with the Beatles was varied and flexible. Although not fast or flashy, his lead guitar playing was solid and typified the more subdued lead guitar style of the early 1960s. His rhythm guitar playing was innovative, for example when he used a capo to shorten the strings on an acoustic guitar, as on the Rubber Soul (1965) album and \"Here Comes the Sun\", to create a bright, sweet sound. Eric Clapton felt that Harrison was \"clearly an innovator\" as he was \"taking certain elements of R&B and rock and rockabilly and creating something unique\". Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner described Harrison as \"a guitarist who was never showy but who had an innate, eloquent melodic sense. He played exquisitely in the service of the song\". The guitar picking style of Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins influenced Harrison, giving a country music feel to many of the Beatles' recordings. He identified Chuck Berry as another early influence.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In 1961, the Beatles recorded \"Cry for a Shadow\", a blues-inspired instrumental co-written by Lennon and Harrison, who is credited with composing the song's lead guitar part, building on unusual chord voicings and imitating the style of other English groups such as the Shadows. Harrison's liberal use of the diatonic scale in his guitar playing reveals the influence of Buddy Holly, and his interest in Berry inspired him to compose songs based on the blues scale while incorporating a rockabilly feel in the style of Perkins. Another of Harrison's musical techniques was the use of guitar lines written in octaves, as on \"I'll Be on My Way\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "By 1964, he had begun to develop a distinctive personal style as a guitarist, writing parts that featured the use of nonresolving tones, as with the ending chord arpeggios on \"A Hard Day's Night\". On this and other songs from the period, he used a Rickenbacker 360/12 – an electric guitar with twelve strings, the low eight of which are tuned in pairs, one octave apart, with the higher four being pairs tuned in unison. His use of the Rickenbacker on A Hard Day's Night helped to popularise the model, and the jangly sound became so prominent that Melody Maker termed it the Beatles' \"secret weapon\". In 1965, Harrison used an expression pedal to control his guitar's volume on \"I Need You\", creating a syncopated flautando effect with the melody resolving its dissonance through tonal displacements. He used the same volume-swell technique on \"Yes It Is\", applying what Everett described as \"ghostly articulation\" to the song's natural harmonics.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "In 1966, Harrison contributed innovative musical ideas to Revolver. He played backwards guitar on Lennon's composition \"I'm Only Sleeping\" and a guitar counter-melody on \"And Your Bird Can Sing\" that moved in parallel octaves above McCartney's bass downbeats. His guitar playing on \"I Want to Tell You\" exemplified the pairing of altered chordal colours with descending chromatic lines and his guitar part for Sgt Pepper's \"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds\" mirrors Lennon's vocal line in much the same way that a sarangi player accompanies a khyal singer in a Hindu devotional song.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Everett described Harrison's guitar solo from \"Old Brown Shoe\" as \"stinging [and] highly Claptonesque\". He identified two of the composition's significant motifs: a bluesy trichord and a diminished triad with roots in A and E. Huntley called the song \"a sizzling rocker with a ferocious ... solo\". In Greene's opinion, Harrison's demo for \"Old Brown Shoe\" contains \"one of the most complex lead guitar solos on any Beatles song\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Harrison's playing on Abbey Road, and in particular on \"Something\", marked a significant moment in his development as a guitarist. The song's guitar solo shows a varied range of influences, incorporating the blues guitar style of Clapton and the styles of Indian gamakas. According to author and musicologist Kenneth Womack: \"'Something' meanders toward the most unforgettable of Harrison's guitar solos ... A masterpiece in simplicity, [it] reaches toward the sublime\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "After Delaney Bramlett inspired him to learn slide guitar, Harrison began to incorporate it into his solo work, which allowed him to mimic many traditional Indian instruments, including the sarangi and the dilruba. Leng described Harrison's slide guitar solo on Lennon's \"How Do You Sleep?\" as a departure for \"the sweet soloist of 'Something'\", calling his playing \"rightly famed ... one of Harrison's greatest guitar statements\". Lennon commented: \"That's the best he's ever fucking played in his life.\"",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "A Hawaiian influence is notable in much of Harrison's music, ranging from his slide guitar work on Gone Troppo (1982) to his televised performance of the Cab Calloway standard \"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea\" on ukulele in 1992. Lavezzoli described Harrison's slide playing on the Grammy-winning instrumental \"Marwa Blues\" (2002) as demonstrating Hawaiian influences while comparing the melody to an Indian sarod or veena, calling it \"yet another demonstration of Harrison's unique slide approach\". Harrison was an admirer of George Formby and a member of the Ukulele Society of Great Britain, and played a ukulele solo in the style of Formby at the end of \"Free as a Bird\". He performed at a Formby convention in 1991, and served as the honorary president of the George Formby Appreciation Society. Harrison played bass guitar on a few tracks, including the Beatles songs \"She Said She Said\", \"Golden Slumbers\", \"Birthday\" and \"Honey Pie\". He also played bass on several solo recordings, including \"Faster\", \"Wake Up My Love\" and \"Bye Bye Love\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "During the Beatles' American tour in August 1965, Harrison's friend David Crosby of the Byrds introduced him to Indian classical music and the work of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Harrison described Shankar as \"the first person who ever impressed me in my life ... and he was the only person who didn't try to impress me.\" Harrison became fascinated with the sitar and immersed himself in Indian music. According to Lavezzoli, Harrison's introduction of the instrument on the Beatles' song \"Norwegian Wood\" \"opened the floodgates for Indian instrumentation in rock music, triggering what Shankar would call 'The Great Sitar Explosion' of 1966–67\". Lavezzoli recognises Harrison as \"the man most responsible for this phenomenon\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "In June 1966, Harrison met Shankar at the home of Mrs Angadi of the Asian Music Circle, asked to be his student, and was accepted. Before this meeting, Harrison had recorded his Revolver track \"Love You To\", contributing a sitar part that Lavezzoli describes as an \"astonishing improvement\" over \"Norwegian Wood\" and \"the most accomplished performance on sitar by any rock musician\". On 6 July, Harrison travelled to India to buy a sitar from Rikhi Ram & Sons in New Delhi. In September, following the Beatles' final tour, he returned to India to study sitar for six weeks with Shankar. He initially stayed in Bombay until fans learned of his arrival, then moved to a houseboat on a remote lake in Kashmir. During this visit, he also received tutelage from Shambhu Das, Shankar's protégé.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Harrison studied the instrument until 1968, when, following a discussion with Shankar about the need to find his \"roots\", an encounter with Clapton and Jimi Hendrix at a hotel in New York convinced him to return to guitar playing. Harrison commented: \"I decided ... I'm not going to be a great sitar player ... because I should have started at least fifteen years earlier.\" Harrison continued to use Indian instrumentation occasionally on his solo albums and remained strongly associated with the genre. Lavezzoli groups him with Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel as the three rock musicians who have given the most \"mainstream exposure to non-Western musics, or the concept of 'world music'\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Harrison wrote his first song, \"Don't Bother Me\", while sick in a hotel bed in Bournemouth during August 1963, as \"an exercise to see if I could write a song\", as he remembered. His songwriting ability improved throughout the Beatles' career, but his material did not earn full respect from Lennon, McCartney and producer George Martin until near the group's break-up. In 1969, McCartney told Lennon: \"Until this year, our songs have been better than George's. Now this year his songs are at least as good as ours\". Harrison often had difficulty getting the band to record his songs. Most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contain at least two Harrison compositions; three of his songs appear on Revolver, \"the album on which Harrison came of age as a songwriter\", according to Inglis.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Harrison wrote the chord progression of \"Don't Bother Me\" almost exclusively in the Dorian mode, demonstrating an interest in exotic tones that eventually culminated in his embrace of Indian music. The latter proved a strong influence on his songwriting and contributed to his innovation within the Beatles. According to Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone, \"Harrison's openness to new sounds and textures cleared new paths for his rock and roll compositions. His use of dissonance on ... 'Taxman' and 'I Want to Tell You' was revolutionary in popular music – and perhaps more originally creative than the avant-garde mannerisms that Lennon and McCartney borrowed from the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, Edgard Varèse and Igor Stravinsky ...\"",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Of the 1967 Harrison song \"Within You Without You\", author Gerry Farrell said that Harrison had created a \"new form\", calling the composition \"a quintessential fusion of pop and Indian music\". Lennon called the song one of Harrison's best: \"His mind and his music are clear. There is his innate talent, he brought that sound together.\" In his next fully Indian-styled song, \"The Inner Light\", Harrison embraced the Karnatak discipline of Indian music, rather than the Hindustani style he had used in \"Love You To\" and \"Within You Without You\". Writing in 1997, Farrell commented: \"It is a mark of Harrison's sincere involvement with Indian music that, nearly thirty years on, the Beatles' 'Indian' songs remain the most imaginative and successful examples of this type of fusion – for example, 'Blue Jay Way' and 'The Inner Light'.\"",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Beatles biographer Bob Spitz described \"Something\" as a masterpiece, and \"an intensely stirring romantic ballad that would challenge 'Yesterday' and 'Michelle' as one of the most recognizable songs they ever produced\". Inglis considered Abbey Road a turning point in Harrison's development as a songwriter and musician. He described Harrison's two contributions to the LP, \"Here Comes the Sun\" and \"Something\", as \"exquisite\", declaring them equal to any previous Beatles songs.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "From 1968 onwards, Harrison collaborated with other musicians; he brought in Eric Clapton to play lead guitar on \"While My Guitar Gently Weeps\" for the 1968 Beatles' White Album, and collaborated with John Barham on his 1968 debut solo album, Wonderwall Music, which included contributions from Clapton again, as well as Peter Tork from the Monkees. He played on tracks by Dave Mason, Nicky Hopkins, Alvin Lee, Ronnie Wood, Billy Preston and Tom Scott. Harrison co-wrote songs and music with Dylan, Clapton, Preston, Doris Troy, David Bromberg, Gary Wright, Wood, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty, among others. Harrison's music projects during the final years of the Beatles included producing Apple Records artists Doris Troy, Jackie Lomax and Billy Preston.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Harrison co-wrote the song \"Badge\" with Clapton, which was included on Cream's 1969 album, Goodbye. Harrison played rhythm guitar on the track, using the pseudonym \"L'Angelo Misterioso\" for contractual reasons. In May 1970, he played guitar on several songs during a recording session for Dylan's album New Morning. Between 1971 and 1973, he co-wrote and/or produced three top ten hits for Starr: \"It Don't Come Easy\", \"Back Off Boogaloo\" and \"Photograph\". Aside from \"How Do You Sleep?\", his contributions to Lennon's 1971 album Imagine included a slide guitar solo on \"Gimme Some Truth\" and dobro on \"Crippled Inside\". Also that year, he produced and played slide guitar on Badfinger's top ten hit \"Day After Day\", and a dobro on Preston's \"I Wrote a Simple Song\". He worked with Harry Nilsson on \"You're Breakin' My Heart\" (1972) and with Cheech & Chong on \"Basketball Jones\" (1973).",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 1974, Harrison founded Dark Horse Records as an avenue for collaboration with other musicians. He wanted Dark Horse to serve as a creative outlet for artists, as Apple Records had for the Beatles. Eric Idle commented: \"He's extremely generous, and he backs and supports all sorts of people that you'll never, ever hear of.\" The first acts signed to the new label were Ravi Shankar and the duo Splinter. Harrison produced and made multiple musical contributions to Splinter's debut album, The Place I Love, which provided Dark Horse with its first hit, \"Costafine Town\". He also produced and played guitar and autoharp on Shankar's Shankar Family & Friends, the label's other inaugural release. Other artists signed by Dark Horse include Attitudes, Henry McCullough, Jiva and Stairsteps.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Harrison collaborated with Tom Scott on Scott's 1975 album New York Connection, and in 1981 he played guitar on \"Walk a Thin Line\", from Mick Fleetwood's The Visitor. His contributions to Starr's solo career continued with \"Wrack My Brain\", a 1981 US top 40 hit written and produced by Harrison, and guitar overdubs to two tracks on Vertical Man (1998). In 1996, Harrison recorded \"Distance Makes No Difference With Love\" with Carl Perkins for the latter's album Go Cat Go!, and, in 1990, he played slide guitar on the title track of Dylan's Under the Red Sky album. In 2001, he performed as a guest musician on Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra's comeback album Zoom, and on the song \"Love Letters\" for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He also co-wrote a new song with his son Dhani, \"Horse to the Water\", which was recorded on 2 October, eight weeks before his death. It appeared on Jools Holland's album Small World, Big Band.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "When Harrison joined the Quarrymen in 1958, his main guitar was a Höfner President Acoustic, which he soon traded for a Höfner Club 40 model. His first solid-body electric guitar was a Czech-built Jolana Futurama/Grazioso. The guitars he used on early recordings were mainly Gretsch models, played through a Vox amplifier, including a Gretsch Duo Jet that he bought secondhand in 1961 and posed with on the album cover for Cloud Nine (1987). He also bought a Gretsch Tennessean and a Gretsch Country Gentleman, which he played on \"She Loves You\", and during the Beatles' 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1963, he bought a Rickenbacker 425 Fireglo, and in 1964 he acquired a Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar, which was the second of its kind to be manufactured. Harrison obtained his first Fender Stratocaster in 1965 and first used it during the recording of the Help! album that February; he also used it when recording Rubber Soul later that year, most notably on the song \"Nowhere Man\".",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "In early 1966, Harrison and Lennon each purchased Epiphone Casinos, which they used on Revolver. Harrison also used a Gibson J-160E and a Gibson SG Standard while recording the album. He later painted his Stratocaster in a psychedelic design that included the word \"Bebopalula\" above the pickguard and the guitar's nickname, \"Rocky\", on the headstock. He played this guitar in the Magical Mystery Tour (1967) film and throughout his solo career. In July 1968, Clapton gave him a Gibson Les Paul that had been stripped of its original finish and stained cherry red, which Harrison nicknamed \"Lucy\". Around this time, he obtained a Gibson Jumbo J-200 acoustic guitar, which he subsequently gave to Dylan to use at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival. In late 1968, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation gave Harrison a custom-made Fender Telecaster Rosewood prototype, made especially for him by Philip Kubicki. In August 2017, Fender released a \"Limited Edition George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster\" modelled after a Telecaster that Roger Rossmeisl originally created for Harrison.",
"title": "Musicianship"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Harrison helped finance Ravi Shankar's documentary Raga and released it through Apple Films in 1971. He also produced, with Apple manager Allen Klein, the Concert for Bangladesh film. In 1973, he produced the feature film Little Malcolm, but the project was lost amid the litigation surrounding the former Beatles ending their business ties with Klein.",
"title": "Film production and HandMade films"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "In 1973, Peter Sellers introduced Harrison to Denis O'Brien. Soon after, the two went into business together. In 1978, to produce Monty Python's Life of Brian, they formed the film production and distribution company HandMade Films. Their opportunity for investment came after EMI Films withdrew funding at the demand of their chief executive, Bernard Delfont. Harrison financed the production of Life of Brian in part by mortgaging his home, which Idle later called \"the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history\". The film grossed $21 million at the box office in the US. The first film distributed by HandMade Films was The Long Good Friday (1980), and the first they produced was Time Bandits (1981), a co-scripted project by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. The film featured a new song by Harrison, \"Dream Away\", in the closing credits. Time Bandits became one of HandMade's most successful and acclaimed efforts; with a budget of $5 million, it earned $35 million in the US within ten weeks of its release.",
"title": "Film production and HandMade films"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Harrison served as executive producer for 23 films with HandMade, including A Private Function (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Withnail and I (1987) and How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989). He made cameo appearances in several of these films, including a role as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise, for which he recorded five new songs. According to Ian Inglis, \"[Harrison's] executive role in HandMade Films helped to sustain British cinema at a time of crisis, producing some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s.\" Following a series of box office bombs in the late 1980s, and excessive debt incurred by O'Brien which was guaranteed by Harrison, HandMade's financial situation became precarious. The company ceased operations in 1991 and was sold three years later to Paragon Entertainment, a Canadian corporation. Afterwards, Harrison sued O'Brien for $25 million for fraud and negligence, resulting in an $11.6 million judgement in 1996.",
"title": "Film production and HandMade films"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Harrison was involved in humanitarian and political activism throughout his life. In the 1960s, the Beatles supported the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. In early 1971, Ravi Shankar consulted Harrison about how to provide aid to the people of Bangladesh after the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Harrison hastily wrote and recorded the song \"Bangla Desh\", which became pop music's first charity single when issued by Apple Records in late July. He also pushed Apple to release Shankar's Joi Bangla EP in an effort to raise further awareness for the cause. Shankar asked for Harrison's advice about planning a small charity event in the US. Harrison responded by organising the Concert for Bangladesh, which raised more than $240,000. Around $13.5 million was generated through the album and film releases, although most of the funds were frozen in an Internal Revenue Service audit for ten years, due to Klein's failure to register the event as a UNICEF benefit beforehand. In June 1972, UNICEF honoured Harrison and Shankar, and Klein, with the \"Child Is the Father of Man\" award at an annual ceremony in recognition of their fundraising efforts for Bangladesh.",
"title": "Humanitarian work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "From 1980, Harrison became a vocal supporter of Greenpeace and CND. He also protested against the use of nuclear energy with Friends of the Earth, and helped finance Vole, a green magazine launched by Monty Python member Terry Jones. In 1990, he helped promote his wife Olivia's Romanian Angel Appeal on behalf of the thousands of Romanian orphans left abandoned by the state following the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Harrison recorded a benefit single, \"Nobody's Child\", with the Traveling Wilburys, and assembled a fundraising album with contributions from other artists including Clapton, Starr, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Donovan and Van Morrison.",
"title": "Humanitarian work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The Concert for Bangladesh has been described as an innovative precursor for the large-scale charity rock shows that followed, including Live Aid. The George Harrison Humanitarian Fund for UNICEF, a joint effort between the Harrison family and the US Fund for UNICEF, aims to support programmes that help children caught in humanitarian emergencies. In December 2007, they donated $450,000 to help the victims of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh. On 13 October 2009, the first George Harrison Humanitarian Award went to Ravi Shankar for his efforts in saving the lives of children, and his involvement with the Concert for Bangladesh.",
"title": "Humanitarian work"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "By the mid-1960s, Harrison had become an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles. During the filming of Help! in the Bahamas, they met the founder of Sivananda Yoga, Swami Vishnu-devananda, who gave each of them a signed copy of his book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. Between the end of the last Beatles tour in 1966 and the beginning of the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, he made a pilgrimage to India with his first wife, Pattie Boyd; there, he studied sitar with Ravi Shankar, met several gurus, and visited various holy places. In 1968, he travelled with the other Beatles to Rishikesh in northern India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Harrison's experiences with LSD in the mid-1960s served as a catalyst for his early pursuance of Hinduism. In a 1977 interview, George recalled:",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "For me, it was like a flash. The first time I had acid, it just opened up something in my head that was inside of me, and I realized a lot of things. I didn't learn them because I already knew them, but that happened to be the key that opened the door to reveal them. From the moment I had that, I wanted to have it all the time – these thoughts about the yogis and the Himalayas, and Ravi's music.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "However, Harrison stopped using LSD after a disenchanting experience in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. He recounted in The Beatles Anthology:",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "That was the turning point for me – that's when I went right off the whole drug cult and stopped taking the dreaded lysergic acid. I had some in a little bottle – it was liquid. I put it under a microscope, and it looked like bits of old rope. I thought that I couldn't put that into my brain any more.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In line with the Hindu yoga tradition, Harrison became a vegetarian in the late 1960s. After being given various religious texts by Shankar in 1966, he remained a lifelong advocate of the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Paramahansa Yogananda – yogis and authors, respectively, of Raja Yoga and Autobiography of a Yogi. In mid-1969, he produced the single \"Hare Krishna Mantra\", performed by members of the London Radha Krishna Temple. Having also helped the Temple devotees become established in Britain, Harrison then met their leader, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, whom he described as \"my friend ... my master\" and \"a perfect example of everything he preached\". Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition, particularly japa-yoga chanting with beads, and became a lifelong devotee. In 1972 he donated his Letchmore Heath mansion north of London to the devotees. It was later converted to a temple and renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Regarding other faiths, he once remarked: \"All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call.\" He commented on his beliefs:",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "Krishna actually was in a body as a person ... What makes it complicated is, if he's God, what's he doing fighting on a battlefield? It took me ages to try to figure that out, and again it was Yogananda's spiritual interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita that made me realise what it was. Our idea of Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield in the chariot. So this is the point – that we're in these bodies, which is like a kind of chariot, and we're going through this incarnation, this life, which is kind of a battlefield. The senses of the body ... are the horses pulling the chariot, and we have to get control over the chariot by getting control over the reins. And Arjuna in the end says, \"Please Krishna, you drive the chariot\" because unless we bring Christ or Krishna or Buddha or whichever of our spiritual guides ... we're going to crash our chariot, and we're going to turn over, and we're going to get killed in the battlefield. That's why we say \"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna\", asking Krishna to come and take over the chariot.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Inglis comments that \"Harrison's spiritual journey was seen as a serious and important development that reflected popular music's increasing maturity ... what he, and the Beatles, had managed to overturn was the paternalistic assumption that popular musicians had no role other than to stand on stage and sing their hit songs.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Harrison married model Pattie Boyd on 21 January 1966, with McCartney serving as best man. Harrison and Boyd had met on set in 1964 during the production of the film A Hard Day's Night, in which the 19-year-old Boyd had been cast as a schoolgirl. During a lunch break, George 'playfully' proposed to her. They separated in 1974 and their divorce was finalised in 1977. Boyd said her decision to end the marriage was due largely to George's repeated infidelities. The last infidelity culminated in an affair with Ringo's wife Maureen, which Boyd called \"the final straw\". She characterised the last year of their marriage as \"fuelled by alcohol and cocaine\", and she stated: \"George used coke excessively, and I think it changed him ... it froze his emotions and hardened his heart.\" She subsequently moved in with Eric Clapton, and they married in 1979.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "On 2 September 1978, Harrison married Olivia Trinidad Arias, who was a marketing executive for A&M Records, and later Dark Horse Records. As Dark Horse was a subsidiary of A&M, the couple had first met over the phone working on record company business, and then in person at the A&M Records offices in Los Angeles in 1974. Together they had one son, Dhani Harrison, born on 1 August 1978.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Harrison restored the English manor house and grounds of Friar Park, his home in Henley-on-Thames, where several of his music videos, including \"Crackerbox Palace\", were filmed; the grounds also served as the background for the cover of All Things Must Pass. He employed ten workers to maintain the 36-acre (15 ha) garden. Harrison commented on gardening as a form of escapism: \"Sometimes I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet, and it's great when I'm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate I think: 'What the hell am I doing here?'\" His autobiography, I, Me, Mine, is dedicated \"to gardeners everywhere\". The former Beatles publicist Derek Taylor helped Harrison write the book, which said little about the Beatles, focusing instead on Harrison's hobbies, music and lyrics. Taylor commented: \"George is not disowning the Beatles ... but it was a long time ago and actually a short part of his life.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Harrison had an interest in sports cars and motor racing; he was one of the 100 people who purchased the McLaren F1 road car. He had collected photos of racing drivers and their cars since he was young; at 12, he had attended his first race, the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree. He wrote \"Faster\" as a tribute to the Formula One racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Ronnie Peterson. Proceeds from its release went to the Gunnar Nilsson cancer charity, set up after the Swedish driver's death from the disease in 1978. Harrison's first extravagant car, a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, was sold at auction on 7 December 2011 in London. An anonymous Beatles collector paid £350,000 for the vehicle that Harrison had bought new in January 1965.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "For most of the Beatles' career, the relationships in the group were close. According to Hunter Davies, \"the Beatles spent their lives not living a communal life, but communally living the same life. They were each other's greatest friends.\" Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd described how the Beatles \"all belonged to each other\" and admitted, \"George has a lot with the others that I can never know about. Nobody, not even the wives, can break through or even comprehend it.\" Starr said, \"We really looked out for each other and we had so many laughs together. In the old days we'd have the biggest hotel suites, the whole floor of the hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom, just to be with each other.\" He added, \"there were some really loving, caring moments between four people: a hotel room here and there – a really amazing closeness. Just four guys who loved each other. It was pretty sensational.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Lennon stated that his relationship with Harrison was \"one of young follower and older guy ... [he] was like a disciple of mine when we started.\" The two later bonded over their LSD experiences, finding common ground as seekers of spirituality. They took radically different paths thereafter, with, according to biographer Gary Tillery, Harrison finding God and Lennon coming to the conclusion that people are the creators of their own lives. In 1974, Harrison said of his former bandmate: \"John Lennon is a saint and he's heavy-duty, and he's great and I love him. But at the same time, he's such a bastard – but that's the great thing about him, you see?\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Harrison and McCartney were the first of the Beatles to meet, having shared a school bus, and often learned and rehearsed new guitar chords together. McCartney said that he and Harrison usually shared a bedroom while touring. McCartney has referred to Harrison as his \"baby brother\". In a 1974 BBC radio interview with Alan Freeman, Harrison stated: \"[McCartney] ruined me as a guitar player\". In the same interview, however, Harrison stated that \"I just know that whatever we've been through, there's always been something that's tied us together.\" Perhaps the most significant obstacle to a Beatles reunion after the death of Lennon was Harrison and McCartney's personal relationship, as both men admitted that they often got on each other's nerves. Rodriguez commented: \"Even to the end of George's days, theirs was a volatile relationship\". When, in a Yahoo! online chat in February 2001, he was asked if Paul \"[pisses] you off\", Harrison replied \"Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass -- You know his faults -- Then let his foibles pass. Old Victorian Proverb. I'm sure there's enough about me that pisses him off, but I think we have now grown old enough to realize that we're both pretty damn cute!\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "In June 1965, Harrison and the other Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). They received their insignia from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 26 October. In 1971, the Beatles received an Academy Award for the best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be. The minor planet 4149 Harrison, discovered in 1984, was named after him, as was a variety of Dahlia flower. In December 1992, he became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, an honour presented to music artists for significant bodies of work. The award recognised Harrison's \"critical role in laying the groundwork for the modern concept of world music\" and for his having \"advanced society's comprehension of the spiritual and altruistic power of popular music\". Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the \"100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time\". He is also in number 65 in the list of \"100 greatest songwriters of all time\" by the same magazine.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "In 2002, on the first anniversary of his death, the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall. Eric Clapton organised the event, which included performances by many of Harrison's friends and musical collaborators, including McCartney and Starr. Eric Idle, who described Harrison as \"one of the few morally good people that rock and roll has produced\", was among the performers of Monty Python's \"Lumberjack Song\". The profits from the concert went to Harrison's charity, the Material World Charitable Foundation.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In 2004, Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist by his former bandmates Lynne and Petty, and into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame in 2006 for the Concert for Bangladesh. On 14 April 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol Records Building. McCartney, Lynne and Petty were present when the star was unveiled. Harrison's widow Olivia, the actor Tom Hanks and Idle made speeches at the ceremony, and Harrison's son Dhani spoke the Hare Krishna mantra.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "A documentary film titled George Harrison: Living in the Material World, directed by Martin Scorsese, was released in October 2011. The film features interviews with Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Terry Gilliam, Starr, Clapton, McCartney, Keltner and Astrid Kirchherr.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Harrison was posthumously honoured with The Recording Academy's Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in February 2015.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "An Illinois State Historical Society marker in Benton, Illinois, commemorates Harrison's visit in the town in 1963 to see his sister, making him the first Beatle to visit the United States. In 2017, a mural instillation was unveiled in the town of Harrison painted by artist John Cerney. Statues of Harrison can be found around the world, including several across his native Liverpool and a bust in the Shadhinotar Shagram Triangle Sculpture Garden in Dhaka, Bangladesh, commemorating Harrison's contributions to Bangladeshi culture.",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| George Harrison was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help! He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with "Norwegian Wood". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement. After the band's break-up in 1970, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, "My Sweet Lord", and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar. He also organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles' Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce the Monty Python troupe's comedy film The Life of Brian (1979). Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood, and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 31 in their 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. He is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004. Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani. A lifelong cigarette smoker, Harrison died of numerous cancers in 2001 at the age of 58, two years after surviving a knife attack by an intruder at his home, Friar Park. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. He left an estate of almost £100 million. | 2001-11-08T19:34:09Z | 2023-12-31T17:11:52Z | [
"Template:HWOF",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:HandMade Films",
"Template:Featured article",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:'\"",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:The Beatles",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Subscription required",
"Template:George Harrison singles",
"Template:\"'",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Rockhall",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:George Harrison",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite video",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:R",
"Template:Inflation-fn",
"Template:'",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Cite interview",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:AllMusic",
"Template:Plastic Ono Band",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Cite AV media notes",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Wilburys",
"Template:Ravi Shankar",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Navboxes",
"Template:Post-nominals",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:Tcmdb name",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:About",
"Template:Pp-semi-indef"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Harrison |
12,733 | Giant planet | The giant planets make up a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. They are usually primarily composed of low-boiling point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four known giant planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified as orbiting other stars.
They are also sometimes called jovian planets, after Jupiter ("Jove" being another name for the Roman god "Jupiter"). They are also sometimes known as gas giants. However, many astronomers now apply the latter term only to Jupiter and Saturn, classifying Uranus and Neptune, which have different compositions, as ice giants. Both names are potentially misleading: all of the giant planets consist primarily of fluids above their critical points, where distinct gas and liquid phases do not exist. The principal components are hydrogen and helium in the case of Jupiter and Saturn, and water, ammonia and methane in the case of Uranus and Neptune.
The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf and a gas giant (~13 MJ) are debated. One school of thought is based on formation; the other, on the physics of the interior. Part of the debate concerns whether "brown dwarfs" must, by definition, have experienced nuclear fusion at some point in their history.
The term gas giant was coined in 1952 by science fiction writer James Blish and was originally used to refer to all giant planets. Arguably it is something of a misnomer, because throughout most of the volume of these planets the pressure is so high that matter is not in gaseous form. Other than the upper layers of the atmosphere, all matter is likely beyond the critical point, where there is no distinction between liquids and gases. Fluid planet would be a more accurate term. Jupiter also has metallic hydrogen near its center, but much of its volume is hydrogen, helium, and traces of other gases above their critical points. The observable atmospheres of all these planets (at less than a unit optical depth) are quite thin compared to their radii, only extending perhaps one percent of the way to the center. Thus, the observable parts are gaseous (in contrast to Mars and Earth, which have gaseous atmospheres through which the crust can be seen).
The rather misleading term has caught on because planetary scientists typically use rock, gas, and ice as shorthands for classes of elements and compounds commonly found as planetary constituents, irrespective of the matter's phase. In the outer Solar System, hydrogen and helium are referred to as gas; water, methane, and ammonia as ice; and silicates and metals as rock. When deep planetary interiors are considered, it may not be far off to say that, by ice astronomers mean oxygen and carbon, by rock they mean silicon, and by gas they mean hydrogen and helium. The many ways in which Uranus and Neptune differ from Jupiter and Saturn have led some to use the term only for planets similar to the latter two. With this terminology in mind, some astronomers have started referring to Uranus and Neptune as ice giants to indicate the predominance of the ices (in fluid form) in their interior composition.
The alternative term jovian planet refers to the Roman god Jupiter—the genitive form of which is Jovis, hence Jovian—and was intended to indicate that all of these planets were similar to Jupiter.
Objects large enough to start deuterium fusion (above 13 Jupiter masses for solar composition) are called brown dwarfs, and these occupy the mass range between that of large giant planets and the lowest-mass stars. The 13-Jupiter-mass (MJ) cutoff is a rule of thumb rather than something of precise physical significance. Larger objects will burn most of their deuterium and smaller ones will burn only a little, and the 13 MJ value is somewhere in between. The amount of deuterium burnt depends not only on the mass but also on the composition of the planet, especially on the amount of helium and deuterium present. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes objects up to 60 Jupiter masses, and the Exoplanet Data Explorer up to 24 Jupiter masses.
A giant planet is a massive planet and has a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. They may have a dense molten core of rocky elements, or the core may have completely dissolved and dispersed throughout the planet if the planet is hot enough. In "traditional" giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn (the gas giants) hydrogen and helium make up most of the mass of the planet, whereas they only make up an outer envelope on Uranus and Neptune, which are instead mostly composed of water, ammonia, and methane and therefore increasingly referred to as "ice giants".
Extrasolar giant planets that orbit very close to their stars are the exoplanets that are easiest to detect. These are called hot Jupiters and hot Neptunes because they have very high surface temperatures. Hot Jupiters were, until the advent of space-borne telescopes, the most common form of exoplanet known, due to the relative ease of detecting them with ground-based instruments.
Giant planets are commonly said to lack solid surfaces, but it is more accurate to say that they lack surfaces altogether since the gases that form them simply become thinner and thinner with increasing distance from the planets' centers, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the interplanetary medium. Therefore, landing on a giant planet may or may not be possible, depending on the size and composition of its core.
Gas giants consist mostly of hydrogen and helium. The Solar System's gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, have heavier elements making up between 3 and 13 percent of their mass. Gas giants are thought to consist of an outer layer of molecular hydrogen, surrounding a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, with a probable molten core with a rocky composition.
Jupiter and Saturn's outermost portion of the hydrogen atmosphere has many layers of visible clouds that are mostly composed of water and ammonia. The layer of metallic hydrogen makes up the bulk of each planet, and is referred to as "metallic" because the very high pressure turns hydrogen into an electrical conductor. The core is thought to consist of heavier elements at such high temperatures (20,000 K) and pressures that their properties are poorly understood.
Ice giants have distinctly different interior compositions from gas giants. The Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that extends from the cloud tops down to about 80% (Uranus) or 85% (Neptune) of their radius. Below this, they are predominantly "icy", i.e. consisting mostly of water, methane, and ammonia. There is also some rock and gas, but various proportions of ice–rock–gas could mimic pure ice, so that the exact proportions are unknown.
Uranus and Neptune have very hazy atmospheric layers with small amounts of methane, giving them aquamarine colors; light blue and ultramarine respectively. Both have magnetic fields that are sharply inclined to their axes of rotation.
Unlike the other giant planets, Uranus has an extreme tilt that causes its seasons to be severely pronounced. The two planets also have other subtle but important differences. Uranus has more hydrogen and helium than Neptune despite being less massive overall. Neptune is therefore denser and has much more internal heat and a more active atmosphere. The Nice model, in fact, suggests that Neptune formed closer to the Sun than Uranus did, and should therefore have more heavy elements.
Massive solid planets can also exist.
Solid planets up to thousands of Earth masses may be able to form around massive stars (B-type and O-type stars; 5–120 solar masses), where the protoplanetary disk would contain enough heavy elements. Also, these stars have high UV radiation and winds that could photoevaporate the gas in the disk, leaving just the heavy elements. For comparison, Neptune's mass equals 17 Earth masses, Jupiter has 318 Earth masses, and the 13 Jupiter-mass limit used in the IAU's working definition of an exoplanet equals approximately 4000 Earth masses.
A super-puff is a type of exoplanet with a mass only a few times larger than Earth’s but a radius larger than Neptune, giving it a very low mean density. They are cooler and less massive than the inflated low-density hot-Jupiters.
The most extreme examples known are the three planets around Kepler-51 which are all Jupiter-sized but with densities below 0.1 g/cm.
Because of the limited techniques currently available to detect exoplanets, many of those found to date have been of a size associated, in the Solar System, with giant planets. Because these large planets are inferred to share more in common with Jupiter than with the other giant planets, some have claimed that "jovian planet" is a more accurate term for them. Many of the exoplanets are much closer to their parent stars and hence much hotter than the giant planets in the Solar System, making it possible that some of those planets are a type not observed in the Solar System. Considering the relative abundances of the elements in the universe (approximately 98% hydrogen and helium) it would be surprising to find a predominantly rocky planet more massive than Jupiter. On the other hand, models of planetary-system formation have suggested that giant planets would be inhibited from forming as close to their stars as many of the extrasolar giant planets have been observed to orbit.
The bands seen in the atmosphere of Jupiter are due to counter-circulating streams of material called zones and belts, encircling the planet parallel to its equator. The zones are the lighter bands, and are at higher altitudes in the atmosphere. They have an internal updraft and are high-pressure regions. The belts are the darker bands, are lower in the atmosphere, and have an internal downdraft. They are low-pressure regions. These structures are somewhat analogous to the high and low-pressure cells in Earth's atmosphere, but they have a very different structure—latitudinal bands that circle the entire planet, as opposed to small confined cells of pressure. This appears to be a result of the rapid rotation and underlying symmetry of the planet. There are no oceans or landmasses to cause local heating and the rotation speed is much higher than that of Earth.
There are smaller structures as well: spots of different sizes and colors. On Jupiter, the most noticeable of these features is the Great Red Spot, which has been present for at least 300 years. These structures are huge storms. Some such spots are thunderheads as well. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The giant planets make up a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. They are usually primarily composed of low-boiling point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four known giant planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified as orbiting other stars.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "They are also sometimes called jovian planets, after Jupiter (\"Jove\" being another name for the Roman god \"Jupiter\"). They are also sometimes known as gas giants. However, many astronomers now apply the latter term only to Jupiter and Saturn, classifying Uranus and Neptune, which have different compositions, as ice giants. Both names are potentially misleading: all of the giant planets consist primarily of fluids above their critical points, where distinct gas and liquid phases do not exist. The principal components are hydrogen and helium in the case of Jupiter and Saturn, and water, ammonia and methane in the case of Uranus and Neptune.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf and a gas giant (~13 MJ) are debated. One school of thought is based on formation; the other, on the physics of the interior. Part of the debate concerns whether \"brown dwarfs\" must, by definition, have experienced nuclear fusion at some point in their history.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The term gas giant was coined in 1952 by science fiction writer James Blish and was originally used to refer to all giant planets. Arguably it is something of a misnomer, because throughout most of the volume of these planets the pressure is so high that matter is not in gaseous form. Other than the upper layers of the atmosphere, all matter is likely beyond the critical point, where there is no distinction between liquids and gases. Fluid planet would be a more accurate term. Jupiter also has metallic hydrogen near its center, but much of its volume is hydrogen, helium, and traces of other gases above their critical points. The observable atmospheres of all these planets (at less than a unit optical depth) are quite thin compared to their radii, only extending perhaps one percent of the way to the center. Thus, the observable parts are gaseous (in contrast to Mars and Earth, which have gaseous atmospheres through which the crust can be seen).",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The rather misleading term has caught on because planetary scientists typically use rock, gas, and ice as shorthands for classes of elements and compounds commonly found as planetary constituents, irrespective of the matter's phase. In the outer Solar System, hydrogen and helium are referred to as gas; water, methane, and ammonia as ice; and silicates and metals as rock. When deep planetary interiors are considered, it may not be far off to say that, by ice astronomers mean oxygen and carbon, by rock they mean silicon, and by gas they mean hydrogen and helium. The many ways in which Uranus and Neptune differ from Jupiter and Saturn have led some to use the term only for planets similar to the latter two. With this terminology in mind, some astronomers have started referring to Uranus and Neptune as ice giants to indicate the predominance of the ices (in fluid form) in their interior composition.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The alternative term jovian planet refers to the Roman god Jupiter—the genitive form of which is Jovis, hence Jovian—and was intended to indicate that all of these planets were similar to Jupiter.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Objects large enough to start deuterium fusion (above 13 Jupiter masses for solar composition) are called brown dwarfs, and these occupy the mass range between that of large giant planets and the lowest-mass stars. The 13-Jupiter-mass (MJ) cutoff is a rule of thumb rather than something of precise physical significance. Larger objects will burn most of their deuterium and smaller ones will burn only a little, and the 13 MJ value is somewhere in between. The amount of deuterium burnt depends not only on the mass but also on the composition of the planet, especially on the amount of helium and deuterium present. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes objects up to 60 Jupiter masses, and the Exoplanet Data Explorer up to 24 Jupiter masses.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "A giant planet is a massive planet and has a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. They may have a dense molten core of rocky elements, or the core may have completely dissolved and dispersed throughout the planet if the planet is hot enough. In \"traditional\" giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn (the gas giants) hydrogen and helium make up most of the mass of the planet, whereas they only make up an outer envelope on Uranus and Neptune, which are instead mostly composed of water, ammonia, and methane and therefore increasingly referred to as \"ice giants\".",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Extrasolar giant planets that orbit very close to their stars are the exoplanets that are easiest to detect. These are called hot Jupiters and hot Neptunes because they have very high surface temperatures. Hot Jupiters were, until the advent of space-borne telescopes, the most common form of exoplanet known, due to the relative ease of detecting them with ground-based instruments.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Giant planets are commonly said to lack solid surfaces, but it is more accurate to say that they lack surfaces altogether since the gases that form them simply become thinner and thinner with increasing distance from the planets' centers, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the interplanetary medium. Therefore, landing on a giant planet may or may not be possible, depending on the size and composition of its core.",
"title": "Description"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Gas giants consist mostly of hydrogen and helium. The Solar System's gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, have heavier elements making up between 3 and 13 percent of their mass. Gas giants are thought to consist of an outer layer of molecular hydrogen, surrounding a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, with a probable molten core with a rocky composition.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Jupiter and Saturn's outermost portion of the hydrogen atmosphere has many layers of visible clouds that are mostly composed of water and ammonia. The layer of metallic hydrogen makes up the bulk of each planet, and is referred to as \"metallic\" because the very high pressure turns hydrogen into an electrical conductor. The core is thought to consist of heavier elements at such high temperatures (20,000 K) and pressures that their properties are poorly understood.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Ice giants have distinctly different interior compositions from gas giants. The Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that extends from the cloud tops down to about 80% (Uranus) or 85% (Neptune) of their radius. Below this, they are predominantly \"icy\", i.e. consisting mostly of water, methane, and ammonia. There is also some rock and gas, but various proportions of ice–rock–gas could mimic pure ice, so that the exact proportions are unknown.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Uranus and Neptune have very hazy atmospheric layers with small amounts of methane, giving them aquamarine colors; light blue and ultramarine respectively. Both have magnetic fields that are sharply inclined to their axes of rotation.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Unlike the other giant planets, Uranus has an extreme tilt that causes its seasons to be severely pronounced. The two planets also have other subtle but important differences. Uranus has more hydrogen and helium than Neptune despite being less massive overall. Neptune is therefore denser and has much more internal heat and a more active atmosphere. The Nice model, in fact, suggests that Neptune formed closer to the Sun than Uranus did, and should therefore have more heavy elements.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Massive solid planets can also exist.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Solid planets up to thousands of Earth masses may be able to form around massive stars (B-type and O-type stars; 5–120 solar masses), where the protoplanetary disk would contain enough heavy elements. Also, these stars have high UV radiation and winds that could photoevaporate the gas in the disk, leaving just the heavy elements. For comparison, Neptune's mass equals 17 Earth masses, Jupiter has 318 Earth masses, and the 13 Jupiter-mass limit used in the IAU's working definition of an exoplanet equals approximately 4000 Earth masses.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "A super-puff is a type of exoplanet with a mass only a few times larger than Earth’s but a radius larger than Neptune, giving it a very low mean density. They are cooler and less massive than the inflated low-density hot-Jupiters.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The most extreme examples known are the three planets around Kepler-51 which are all Jupiter-sized but with densities below 0.1 g/cm.",
"title": "Subtypes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Because of the limited techniques currently available to detect exoplanets, many of those found to date have been of a size associated, in the Solar System, with giant planets. Because these large planets are inferred to share more in common with Jupiter than with the other giant planets, some have claimed that \"jovian planet\" is a more accurate term for them. Many of the exoplanets are much closer to their parent stars and hence much hotter than the giant planets in the Solar System, making it possible that some of those planets are a type not observed in the Solar System. Considering the relative abundances of the elements in the universe (approximately 98% hydrogen and helium) it would be surprising to find a predominantly rocky planet more massive than Jupiter. On the other hand, models of planetary-system formation have suggested that giant planets would be inhibited from forming as close to their stars as many of the extrasolar giant planets have been observed to orbit.",
"title": "Extrasolar giant planets"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The bands seen in the atmosphere of Jupiter are due to counter-circulating streams of material called zones and belts, encircling the planet parallel to its equator. The zones are the lighter bands, and are at higher altitudes in the atmosphere. They have an internal updraft and are high-pressure regions. The belts are the darker bands, are lower in the atmosphere, and have an internal downdraft. They are low-pressure regions. These structures are somewhat analogous to the high and low-pressure cells in Earth's atmosphere, but they have a very different structure—latitudinal bands that circle the entire planet, as opposed to small confined cells of pressure. This appears to be a result of the rapid rotation and underlying symmetry of the planet. There are no oceans or landmasses to cause local heating and the rotation speed is much higher than that of Earth.",
"title": "Atmospheres"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "There are smaller structures as well: spots of different sizes and colors. On Jupiter, the most noticeable of these features is the Great Red Spot, which has been present for at least 300 years. These structures are huge storms. Some such spots are thunderheads as well.",
"title": "Atmospheres"
}
]
| The giant planets make up a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. They are usually primarily composed of low-boiling point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four known giant planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified as orbiting other stars. They are also sometimes called jovian planets, after Jupiter. They are also sometimes known as gas giants. However, many astronomers now apply the latter term only to Jupiter and Saturn, classifying Uranus and Neptune, which have different compositions, as ice giants. Both names are potentially misleading: all of the giant planets consist primarily of fluids above their critical points, where distinct gas and liquid phases do not exist. The principal components are hydrogen and helium in the case of Jupiter and Saturn, and water, ammonia and methane in the case of Uranus and Neptune. The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf and a gas giant (~13 MJ) are debated. One school of thought is based on formation; the other, on the physics of the interior. Part of the debate concerns whether "brown dwarfs" must, by definition, have experienced nuclear fusion at some point in their history. | 2001-10-15T23:06:54Z | 2023-10-29T18:01:45Z | [
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Exoplanet",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Main article",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cmn",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Solar System",
"Template:Jupiter mass",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Short description"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_planet |
12,734 | Goddess | goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility (exemplified by the ancient mother goddess cult). Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods.
In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is Mahadevi (Supreme Goddess) and in some forms of Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle (with the goddess representing the active, creative power of God). Meanwhile, in Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimate reality is often seen as being composed of two principles depicted as two deities in union (yab yum, "father-mother") symbolizing the non-duality of the two principles of perfect wisdom (female) and skillful compassion (male).
Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honor multiple goddesses and gods, and usually view them as discrete, separate beings. These deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities.
The noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350. The English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the language's word for god.
Inanna was the most worshipped goddess in ancient Sumer. She was later syncretised with the East Semitic goddess Ishtar. Other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu and Gaga.
Goddesses of the Canaanite religion: Ba`alat Gebal, Astarte, Anat.
In pre-Islamic Mecca the goddesses Uzza, Manāt and al-Lāt were known as "the daughters of god". Uzzā was worshipped by the Nabataeans, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddesses Aphrodite, Urania, Venus and Caelestis. Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near Mecca. Uzzā, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic Quraysh. "In 624 at the battle called "Uhud", the war cry of the Qurayshites was, "O people of Uzzā, people of Hubal!" (Tawil 1993).
According to Ibn Ishaq's controversial account of the Satanic Verses (q.v.), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors for Muslims, but were abrogated. Most Muslim scholars have regarded the story as historically implausible, while opinion is divided among western scholars such as Leone Caetani and John Burton, who argue against, and William Muir and William Montgomery Watt, who argue for its plausibility.
The Quran (Q53:19-31) warns of the vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities, in particular "the daughters of god".
Pre-Christian and pre-Islamic goddesses in cultures that spoke Indo-European languages.
Goddesses and Otherworldly Women in Celtic polytheism include:
The Celts honoured goddesses of nature and natural forces, as well as those connected with skills and professions such as healing, warfare and poetry. The Celtic goddesses have diverse qualities such as abundance, creation and beauty, as well as harshness, slaughter and vengeance. They have been depicted as beautiful or hideous, old hags or young women, and at times may transform their appearance from one state to another, or into their associated creatures such as crows, cows, wolves or eels, to name but a few. In Irish mythology in particular, tutelary goddesses are often associated with sovereignty and various features of the land, notably mountains, rivers, forests and holy wells.
Surviving accounts of Germanic mythology and Norse mythology contain numerous tales of female goddesses, giantesses, and divine female figures in their scriptures. The Germanic peoples had altars erected to the "Mothers and Matrons" and held celebrations specific to these goddesses (such as the Anglo-Saxon "Mothers-night"). Various other female deities are attested among the Germanic peoples, such as Nerthus attested in an early account of the Germanic peoples, Ēostre attested among the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and Sinthgunt attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include Frigg (wife of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday Friday), Skaði (one time wife of Njörðr), Njerda (Scandinavian name of Nerthus), that also was married to Njörðr during Bronze Age, Freyja (wife of Óðr), Sif (wife of Thor), Gerðr (wife of Freyr), and personifications such as Jörð (earth), Sól (the sun), and Nótt (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept of death, where half of those slain in battle enter Freyja's field Fólkvangr, Hel's realm of the same name, and Rán who receives those who die at sea. Other female deities such as the valkyries, the norns, and the dísir are associated with a Germanic concept of fate (Old Norse Ørlög, Old English Wyrd), and celebrations were held in their honour, such as the Dísablót and Disting.
Goddesses of various Native North American peoples include:
In African and African diasporic religions, goddesses are often syncretised with Marian devotion, as in Ezili Dantor (Black Madonna of Częstochowa) and Erzulie Freda (Mater Dolorosa). There is also Buk, an Ethiopian goddess still worshipped in the southern regions. She represents the fertile aspect of women. So when a woman is having her period not only does it signify her submission to nature but also her union with the goddess. Another Ethiopian goddess is Atete, the goddess of spring and fertility. Farmers traditionally leave some of their products at the end of each harvesting season as an offering while women sing traditional songs.
A rare example of henotheism focused on a single Goddess is found among the Southern Nuba of Sudan. The Nuba conceive of the creator Goddess as the "Great Mother" who gave birth to earth and to mankind.
Goddess Amaterasu is the chief among the Shinto gods (kami), while there are important female deities Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, Inari and Konohanasakuya-hime.
In the Dharmic religions (mainly Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism), there are many goddesses that are widely venerated. The earliest source for several of these goddesses is the Vedas. However, goddesses can also be found in the art of the even more ancient Indus Valley civilisation.
Hinduism is a diverse complex of many belief systems which includes numerous gods and goddesses. The earliest Hindu source, the Rigveda, contains many goddesses such as Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction) and Saraswati. The Devīsūktam is an important source for the goddess idea in Vedic religion. Important Hindu goddesses today include Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali, Tripurasundari, Parvati, and Radha.
There is much diversity in the theology of the various traditions of Hinduism. Some theologies (e.g. Advaita) see all gods and goddesses as emanations of a single formless impersonal source called Brahman. Other theologies are more personal regarding the ultimate deity.
Some traditions posit a dual deity in the form of Lakshmi-Vishnu, Radha-Krishna, Brahma-Saraswati, or Shiva-Parvati. These are presented as a pair with a male god (Shaktiman, "possessor of power") and his consort, a female "power" (Shakti), and their relationship is interpreted in different ways depending on the tradition's theology.
In Shaktism, the supreme deity is the Great Goddess (Mahadevi), called by different names such as Shakti or Adi Parashakti (Primordial Supreme Power). Shaktas consider the Goddess to be the ultimate source of all things and the mother of all gods and goddesses. She is considered to have ten main avatars called the ten mahavidyas in some traditions. Another important concept is the Shakta trinity, the tridevi, which sees Mahadevi as manifesting in three main goddesses: Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi, and Mahakali.
In the great Shakta scripture known as the Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), all the goddesses are aspects of one presiding female force—one in truth and many in expression, which also is the creative power of the cosmos. It expresses through philosophical tracts and metaphor, that the potentiality of masculine being is actuated by the feminine divine.
Local deities of different village regions in India were often identified with "mainstream" Hindu deities, a process that has been called Sanskritisation. Others attribute it to the influence of monism or Advaita, which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorisation. While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess Durga was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini (Vidyapati 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.
Widely celebrated Hindu festival Navaratri is in the honour of the divine feminine Devi (Durga) and spans nine nights of prayer in the autumn, also referred as Sharada Navratri.
There are numerous female deities in the various Buddhist traditions. Buddhist goddesses are widely depicted in Buddhist art. Early Buddhism in India venerated various female goddesses. These were mostly considered to be devas or spirits (such as yakshinis). They include Prthivi (earth goddess), Hariti, Lakshmi and Mayadevi (the mother of the Buddha). Some of these figures remain important in Theravada Buddhism today, including Maya and Prthivi (known as Phra Mae Thorani in Southeast Asia).
Indian Mahayana Buddhism revered several female deities, including Prajñāpāramitā Devi, Cunda, Marici, Sitātapatra, Tārā, Uṣṇīṣavijayā and Vasudhārā. In the Mahayana, female deities grew in importance, becoming powerful bodhisattva savior figures, liberators associated with powerful mantras (which are also termed vidyās when a mantra is seen as a feminine power) and dharanis. In some cases, such as with Prajñāpāramitā Devi, these goddesses were even called "mother of Buddhas" (Sanskrit: buddhamatr) and bhagavati, indicating they were seen as fully awakened Buddhas themselves.
In the Mahayana traditions, some are considered to be bodhisattvas (beings advancing on the path to Buddhahood) or full Buddhas, while others are just devas (worldly deities). The most important Buddhist female deities in East Asian Buddhism are the bodhisattva Guanyin and the "mother of Buddhas" Cundi. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara is the most important female deity (often considered to be a full Buddha).
The tantric dakini Vajrayogini is an important tantric meditation deity (yidam) in Tibetan Vajrayana, and is also considered to be a female Buddha in her own right. Tantric Buddhist goddesses were often considered to be fully awakened Buddhas and sometimes are depicted with unique tantric elements, such as skullcups and flaying knives. These tantric deities include Simhamukha, Mahamaya, Vajrayogini, Chinnamunda and Kurukulla.
Mahayana goddesses are often termed "devis" (Sanskrit: devi, "female deity", "goddess", Tibetan: lhamo) or even bhagavani (the female version of bhagavan, indicating Buddhahood).
According to Zohar, Lilith is the name of Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time as Adam. She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. Her story was greatly developed during the Middle Ages in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.
The Zohar tradition has influenced Jewish folklore, which postulates God created Adam to marry a woman named Lilith. Outside of Jewish tradition, Lilith was associated with the Mother Goddess, Inanna – later known as both Ishtar and Asherah. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was said to have destroyed a tree that was in a sacred grove dedicated to the goddess Ishtar/Inanna/Asherah. Lilith ran into the wilderness in despair. She then is depicted in the Talmud and Kabbalah as first wife to God's first creation of man, Adam. In time, as stated in the Old Testament, the Hebrew followers continued to worship "False Idols", like Asherah, as being as powerful as God. Jeremiah speaks of his (and God's) displeasure at this behavior to the Hebrew people about the worship of the goddess in the Old Testament. Lilith is banished from Adam and God's presence when she is discovered to be a "demon" and Eve becomes Adam's wife.
The following female deities are mentioned in prominent Hebrew texts:
The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as an especially privileged saint has continued since the beginning of the Catholic faith. Mary is venerated as the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea, and other lofty titles.
Marian devotion similar to this kind is also found in Eastern Orthodoxy and sometimes in Anglicanism, although not in the majority of denominations of Protestantism. In some Christian traditions (like the Orthodox tradition), Sophia is the personification of either divine wisdom (or of an archangel) that takes female form. She is mentioned in the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Sophia is identified by some as the wisdom imparting Holy Spirit of the Christian Trinity, whose names in Hebrew—Ruach and Shekhinah—are both feminine, and whose symbol of the dove was commonly associated in the Ancient Near East with the figure of the Mother Goddess.
In mysticism, Gnosticism, as well as some Hellenistic religions, there is a female spirit or goddess named Sophia who is said to embody wisdom and who is sometimes described as a virgin. In Roman Catholic mysticism, Saint Hildegard celebrated Sophia as a cosmic figure both in her writing and art. Within the Protestant tradition in England, the 17th-century mystic universalist and founder of the Philadelphian Society Jane Leade wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the universe. Leade was hugely influenced by the theosophical writings of 16th-century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme, who also speaks of Sophia in works such as The Way to Christ. Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number of Christian mystics and religious leaders, including George Rapp and the Harmony Society.
The members of most denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement believe in, although they do not directly worship, a Heavenly Mother who is the female counterpart of the Heavenly Father. Together they are referred to as Heavenly Parents. Adherents also believe that all humans, both women and men, have the potential to become gods through a process known as exaltation.
Most Modern Pagan traditions honour one or more goddesses. While some who follow Wicca believe in a duotheistic belief system, consisting of a single goddess and a single god, who in hieros gamos represent a united whole, others recognise only one or more goddesses.
In Wicca "the Goddess" is a deity of prime importance, along with her consort the Horned God. Within many forms of Wicca the Goddess has come to be considered as a universal deity, more in line with her description in the Charge of the Goddess, a key Wiccan text. In this guise she is the "Queen of Heaven", similar to Isis. She also encompasses and conceives all life, much like Gaia. Similarly to Isis and certain late Classical conceptions of Selene, she is the summation of all other goddesses, who represent her different names and aspects across the different cultures. The Goddess is often portrayed with strong lunar symbolism, drawing on various cultures and deities such as Diana, Hecate, and Isis, and is often depicted as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone triad popularised by Robert Graves (see Triple Goddess below). Many depictions of her also draw strongly on Celtic goddesses. Some Wiccans believe there are many goddesses, and in some forms of Wicca, notably Dianic Wicca, the Goddess alone is worshipped, and the God plays very little part in their worship and ritual.
Goddesses or demi-goddesses appear in sets of three in a number of ancient European pagan mythologies; these include the Greek Erinyes (Furies) and Moirai (Fates); the Norse Norns; Brighid and her two sisters, also called Brighid, from Irish or Celtic mythology.
Robert Graves popularised the triad of "Maiden" (or "Virgin"), "Mother" and "Crone", and while this idea did not rest on sound scholarship, his poetic inspiration has gained a tenacious hold. Considerable variation in the precise conceptions of these figures exists, as typically occurs in Neopaganism and indeed in pagan religions in general. Some choose to interpret them as three stages in a woman's life, separated by menarche and menopause. Others find this too biologically based and rigid, and prefer a freer interpretation, with the Maiden as birth (independent, self-centred, seeking), the Mother as giving birth (interrelated, compassionate nurturing, creating), and the Crone as death and renewal (holistic, remote, unknowable) — and all three erotic and wise.
At least since first-wave feminism in the United States, there has been interest in analyzing religion to see if and how doctrines and practices treat women unfairly, as in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Woman's Bible. Again in second-wave feminism in the U.S., as well as in many European and other countries, religion became the focus of some feminist analysis in Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, and some women turned to ancient goddess religions as an alternative to Abrahamic religions (Womanspirit Rising 1979; Weaving the Visions 1989). Today both women and men continue to be involved in the Goddess movement (Christ 1997). The popularity of organisations such as the Fellowship of Isis attest to the continuing growth of the religion of the Goddess throughout the world.
While much of the attempt at gender equity in mainstream Christianity (Judaism never recognised any gender for God) is aimed at reinterpreting scripture and degenderising language used to name and describe the divine (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), there are a growing number of people who identify as Christians or Jews who are trying to integrate goddess imagery into their religions (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996,"Goddess Christians Yahoo Group").
The term "sacred feminine" was first coined in the 1970s, in New Age popularisations of the Hindu Shakti. Hinduism also worships multitude of goddesses that have their important role and thus in all came to interest for the New Age, feminist, and lesbian feminist movements.
The term "goddess" has also been adapted to poetic and secular use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman. The OED notes 1579 as the date of the earliest attestation of such figurative use, in Lauretta the diuine Petrarches Goddesse.
Shakespeare had several of his male characters address female characters as goddesses, including Demetrius to Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream ("O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!"), Berowne to Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost ("A woman I forswore; but I will prove, Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee"), and Bertram to Diana in All's Well That Ends Well. Pisanio also compares Imogen to a goddess to describe her composure under duress in Cymbeline. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility (exemplified by the ancient mother goddess cult). Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is Mahadevi (Supreme Goddess) and in some forms of Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle (with the goddess representing the active, creative power of God). Meanwhile, in Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimate reality is often seen as being composed of two principles depicted as two deities in union (yab yum, \"father-mother\") symbolizing the non-duality of the two principles of perfect wisdom (female) and skillful compassion (male).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honor multiple goddesses and gods, and usually view them as discrete, separate beings. These deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350. The English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the language's word for god.",
"title": "Etymology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Inanna was the most worshipped goddess in ancient Sumer. She was later syncretised with the East Semitic goddess Ishtar. Other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu and Gaga.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Goddesses of the Canaanite religion: Ba`alat Gebal, Astarte, Anat.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In pre-Islamic Mecca the goddesses Uzza, Manāt and al-Lāt were known as \"the daughters of god\". Uzzā was worshipped by the Nabataeans, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddesses Aphrodite, Urania, Venus and Caelestis. Each of the three goddesses had a separate shrine near Mecca. Uzzā, was called upon for protection by the pre-Islamic Quraysh. \"In 624 at the battle called \"Uhud\", the war cry of the Qurayshites was, \"O people of Uzzā, people of Hubal!\" (Tawil 1993).",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "According to Ibn Ishaq's controversial account of the Satanic Verses (q.v.), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors for Muslims, but were abrogated. Most Muslim scholars have regarded the story as historically implausible, while opinion is divided among western scholars such as Leone Caetani and John Burton, who argue against, and William Muir and William Montgomery Watt, who argue for its plausibility.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Quran (Q53:19-31) warns of the vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities, in particular \"the daughters of god\".",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Pre-Christian and pre-Islamic goddesses in cultures that spoke Indo-European languages.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Goddesses and Otherworldly Women in Celtic polytheism include:",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The Celts honoured goddesses of nature and natural forces, as well as those connected with skills and professions such as healing, warfare and poetry. The Celtic goddesses have diverse qualities such as abundance, creation and beauty, as well as harshness, slaughter and vengeance. They have been depicted as beautiful or hideous, old hags or young women, and at times may transform their appearance from one state to another, or into their associated creatures such as crows, cows, wolves or eels, to name but a few. In Irish mythology in particular, tutelary goddesses are often associated with sovereignty and various features of the land, notably mountains, rivers, forests and holy wells.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Surviving accounts of Germanic mythology and Norse mythology contain numerous tales of female goddesses, giantesses, and divine female figures in their scriptures. The Germanic peoples had altars erected to the \"Mothers and Matrons\" and held celebrations specific to these goddesses (such as the Anglo-Saxon \"Mothers-night\"). Various other female deities are attested among the Germanic peoples, such as Nerthus attested in an early account of the Germanic peoples, Ēostre attested among the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and Sinthgunt attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include Frigg (wife of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday Friday), Skaði (one time wife of Njörðr), Njerda (Scandinavian name of Nerthus), that also was married to Njörðr during Bronze Age, Freyja (wife of Óðr), Sif (wife of Thor), Gerðr (wife of Freyr), and personifications such as Jörð (earth), Sól (the sun), and Nótt (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept of death, where half of those slain in battle enter Freyja's field Fólkvangr, Hel's realm of the same name, and Rán who receives those who die at sea. Other female deities such as the valkyries, the norns, and the dísir are associated with a Germanic concept of fate (Old Norse Ørlög, Old English Wyrd), and celebrations were held in their honour, such as the Dísablót and Disting.",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Goddesses of various Native North American peoples include:",
"title": "Historical polytheism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In African and African diasporic religions, goddesses are often syncretised with Marian devotion, as in Ezili Dantor (Black Madonna of Częstochowa) and Erzulie Freda (Mater Dolorosa). There is also Buk, an Ethiopian goddess still worshipped in the southern regions. She represents the fertile aspect of women. So when a woman is having her period not only does it signify her submission to nature but also her union with the goddess. Another Ethiopian goddess is Atete, the goddess of spring and fertility. Farmers traditionally leave some of their products at the end of each harvesting season as an offering while women sing traditional songs.",
"title": "Folk religion and animism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "A rare example of henotheism focused on a single Goddess is found among the Southern Nuba of Sudan. The Nuba conceive of the creator Goddess as the \"Great Mother\" who gave birth to earth and to mankind.",
"title": "Folk religion and animism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Goddess Amaterasu is the chief among the Shinto gods (kami), while there are important female deities Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, Inari and Konohanasakuya-hime.",
"title": "Folk religion and animism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In the Dharmic religions (mainly Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism), there are many goddesses that are widely venerated. The earliest source for several of these goddesses is the Vedas. However, goddesses can also be found in the art of the even more ancient Indus Valley civilisation.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Hinduism is a diverse complex of many belief systems which includes numerous gods and goddesses. The earliest Hindu source, the Rigveda, contains many goddesses such as Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction) and Saraswati. The Devīsūktam is an important source for the goddess idea in Vedic religion. Important Hindu goddesses today include Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali, Tripurasundari, Parvati, and Radha.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "There is much diversity in the theology of the various traditions of Hinduism. Some theologies (e.g. Advaita) see all gods and goddesses as emanations of a single formless impersonal source called Brahman. Other theologies are more personal regarding the ultimate deity.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Some traditions posit a dual deity in the form of Lakshmi-Vishnu, Radha-Krishna, Brahma-Saraswati, or Shiva-Parvati. These are presented as a pair with a male god (Shaktiman, \"possessor of power\") and his consort, a female \"power\" (Shakti), and their relationship is interpreted in different ways depending on the tradition's theology.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In Shaktism, the supreme deity is the Great Goddess (Mahadevi), called by different names such as Shakti or Adi Parashakti (Primordial Supreme Power). Shaktas consider the Goddess to be the ultimate source of all things and the mother of all gods and goddesses. She is considered to have ten main avatars called the ten mahavidyas in some traditions. Another important concept is the Shakta trinity, the tridevi, which sees Mahadevi as manifesting in three main goddesses: Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi, and Mahakali.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In the great Shakta scripture known as the Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), all the goddesses are aspects of one presiding female force—one in truth and many in expression, which also is the creative power of the cosmos. It expresses through philosophical tracts and metaphor, that the potentiality of masculine being is actuated by the feminine divine.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Local deities of different village regions in India were often identified with \"mainstream\" Hindu deities, a process that has been called Sanskritisation. Others attribute it to the influence of monism or Advaita, which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorisation. While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess Durga was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini (Vidyapati 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Widely celebrated Hindu festival Navaratri is in the honour of the divine feminine Devi (Durga) and spans nine nights of prayer in the autumn, also referred as Sharada Navratri.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "There are numerous female deities in the various Buddhist traditions. Buddhist goddesses are widely depicted in Buddhist art. Early Buddhism in India venerated various female goddesses. These were mostly considered to be devas or spirits (such as yakshinis). They include Prthivi (earth goddess), Hariti, Lakshmi and Mayadevi (the mother of the Buddha). Some of these figures remain important in Theravada Buddhism today, including Maya and Prthivi (known as Phra Mae Thorani in Southeast Asia).",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Indian Mahayana Buddhism revered several female deities, including Prajñāpāramitā Devi, Cunda, Marici, Sitātapatra, Tārā, Uṣṇīṣavijayā and Vasudhārā. In the Mahayana, female deities grew in importance, becoming powerful bodhisattva savior figures, liberators associated with powerful mantras (which are also termed vidyās when a mantra is seen as a feminine power) and dharanis. In some cases, such as with Prajñāpāramitā Devi, these goddesses were even called \"mother of Buddhas\" (Sanskrit: buddhamatr) and bhagavati, indicating they were seen as fully awakened Buddhas themselves.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In the Mahayana traditions, some are considered to be bodhisattvas (beings advancing on the path to Buddhahood) or full Buddhas, while others are just devas (worldly deities). The most important Buddhist female deities in East Asian Buddhism are the bodhisattva Guanyin and the \"mother of Buddhas\" Cundi. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara is the most important female deity (often considered to be a full Buddha).",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The tantric dakini Vajrayogini is an important tantric meditation deity (yidam) in Tibetan Vajrayana, and is also considered to be a female Buddha in her own right. Tantric Buddhist goddesses were often considered to be fully awakened Buddhas and sometimes are depicted with unique tantric elements, such as skullcups and flaying knives. These tantric deities include Simhamukha, Mahamaya, Vajrayogini, Chinnamunda and Kurukulla.",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Mahayana goddesses are often termed \"devis\" (Sanskrit: devi, \"female deity\", \"goddess\", Tibetan: lhamo) or even bhagavani (the female version of bhagavan, indicating Buddhahood).",
"title": "Dharmic Religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "According to Zohar, Lilith is the name of Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time as Adam. She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. Her story was greatly developed during the Middle Ages in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar and Jewish mysticism.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The Zohar tradition has influenced Jewish folklore, which postulates God created Adam to marry a woman named Lilith. Outside of Jewish tradition, Lilith was associated with the Mother Goddess, Inanna – later known as both Ishtar and Asherah. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was said to have destroyed a tree that was in a sacred grove dedicated to the goddess Ishtar/Inanna/Asherah. Lilith ran into the wilderness in despair. She then is depicted in the Talmud and Kabbalah as first wife to God's first creation of man, Adam. In time, as stated in the Old Testament, the Hebrew followers continued to worship \"False Idols\", like Asherah, as being as powerful as God. Jeremiah speaks of his (and God's) displeasure at this behavior to the Hebrew people about the worship of the goddess in the Old Testament. Lilith is banished from Adam and God's presence when she is discovered to be a \"demon\" and Eve becomes Adam's wife.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The following female deities are mentioned in prominent Hebrew texts:",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as an especially privileged saint has continued since the beginning of the Catholic faith. Mary is venerated as the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea, and other lofty titles.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Marian devotion similar to this kind is also found in Eastern Orthodoxy and sometimes in Anglicanism, although not in the majority of denominations of Protestantism. In some Christian traditions (like the Orthodox tradition), Sophia is the personification of either divine wisdom (or of an archangel) that takes female form. She is mentioned in the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Sophia is identified by some as the wisdom imparting Holy Spirit of the Christian Trinity, whose names in Hebrew—Ruach and Shekhinah—are both feminine, and whose symbol of the dove was commonly associated in the Ancient Near East with the figure of the Mother Goddess.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In mysticism, Gnosticism, as well as some Hellenistic religions, there is a female spirit or goddess named Sophia who is said to embody wisdom and who is sometimes described as a virgin. In Roman Catholic mysticism, Saint Hildegard celebrated Sophia as a cosmic figure both in her writing and art. Within the Protestant tradition in England, the 17th-century mystic universalist and founder of the Philadelphian Society Jane Leade wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the \"Virgin Sophia\" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the universe. Leade was hugely influenced by the theosophical writings of 16th-century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme, who also speaks of Sophia in works such as The Way to Christ. Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number of Christian mystics and religious leaders, including George Rapp and the Harmony Society.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The members of most denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement believe in, although they do not directly worship, a Heavenly Mother who is the female counterpart of the Heavenly Father. Together they are referred to as Heavenly Parents. Adherents also believe that all humans, both women and men, have the potential to become gods through a process known as exaltation.",
"title": "Abrahamic religions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Most Modern Pagan traditions honour one or more goddesses. While some who follow Wicca believe in a duotheistic belief system, consisting of a single goddess and a single god, who in hieros gamos represent a united whole, others recognise only one or more goddesses.",
"title": "Neopaganism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In Wicca \"the Goddess\" is a deity of prime importance, along with her consort the Horned God. Within many forms of Wicca the Goddess has come to be considered as a universal deity, more in line with her description in the Charge of the Goddess, a key Wiccan text. In this guise she is the \"Queen of Heaven\", similar to Isis. She also encompasses and conceives all life, much like Gaia. Similarly to Isis and certain late Classical conceptions of Selene, she is the summation of all other goddesses, who represent her different names and aspects across the different cultures. The Goddess is often portrayed with strong lunar symbolism, drawing on various cultures and deities such as Diana, Hecate, and Isis, and is often depicted as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone triad popularised by Robert Graves (see Triple Goddess below). Many depictions of her also draw strongly on Celtic goddesses. Some Wiccans believe there are many goddesses, and in some forms of Wicca, notably Dianic Wicca, the Goddess alone is worshipped, and the God plays very little part in their worship and ritual.",
"title": "Neopaganism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Goddesses or demi-goddesses appear in sets of three in a number of ancient European pagan mythologies; these include the Greek Erinyes (Furies) and Moirai (Fates); the Norse Norns; Brighid and her two sisters, also called Brighid, from Irish or Celtic mythology.",
"title": "Neopaganism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Robert Graves popularised the triad of \"Maiden\" (or \"Virgin\"), \"Mother\" and \"Crone\", and while this idea did not rest on sound scholarship, his poetic inspiration has gained a tenacious hold. Considerable variation in the precise conceptions of these figures exists, as typically occurs in Neopaganism and indeed in pagan religions in general. Some choose to interpret them as three stages in a woman's life, separated by menarche and menopause. Others find this too biologically based and rigid, and prefer a freer interpretation, with the Maiden as birth (independent, self-centred, seeking), the Mother as giving birth (interrelated, compassionate nurturing, creating), and the Crone as death and renewal (holistic, remote, unknowable) — and all three erotic and wise.",
"title": "Neopaganism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "At least since first-wave feminism in the United States, there has been interest in analyzing religion to see if and how doctrines and practices treat women unfairly, as in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Woman's Bible. Again in second-wave feminism in the U.S., as well as in many European and other countries, religion became the focus of some feminist analysis in Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, and some women turned to ancient goddess religions as an alternative to Abrahamic religions (Womanspirit Rising 1979; Weaving the Visions 1989). Today both women and men continue to be involved in the Goddess movement (Christ 1997). The popularity of organisations such as the Fellowship of Isis attest to the continuing growth of the religion of the Goddess throughout the world.",
"title": "Feminism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "While much of the attempt at gender equity in mainstream Christianity (Judaism never recognised any gender for God) is aimed at reinterpreting scripture and degenderising language used to name and describe the divine (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), there are a growing number of people who identify as Christians or Jews who are trying to integrate goddess imagery into their religions (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996,\"Goddess Christians Yahoo Group\").",
"title": "Feminism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The term \"sacred feminine\" was first coined in the 1970s, in New Age popularisations of the Hindu Shakti. Hinduism also worships multitude of goddesses that have their important role and thus in all came to interest for the New Age, feminist, and lesbian feminist movements.",
"title": "Feminism"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The term \"goddess\" has also been adapted to poetic and secular use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman. The OED notes 1579 as the date of the earliest attestation of such figurative use, in Lauretta the diuine Petrarches Goddesse.",
"title": "Metaphorical use"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Shakespeare had several of his male characters address female characters as goddesses, including Demetrius to Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (\"O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!\"), Berowne to Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost (\"A woman I forswore; but I will prove, Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee\"), and Bertram to Diana in All's Well That Ends Well. Pisanio also compares Imogen to a goddess to describe her composure under duress in Cymbeline.",
"title": "Metaphorical use"
}
]
| goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility. Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism, holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is Mahadevi and in some forms of Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle. Meanwhile, in Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimate reality is often seen as being composed of two principles depicted as two deities in union symbolizing the non-duality of the two principles of perfect wisdom (female) and skillful compassion (male). Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honor multiple goddesses and gods, and usually view them as discrete, separate beings. These deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities. | 2001-11-07T20:22:21Z | 2023-12-10T01:06:03Z | [
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Theism",
"Template:Religion topics",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Incomplete short citation",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Main",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Citation-attribution",
"Template:ISSN",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Theology",
"Template:In lang"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddess |
12,736 | List of German-language poets | This list contains the names of individuals (of any ethnicity or nationality) who wrote poetry in the German language. Most are identified as "German poets", but some are not German. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "This list contains the names of individuals (of any ethnicity or nationality) who wrote poetry in the German language. Most are identified as \"German poets\", but some are not German.",
"title": ""
}
]
| This list contains the names of individuals who wrote poetry in the German language. Most are identified as "German poets", but some are not German. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-10-31T17:35:50Z | [
"Template:Dynamic list",
"Template:Horizontal TOC",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:Lists of poets",
"Template:Short description"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German-language_poets |
12,737 | Gunpowder | Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines, tunnels, and roads.
Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn at subsonic speeds), whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic shockwave. Ignition of gunpowder packed behind a projectile generates enough pressure to force the shot from the muzzle at high speed, but usually not enough force to rupture the gun barrel. It thus makes a good propellant but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications with its low-yield explosive power. Nonetheless, it was widely used to fill fused artillery shells (and used in mining and civil engineering projects) until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives were put into use.
Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Originally developed by Taoists for medicinal purposes, it was first used for warfare around AD 904. Its use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil.
Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired. In that case, the propellant (and most importantly, gases produced by its burning) must be confined. Since it contains its own oxidizer and additionally burns faster under pressure, its combustion is capable of bursting containers such as a shell, grenade, or improvised "pipe bomb" or "pressure cooker" casings to form shrapnel.
In quarrying, high explosives are generally preferred for shattering rock. However, because of its low brisance, gunpowder causes fewer fractures and results in more usable stone compared to other explosives, making it useful for blasting slate, which is fragile, or monumental stone such as granite and marble. Gunpowder is well suited for blank rounds, signal flares, burst charges, and rescue-line launches. It is also used in fireworks for lifting shells, in rockets as fuel, and in certain special effects.
Combustion converts less than half the mass of gunpowder to gas; most of it turns into particulate matter. Some of it is ejected, wasting propelling power, fouling the air, and generally being a nuisance (giving away a soldier's position, generating fog that hinders vision, etc.). Some of it ends up as a thick layer of soot inside the barrel, where it also is a nuisance for subsequent shots, and a cause of jamming an automatic weapon. Moreover, this residue is hygroscopic, and with the addition of moisture absorbed from the air forms a corrosive substance. The soot contains potassium oxide or sodium oxide that turns into potassium hydroxide, or sodium hydroxide, which corrodes wrought iron or steel gun barrels. Gunpowder arms therefore require thorough and regular cleaning to remove the residue.
Gunpowder loads can be used in modern firearms as long as they are not gas-operated. The most compatible modern guns are smoothbore-barreled shotguns that are long-recoil operated. Combined with chrome-plated essential parts such as barrels and bores, these elements heavily reduce fouling and corrosion; the combination of these factors makes the shotgun easier to clean.
The first confirmed reference to what can be considered gunpowder in China occurred in the 9th century AD during the Tang dynasty, first in a formula contained in the Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue (太上聖祖金丹秘訣) in 808, and then about 50 years later in a Taoist text known as the Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe (真元妙道要略). The Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue mentions a formula composed of six parts sulfur to six parts saltpeter to one part birthwort herb. According to the Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe, "Some have heated together sulfur, realgar and saltpeter with honey; smoke and flames result, so that their hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down." Based on these Taoist texts, the invention of gunpowder by Chinese alchemists was likely an accidental byproduct from experiments seeking to create the elixir of life. This experimental medicine origin is reflected in its Chinese name huoyao (Chinese: 火药/火藥; pinyin: huǒ yào/xuo yɑʊ/), which means "fire medicine". Saltpeter was known to the Chinese by the mid-1st century AD and was primarily produced in the provinces of Sichuan, Shanxi, and Shandong. There is strong evidence of the use of saltpeter and sulfur in various medicinal combinations. A Chinese alchemical text dated 492 noted saltpeter burnt with a purple flame, providing a practical and reliable means of distinguishing it from other inorganic salts, thus enabling alchemists to evaluate and compare purification techniques; the earliest Latin accounts of saltpeter purification are dated after 1200.
The earliest chemical formula for gunpowder appeared in the 11th century Song dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao (Complete Essentials from the Military Classics), written by Zeng Gongliang between 1040 and 1044. The Wujing Zongyao provides encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures that included petrochemicals—as well as garlic and honey. A slow match for flame-throwing mechanisms using the siphon principle and for fireworks and rockets is mentioned. The mixture formulas in this book contain at most 50% saltpeter — not enough to create an explosion, they produce an incendiary instead. The Essentials was written by a Song dynasty court bureaucrat and there is little evidence that it had any immediate impact on warfare; there is no mention of its use in the chronicles of the wars against the Tanguts in the 11th century, and China was otherwise mostly at peace during this century. However, it had already been used for fire arrows since at least the 10th century. Its first recorded military application dates its use to the year 904 in the form of incendiary projectiles. In the following centuries various gunpowder weapons such as bombs, fire lances, and the gun appeared in China. Explosive weapons such as bombs have been discovered in a shipwreck off the shore of Japan dated from 1281, during the Mongol invasions of Japan.
By 1083 the Song court was producing hundreds of thousands of fire arrows for their garrisons. Bombs and the first proto-guns, known as "fire lances", became prominent during the 12th century and were used by the Song during the Jin-Song Wars. Fire lances were first recorded to have been used at the Siege of De'an in 1132 by Song forces against the Jin. In the early 13th century the Jin used iron-casing bombs. Projectiles were added to fire lances, and re-usable fire lance barrels were developed, first out of hardened paper, and then metal. By 1257 some fire lances were firing wads of bullets. In the late 13th-century metal fire lances became 'eruptors', proto-cannons firing co-viative projectiles (mixed with the propellant, rather than seated over it with a wad), and by 1287 at the latest, had become true guns, the hand cannon.
According to Iqtidar Alam Khan, it was invading Mongols who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world. The Muslims acquired knowledge of gunpowder sometime between 1240 and 1280, by which point the Syrian Hasan al-Rammah had written recipes, instructions for the purification of saltpeter, and descriptions of gunpowder incendiaries. It is implied by al-Rammah's usage of "terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources" and his references to saltpeter as "Chinese snow" (Arabic: ثلج الصين thalj al-ṣīn), fireworks as "Chinese flowers", and rockets as "Chinese arrows" that knowledge of gunpowder arrived from China. However, because al-Rammah attributes his material to "his father and forefathers", al-Hassan argues that gunpowder became prevalent in Syria and Egypt by "the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth". In Persia saltpeter was known as "Chinese salt" (Persian: نمک چینی) namak-i chīnī) or "salt from Chinese salt marshes" (نمک شوره چینی namak-i shūra-yi chīnī).
Hasan al-Rammah included 107 gunpowder recipes in his text al-Furusiyyah wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices), 22 of which are for rockets. If one takes the median of 17 of these 22 compositions for rockets (75% nitrates, 9.06% sulfur, and 15.94% charcoal), it is nearly identical to the modern reported ideal recipe of 75% potassium nitrate, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal. The text also mentions fuses, incendiary bombs, naphtha pots, fire lances, and an illustration and description of the earliest torpedo. The torpedo was called the "egg which moves itself and burns". Two iron sheets were fastened together and tightened using felt. The flattened pear-shaped vessel was filled with gunpowder, metal filings, "good mixtures", two rods, and a large rocket for propulsion. Judging by the illustration, it was evidently supposed to glide across the water. Fire lances were used in battles between the Muslims and Mongols in 1299 and 1303.
Al-Hassan claims that in the Battle of Ain Jalut of 1260, the Mamluks used against the Mongols, in "the first cannon in history", formula with near-identical ideal composition ratios for explosive gunpowder. Other historians urge caution regarding claims of Islamic firearms use in the 1204–1324 period as late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder, naft, that they used for an earlier incendiary, naphtha.
The earliest surviving documentary evidence for cannons in the Islamic world is from an Arabic manuscript dated to the early 14th century. The author's name is uncertain but may have been Shams al-Din Muhammad, who died in 1350. Dating from around 1320-1350, the illustrations show gunpowder weapons such as gunpowder arrows, bombs, fire tubes, and fire lances or proto-guns. The manuscript describes a type of gunpowder weapon called a midfa which uses gunpowder to shoot projectiles out of a tube at the end of a stock. Some consider this to be a cannon while others do not. The problem with identifying cannons in early 14th century Arabic texts is the term midfa, which appears from 1342 to 1352 but cannot be proven to be true hand-guns or bombards. Contemporary accounts of a metal-barrel cannon in the Islamic world do not occur until 1365. Needham believes that in its original form the term midfa refers to the tube or cylinder of a naphtha projector (flamethrower), then after the invention of gunpowder it meant the tube of fire lances, and eventually it applied to the cylinder of hand-gun and cannon.
According to Paul E. J. Hammer, the Mamluks certainly used cannons by 1342. According to J. Lavin, cannons were used by Moors at the siege of Algeciras in 1343. A metal cannon firing an iron ball was described by Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas al-Qalqashandi between 1365 and 1376.
The musket appeared in the Ottoman Empire by 1465. In 1598, Chinese writer Zhao Shizhen described Turkish muskets as being superior to European muskets. The Chinese military book Wu Pei Chih (1621) later described Turkish muskets that used a rack-and-pinion mechanism, which was not known to have been used in European or Chinese firearms at the time.
The state-controlled manufacture of gunpowder by the Ottoman Empire through early supply chains to obtain nitre, sulfur and high-quality charcoal from oaks in Anatolia contributed significantly to its expansion between the 15th and 18th century. It was not until later in the 19th century when the syndicalist production of Turkish gunpowder was greatly reduced, which coincided with the decline of its military might.
The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appears in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in 1267 called Opus Majus and Opus Tertium. The oldest written recipes in continental Europe were recorded under the name Marcus Graecus or Mark the Greek between 1280 and 1300 in the Liber Ignium, or Book of Fires.
Some sources mention possible gunpowder weapons being deployed by the Mongols against European forces at the Battle of Mohi in 1241. Professor Kenneth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducing into Europe gunpowder and its associated weaponry. However, there is no clear route of transmission, and while the Mongols are often pointed to as the likeliest vector, Timothy May points out that "there is no concrete evidence that the Mongols used gunpowder weapons on a regular basis outside of China." However, Timothy May also points out "However... the Mongols used the gunpowder weapon in their wars against the Jin, the Song and in their invasions of Japan."
Records show that, in England, gunpowder was being made in 1346 at the Tower of London; a powder house existed at the Tower in 1461, and in 1515 three King's gunpowder makers worked there. Gunpowder was also being made or stored at other royal castles, such as Portchester. The English Civil War (1642–1645) led to an expansion of the gunpowder industry, with the repeal of the Royal Patent in August 1641.
In late 14th century Europe, gunpowder was improved by corning, the practice of drying it into small clumps to improve combustion and consistency. During this time, European manufacturers also began regularly purifying saltpeter, using wood ashes containing potassium carbonate to precipitate calcium from their dung liquor, and using ox blood, alum, and slices of turnip to clarify the solution.
During the Renaissance, two European schools of pyrotechnic thought emerged, one in Italy and the other at Nuremberg, Germany. In Italy, Vannoccio Biringuccio, born in 1480, was a member of the guild Fraternita di Santa Barbara but broke with the tradition of secrecy by setting down everything he knew in a book titled De la pirotechnia, written in vernacular. It was published posthumously in 1540, with 9 editions over 138 years, and also reprinted by MIT Press in 1966.
By the mid-17th century fireworks were used for entertainment on an unprecedented scale in Europe, being popular even at resorts and public gardens. With the publication of Deutliche Anweisung zur Feuerwerkerey (1748), methods for creating fireworks were sufficiently well-known and well-described that "Firework making has become an exact science." In 1774 Louis XVI ascended to the throne of France at age 20. After he discovered that France was not self-sufficient in gunpowder, a Gunpowder Administration was established; to head it, the lawyer Antoine Lavoisier was appointed. Although from a bourgeois family, after his degree in law Lavoisier became wealthy from a company set up to collect taxes for the Crown; this allowed him to pursue experimental natural science as a hobby.
Without access to cheap saltpeter (controlled by the British), for hundreds of years France had relied on saltpetremen with royal warrants, the droit de fouille or "right to dig", to seize nitrous-containing soil and demolish walls of barnyards, without compensation to the owners. This caused farmers, the wealthy, or entire villages to bribe the petermen and the associated bureaucracy to leave their buildings alone and the saltpeter uncollected. Lavoisier instituted a crash program to increase saltpeter production, revised (and later eliminated) the droit de fouille, researched best refining and powder manufacturing methods, instituted management and record-keeping, and established pricing that encouraged private investment in works. Although saltpeter from new Prussian-style putrefaction works had not been produced yet (the process taking about 18 months), in only a year France had gunpowder to export. A chief beneficiary of this surplus was the American Revolution. By careful testing and adjusting the proportions and grinding time, powder from mills such as at Essonne outside Paris became the best in the world by 1788, and inexpensive.
Two British physicists, Andrew Noble and Frederick Abel, worked to improve the properties of gunpowder during the late 19th century. This formed the basis for the Noble-Abel gas equation for internal ballistics.
The introduction of smokeless powder in the late 19th century led to a contraction of the gunpowder industry. After the end of World War I, the majority of the British gunpowder manufacturers merged into a single company, "Explosives Trades limited", and a number of sites were closed down, including those in Ireland. This company became Nobel Industries Limited, and in 1926 became a founding member of Imperial Chemical Industries. The Home Office removed gunpowder from its list of Permitted Explosives. Shortly afterwards, on 31 December 1931, the former Curtis & Harvey's Glynneath gunpowder factory at Pontneddfechan in Wales closed down. The factory was demolished by fire in 1932. The last remaining gunpowder mill at the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey was damaged by a German parachute mine in 1941 and it never reopened. This was followed by the closure and demolition of the gunpowder section at the Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Chorley, at the end of World War II, and of ICI Nobel's Roslin gunpowder factory which closed in 1954. This left ICI Nobel's Ardeer site in Scotland, which included a gunpowder factory, as the only factory in Great Britain producing gunpowder. The gunpowder area of the Ardeer site closed in October 1976.
Gunpowder and gunpowder weapons were transmitted to India through the Mongol invasions of India. The Mongols were defeated by Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate, and some of the Mongol soldiers remained in northern India after their conversion to Islam. It was written in the Tarikh-i Firishta (1606–1607) that Nasiruddin Mahmud the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate presented the envoy of the Mongol ruler Hulegu Khan with a dazzling pyrotechnics display upon his arrival in Delhi in 1258. Nasiruddin Mahmud tried to express his strength as a ruler and tried to ward off any Mongol attempt similar to the Siege of Baghdad (1258). Firearms known as top-o-tufak also existed in many Muslim kingdoms in India by as early as 1366. From then on the employment of gunpowder warfare in India was prevalent, with events such as the "Siege of Belgaum" in 1473 by Sultan Muhammad Shah Bahmani.
The shipwrecked Ottoman Admiral Seydi Ali Reis is known to have introduced the earliest type of matchlock weapons, which the Ottomans used against the Portuguese during the Siege of Diu (1531). After that, a diverse variety of firearms, large guns in particular, became visible in Tanjore, Dacca, Bijapur, and Murshidabad. Guns made of bronze were recovered from Calicut (1504)- the former capital of the Zamorins
The Mughal emperor Akbar mass-produced matchlocks for the Mughal Army. Akbar is personally known to have shot a leading Rajput commander during the Siege of Chittorgarh. The Mughals began to use bamboo rockets (mainly for signalling) and employ sappers: special units that undermined heavy stone fortifications to plant gunpowder charges.
The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan is known to have introduced much more advanced matchlocks, their designs were a combination of Ottoman and Mughal designs. Shah Jahan also countered the British and other Europeans in his province of Gujarāt, which supplied Europe saltpeter for use in gunpowder warfare during the 17th century. Bengal and Mālwa participated in saltpeter production. The Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English used Chhapra as a center of saltpeter refining.
Ever since the founding of the Sultanate of Mysore by Hyder Ali, French military officers were employed to train the Mysore Army. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan were the first to introduce modern cannons and muskets, their army was also the first in India to have official uniforms. During the Second Anglo-Mysore War Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan unleashed the Mysorean rockets at their British opponents effectively defeating them on various occasions. The Mysorean rockets inspired the development of the Congreve rocket, which the British widely used during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Cannons were introduced to Majapahit when Kublai Khan's Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese sought to invade Java in 1293. History of Yuan mentioned that the Mongol used cannons (Chinese: 炮—Pào) against Daha forces. Cannons were used by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1352 during its invasion of the Khmer Empire. Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the Khmer Empire. By the end of the century firearms were also used by the Trần dynasty.
Even though the knowledge of making gunpowder-based weapon has been known after the failed Mongol invasion of Java, and the predecessor of firearms, the pole gun (bedil tombak), was recorded as being used by Java in 1413, the knowledge of making "true" firearms came much later, after the middle of the 15th century. It was brought by the Islamic nations of West Asia, most probably the Arabs. The precise year of introduction is unknown, but it may be safely concluded to be no earlier than 1460. Before the arrival of the Portuguese in Southeast Asia, the natives already possessed primitive firearms, the Java arquebus. Portuguese influence to local weaponry after the capture of Malacca (1511) resulted in a new type of hybrid tradition matchlock firearm, the istinggar.
When the Portuguese came to the archipelago, they referred to the breech-loading swivel gun as berço, while the Spaniards call it verso. By the early 16th century, the Javanese already locally producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannon" or "holy cannon". These cannons varied between 180- and 260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3 and 8 tons, length of them between 3 and 6 m.
Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation. Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers. According to colonel McKenzie quoted in Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles', The History of Java (1817), the purest sulfur was supplied from a crater from a mountain near the straits of Bali.
On the origins of gunpowder technology, historian Tonio Andrade remarked, "Scholars today overwhelmingly concur that the gun was invented in China." Gunpowder and the gun are widely believed by historians to have originated from China due to the large body of evidence that documents the evolution of gunpowder from a medicine to an incendiary and explosive, and the evolution of the gun from the fire lance to a metal gun, whereas similar records do not exist elsewhere. As Andrade explains, the large amount of variation in gunpowder recipes in China relative to Europe is "evidence of experimentation in China, where gunpowder was at first used as an incendiary and only later became an explosive and a propellant... in contrast, formulas in Europe diverged only very slightly from the ideal proportions for use as an explosive and a propellant, suggesting that gunpowder was introduced as a mature technology."
However, the history of gunpowder is not without controversy. A major problem confronting the study of early gunpowder history is ready access to sources close to the events described. Often the first records potentially describing use of gunpowder in warfare were written several centuries after the fact, and may well have been colored by the contemporary experiences of the chronicler. Translation difficulties have led to errors or loose interpretations bordering on artistic licence. Ambiguous language can make it difficult to distinguish gunpowder weapons from similar technologies that do not rely on gunpowder. A commonly cited example is a report of the Battle of Mohi in Eastern Europe that mentions a "long lance" sending forth "evil-smelling vapors and smoke", which has been variously interpreted by different historians as the "first-gas attack upon European soil" using gunpowder, "the first use of cannon in Europe", or merely a "toxic gas" with no evidence of gunpowder. It is difficult to accurately translate original Chinese alchemical texts, which tend to explain phenomena through metaphor, into modern scientific language with rigidly defined terminology in English. Early texts potentially mentioning gunpowder are sometimes marked by a linguistic process where semantic change occurred. For instance, the Arabic word naft transitioned from denoting naphtha to denoting gunpowder, and the Chinese word pào changed in meaning from trebuchet to a cannon. This has led to arguments on the exact origins of gunpowder based on etymological foundations. Science and technology historian Bert S. Hall makes the observation that, "It goes without saying, however, that historians bent on special pleading, or simply with axes of their own to grind, can find rich material in these terminological thickets."
Another major area of contention in modern studies of the history of gunpowder is regarding the transmission of gunpowder. While the literary and archaeological evidence supports a Chinese origin for gunpowder and guns, the manner in which gunpowder technology was transferred from China to the West is still under debate. It is unknown why the rapid spread of gunpowder technology across Eurasia took place over several decades whereas other technologies such as paper, the compass, and printing did not reach Europe until centuries after they were invented in China.
Gunpowder is a granular mixture of:
Potassium nitrate is the most important ingredient in terms of both bulk and function because the combustion process releases oxygen from the potassium nitrate, promoting the rapid burning of the other ingredients. To reduce the likelihood of accidental ignition by static electricity, the granules of modern gunpowder are typically coated with graphite, which prevents the build-up of electrostatic charge.
Charcoal does not consist of pure carbon; rather, it consists of partially pyrolyzed cellulose, in which the wood is not completely decomposed. Carbon differs from ordinary charcoal. Whereas charcoal's autoignition temperature is relatively low, carbon's is much greater. Thus, a gunpowder composition containing pure carbon would burn similarly to a match head, at best.
The current standard composition for the gunpowder manufactured by pyrotechnicians was adopted as long ago as 1780. Proportions by weight are 75% potassium nitrate (known as saltpeter or saltpetre), 15% softwood charcoal, and 10% sulfur. These ratios have varied over the centuries and by country, and can be altered somewhat depending on the purpose of the powder. For instance, power grades of black powder, unsuitable for use in firearms but adequate for blasting rock in quarrying operations, are called blasting powder rather than gunpowder with standard proportions of 70% nitrate, 14% charcoal, and 16% sulfur; blasting powder may be made with the cheaper sodium nitrate substituted for potassium nitrate and proportions may be as low as 40% nitrate, 30% charcoal, and 30% sulfur. In 1857, Lammot du Pont solved the main problem of using cheaper sodium nitrate formulations when he patented DuPont "B" blasting powder. After manufacturing grains from press-cake in the usual way, his process tumbled the powder with graphite dust for 12 hours. This formed a graphite coating on each grain that reduced its ability to absorb moisture.
Neither the use of graphite nor sodium nitrate was new. Glossing gunpowder corns with graphite was already an accepted technique in 1839, and sodium nitrate-based blasting powder had been made in Peru for many years using the sodium nitrate mined at Tarapacá (now in Chile). Also, in 1846, two plants were built in south-west England to make blasting powder using this sodium nitrate. The idea may well have been brought from Peru by Cornish miners returning home after completing their contracts. Another suggestion is that it was William Lobb, the plant collector, who recognised the possibilities of sodium nitrate during his travels in South America. Lammot du Pont would have known about the use of graphite and probably also knew about the plants in south-west England. In his patent he was careful to state that his claim was for the combination of graphite with sodium nitrate-based powder, rather than for either of the two individual technologies.
French war powder in 1879 used the ratio 75% saltpeter, 12.5% charcoal, 12.5% sulfur. English war powder in 1879 used the ratio 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal, 10% sulfur. The British Congreve rockets used 62.4% saltpeter, 23.2% charcoal and 14.4% sulfur, but the British Mark VII gunpowder was changed to 65% saltpeter, 20% charcoal and 15% sulfur. The explanation for the wide variety in formulation relates to usage. Powder used for rocketry can use a slower burn rate since it accelerates the projectile for a much longer time—whereas powders for weapons such as flintlocks, cap-locks, or matchlocks need a higher burn rate to accelerate the projectile in a much shorter distance. Cannons usually used lower burn-rate powders, because most would burst with higher burn-rate powders.
Besides black powder, there are other historically important types of gunpowder. "Brown gunpowder" is cited as composed of 79% nitre, 3% sulfur, and 18% charcoal per 100 of dry powder, with about 2% moisture. Prismatic Brown Powder is a large-grained product the Rottweil Company introduced in 1884 in Germany, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy shortly thereafter. The French navy adopted a fine, 3.1 millimeter, not prismatic grained product called Slow Burning Cocoa (SBC) or "cocoa powder". These brown powders reduced burning rate even further by using as little as 2 percent sulfur and using charcoal made from rye straw that had not been completely charred, hence the brown color.
Lesmok powder was a product developed by DuPont in 1911, one of several semi-smokeless products in the industry containing a mixture of black and nitrocellulose powder. It was sold to Winchester and others primarily for .22 and .32 small calibers. Its advantage was that it was believed at the time to be less corrosive than smokeless powders then in use. It was not understood in the U.S. until the 1920s that the actual source of corrosion was the potassium chloride residue from potassium chlorate sensitized primers. The bulkier black powder fouling better disperses primer residue. Failure to mitigate primer corrosion by dispersion caused the false impression that nitrocellulose-based powder caused corrosion. Lesmok had some of the bulk of black powder for dispersing primer residue, but somewhat less total bulk than straight black powder, thus requiring less frequent bore cleaning. It was last sold by Winchester in 1947.
The development of smokeless powders, such as cordite, in the late 19th century created the need for a spark-sensitive priming charge, such as gunpowder. However, the sulfur content of traditional gunpowders caused corrosion problems with Cordite Mk I and this led to the introduction of a range of sulfur-free gunpowders, of varying grain sizes. They typically contain 70.5 parts of saltpeter and 29.5 parts of charcoal. Like black powder, they were produced in different grain sizes. In the United Kingdom, the finest grain was known as sulfur-free mealed powder (SMP). Coarser grains were numbered as sulfur-free gunpowder (SFG n): 'SFG 12', 'SFG 20', 'SFG 40' and 'SFG 90', for example where the number represents the smallest BSS sieve mesh size, which retained no grains.
Sulfur's main role in gunpowder is to decrease the ignition temperature. A sample reaction for sulfur-free gunpowder would be:
The term black powder was coined in the late 19th century, primarily in the United States, to distinguish prior gunpowder formulations from the new smokeless powders and semi-smokeless powders. Semi-smokeless powders featured bulk volume properties that approximated black powder, but had significantly reduced amounts of smoke and combustion products. Smokeless powder has different burning properties (pressure vs. time) and can generate higher pressures and work per gram. This can rupture older weapons designed for black powder. Smokeless powders ranged in color from brownish tan to yellow to white. Most of the bulk semi-smokeless powders ceased to be manufactured in the 1920s.
The original dry-compounded powder used in 15th-century Europe was known as "Serpentine", either a reference to Satan or to a common artillery piece that used it. The ingredients were ground together with a mortar and pestle, perhaps for 24 hours, resulting in a fine flour. Vibration during transportation could cause the components to separate again, requiring remixing in the field. Also if the quality of the saltpeter was low (for instance if it was contaminated with highly hygroscopic calcium nitrate), or if the powder was simply old (due to the mildly hygroscopic nature of potassium nitrate), in humid weather it would need to be re-dried. The dust from "repairing" powder in the field was a major hazard.
Loading cannons or bombards before the powder-making advances of the Renaissance was a skilled art. Fine powder loaded haphazardly or too tightly would burn incompletely or too slowly. Typically, the breech-loading powder chamber in the rear of the piece was filled only about half full, the serpentine powder neither too compressed nor too loose, a wooden bung pounded in to seal the chamber from the barrel when assembled, and the projectile placed on. A carefully determined empty space was necessary for the charge to burn effectively. When the cannon was fired through the touchhole, turbulence from the initial surface combustion caused the rest of the powder to be rapidly exposed to the flame.
The advent of much more powerful and easy to use corned powder changed this procedure, but serpentine was used with older guns into the 17th century.
For propellants to oxidize and burn rapidly and effectively, the combustible ingredients must be reduced to the smallest possible particle sizes, and be as thoroughly mixed as possible. Once mixed, however, for better results in a gun, makers discovered that the final product should be in the form of individual dense grains that spread the fire quickly from grain to grain, much as straw or twigs catch fire more quickly than a pile of sawdust.
In late 14th century Europe and China, gunpowder was improved by wet grinding; liquid such as distilled spirits were added during the grinding-together of the ingredients and the moist paste dried afterwards. The principle of wet mixing to prevent the separation of dry ingredients, invented for gunpowder, is used today in the pharmaceutical industry. It was discovered that if the paste was rolled into balls before drying the resulting gunpowder absorbed less water from the air during storage and traveled better. The balls were then crushed in a mortar by the gunner immediately before use, with the old problem of uneven particle size and packing causing unpredictable results. If the right size particles were chosen, however, the result was a great improvement in power. Forming the damp paste into corn-sized clumps by hand or with the use of a sieve instead of larger balls produced a product after drying that loaded much better, as each tiny piece provided its own surrounding air space that allowed much more rapid combustion than a fine powder. This "corned" gunpowder was from 30% to 300% more powerful. An example is cited where 15 kilograms (34 lb) of serpentine was needed to shoot a 21-kilogram (47 lb) ball, but only 8.2 kilograms (18 lb) of corned powder.
Because the dry powdered ingredients must be mixed and bonded together for extrusion and cut into grains to maintain the blend, size reduction and mixing is done while the ingredients are damp, usually with water. After 1800, instead of forming grains by hand or with sieves, the damp mill-cake was pressed in molds to increase its density and extract the liquid, forming press-cake. The pressing took varying amounts of time, depending on conditions such as atmospheric humidity. The hard, dense product was broken again into tiny pieces, which were separated with sieves to produce a uniform product for each purpose: coarse powders for cannons, finer grained powders for muskets, and the finest for small hand guns and priming. Inappropriately fine-grained powder often caused cannons to burst before the projectile could move down the barrel, due to the high initial spike in pressure. Mammoth powder with large grains, made for Rodman's 15-inch cannon, reduced the pressure to only 20 percent as high as ordinary cannon powder would have produced.
In the mid-19th century, measurements were made determining that the burning rate within a grain of black powder (or a tightly packed mass) is about 6 cm/s (0.20 feet/s), while the rate of ignition propagation from grain to grain is around 9 m/s (30 feet/s), over two orders of magnitude faster.
Modern corning first compresses the fine black powder meal into blocks with a fixed density (1.7 g/cm). In the United States, gunpowder grains were designated F (for fine) or C (for coarse). Grain diameter decreased with a larger number of Fs and increased with a larger number of Cs, ranging from about 2 mm (1⁄16 in) for 7F to 15 mm (9⁄16 in) for 7C. Even larger grains were produced for artillery bore diameters greater than about 17 cm (6.7 in). The standard DuPont Mammoth powder developed by Thomas Rodman and Lammot du Pont for use during the American Civil War had grains averaging 15 mm (0.6 in) in diameter with edges rounded in a glazing barrel. Other versions had grains the size of golf and tennis balls for use in 20-inch (51 cm) Rodman guns. In 1875 DuPont introduced Hexagonal powder for large artillery, which was pressed using shaped plates with a small center core—about 38 mm (1+1⁄2 in) diameter, like a wagon wheel nut, the center hole widened as the grain burned. By 1882 German makers also produced hexagonal grained powders of a similar size for artillery.
By the late 19th century manufacturing focused on standard grades of black powder from Fg used in large bore rifles and shotguns, through FFg (medium and small-bore arms such as muskets and fusils), FFFg (small-bore rifles and pistols), and FFFFg (extreme small bore, short pistols and most commonly for priming flintlocks). A coarser grade for use in military artillery blanks was designated A-1. These grades were sorted on a system of screens with oversize retained on a mesh of 6 wires per inch, A-1 retained on 10 wires per inch, Fg retained on 14, FFg on 24, FFFg on 46, and FFFFg on 60. Fines designated FFFFFg were usually reprocessed to minimize explosive dust hazards. In the United Kingdom, the main service gunpowders were classified RFG (rifle grained fine) with diameter of one or two millimeters and RLG (rifle grained large) for grain diameters between two and six millimeters. Gunpowder grains can alternatively be categorized by mesh size: the BSS sieve mesh size, being the smallest mesh size, which retains no grains. Recognized grain sizes are Gunpowder G 7, G 20, G 40, and G 90.
Owing to the large market of antique and replica black-powder firearms in the US, modern black powder substitutes like Pyrodex, Triple Seven and Black Mag3 pellets have been developed since the 1970s. These products, which should not be confused with smokeless powders, aim to produce less fouling (solid residue), while maintaining the traditional volumetric measurement system for charges. Claims of less corrosiveness of these products have been controversial however. New cleaning products for black-powder guns have also been developed for this market.
A simple, commonly cited, chemical equation for the combustion of gunpowder is:
A balanced, but still simplified, equation is:
The exact percentages of ingredients varied greatly through the medieval period as the recipes were developed by trial and error, and needed to be updated for changing military technology.
Gunpowder does not burn as a single reaction, so the byproducts are not easily predicted. One study showed that it produced (in order of descending quantities) 55.91% solid products: potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, potassium sulfide, sulfur, potassium nitrate, potassium thiocyanate, carbon, ammonium carbonate and 42.98% gaseous products: carbon dioxide, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, methane, 1.11% water.
Gunpowder made with less-expensive and more plentiful sodium nitrate instead of potassium nitrate (in appropriate proportions) works just as well. However, it is more hygroscopic than powders made from potassium nitrate. Muzzleloaders have been known to fire after hanging on a wall for decades in a loaded state, provided they remained dry. By contrast, gunpowder made with sodium nitrate must be kept sealed to remain stable. Gunpowder releases 3 megajoules per kilogram and contains its own oxidant. This is less than TNT (4.7 megajoules per kilogram), or gasoline (47.2 megajoules per kilogram in combustion, but gasoline requires an oxidant; for instance, an optimized gasoline and O2 mixture releases 10.4 megajoules per kilogram, taking into account the mass of the oxygen).
Gunpowder also has a low energy density compared to modern "smokeless" powders, and thus to achieve high energy loadings, large amounts are needed with heavy projectiles.
For the most powerful black powder, meal powder, a wood charcoal, is used. The best wood for the purpose is Pacific willow, but others such as alder or buckthorn can be used. In Great Britain between the 15th and 19th centuries charcoal from alder buckthorn was greatly prized for gunpowder manufacture; cottonwood was used by the American Confederate States. The ingredients are reduced in particle size and mixed as intimately as possible. Originally, this was with a mortar-and-pestle or a similarly operating stamping-mill, using copper, bronze or other non-sparking materials, until supplanted by the rotating ball mill principle with non-sparking bronze or lead. Historically, a marble or limestone edge runner mill, running on a limestone bed, was used in Great Britain; however, by the mid 19th century this had changed to either an iron-shod stone wheel or a cast iron wheel running on an iron bed. The mix was dampened with alcohol or water during grinding to prevent accidental ignition. This also helps the extremely soluble saltpeter to mix into the microscopic pores of the very high surface-area charcoal.
Around the late 14th century, European powdermakers first began adding liquid during grinding to improve mixing, reduce dust, and with it the risk of explosion. The powder-makers would then shape the resulting paste of dampened gunpowder, known as mill cake, into corns, or grains, to dry. Not only did corned powder keep better because of its reduced surface area, gunners also found that it was more powerful and easier to load into guns. Before long, powder-makers standardized the process by forcing mill cake through sieves instead of corning powder by hand.
The improvement was based on reducing the surface area of a higher density composition. At the beginning of the 19th century, makers increased density further by static pressing. They shoveled damp mill cake into a two-foot square box, placed this beneath a screw press and reduced it to half its volume. "Press cake" had the hardness of slate. They broke the dried slabs with hammers or rollers, and sorted the granules with sieves into different grades. In the United States, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, who had learned the trade from Lavoisier, tumbled the dried grains in rotating barrels to round the edges and increase durability during shipping and handling. (Sharp grains rounded off in transport, producing fine "meal dust" that changed the burning properties.)
Another advance was the manufacture of kiln charcoal by distilling wood in heated iron retorts instead of burning it in earthen pits. Controlling the temperature influenced the power and consistency of the finished gunpowder. In 1863, in response to high prices for Indian saltpeter, DuPont chemists developed a process using potash or mined potassium chloride to convert plentiful Chilean sodium nitrate to potassium nitrate.
The following year (1864) the Gatebeck Low Gunpowder Works in Cumbria (Great Britain) started a plant to manufacture potassium nitrate by essentially the same chemical process. This is nowadays called the 'Wakefield Process', after the owners of the company. It would have used potassium chloride from the Staßfurt mines, near Magdeburg, Germany, which had recently become available in industrial quantities.
During the 18th century, gunpowder factories became increasingly dependent on mechanical energy. Despite mechanization, production difficulties related to humidity control, especially during the pressing, were still present in the late 19th century. A paper from 1885 laments that "Gunpowder is such a nervous and sensitive spirit, that in almost every process of manufacture it changes under our hands as the weather changes." Pressing times to the desired density could vary by a factor of three depending on the atmospheric humidity.
The United Nations Model Regulations on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods and national transportation authorities, such as United States Department of Transportation, have classified gunpowder (black powder) as a Group A: Primary explosive substance for shipment because it ignites so easily. Complete manufactured devices containing black powder are usually classified as Group D: Secondary detonating substance, or black powder, or article containing secondary detonating substance, such as firework, class D model rocket engine, etc., for shipment because they are harder to ignite than loose powder. As explosives, they all fall into the category of Class 1.
Besides its use as a propellant in firearms and artillery, black powder's other main use has been as a blasting powder in quarrying, mining, and road construction (including railroad construction). During the 19th century, outside of war emergencies such as the Crimean War or the American Civil War, more black powder was used in these industrial uses than in firearms and artillery. Dynamite gradually replaced it for those uses. Today, industrial explosives for such uses are still a huge market, but most of the market is in newer explosives rather than black powder.
Beginning in the 1930s, gunpowder or smokeless powder was used in rivet guns, stun guns for animals, cable splicers and other industrial construction tools. The "stud gun", a powder-actuated tool, drove nails or screws into solid concrete, a function not possible with hydraulic tools, and today is still an important part of various industries, but the cartridges usually use smokeless powders. Industrial shotguns have been used to eliminate persistent material rings in operating rotary kilns (such as those for cement, lime, phosphate, etc.) and clinker in operating furnaces, and commercial tools make the method more reliable.
Gunpowder has occasionally been employed for other purposes besides weapons, mining, fireworks and construction: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines, tunnels, and roads.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn at subsonic speeds), whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic shockwave. Ignition of gunpowder packed behind a projectile generates enough pressure to force the shot from the muzzle at high speed, but usually not enough force to rupture the gun barrel. It thus makes a good propellant but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications with its low-yield explosive power. Nonetheless, it was widely used to fill fused artillery shells (and used in mining and civil engineering projects) until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives were put into use.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Originally developed by Taoists for medicinal purposes, it was first used for warfare around AD 904. Its use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Gunpowder is a low explosive: it does not detonate, but rather deflagrates (burns quickly). This is an advantage in a propellant device, where one does not desire a shock that would shatter the gun and potentially harm the operator; however, it is a drawback when an explosion is desired. In that case, the propellant (and most importantly, gases produced by its burning) must be confined. Since it contains its own oxidizer and additionally burns faster under pressure, its combustion is capable of bursting containers such as a shell, grenade, or improvised \"pipe bomb\" or \"pressure cooker\" casings to form shrapnel.",
"title": "Effect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In quarrying, high explosives are generally preferred for shattering rock. However, because of its low brisance, gunpowder causes fewer fractures and results in more usable stone compared to other explosives, making it useful for blasting slate, which is fragile, or monumental stone such as granite and marble. Gunpowder is well suited for blank rounds, signal flares, burst charges, and rescue-line launches. It is also used in fireworks for lifting shells, in rockets as fuel, and in certain special effects.",
"title": "Effect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Combustion converts less than half the mass of gunpowder to gas; most of it turns into particulate matter. Some of it is ejected, wasting propelling power, fouling the air, and generally being a nuisance (giving away a soldier's position, generating fog that hinders vision, etc.). Some of it ends up as a thick layer of soot inside the barrel, where it also is a nuisance for subsequent shots, and a cause of jamming an automatic weapon. Moreover, this residue is hygroscopic, and with the addition of moisture absorbed from the air forms a corrosive substance. The soot contains potassium oxide or sodium oxide that turns into potassium hydroxide, or sodium hydroxide, which corrodes wrought iron or steel gun barrels. Gunpowder arms therefore require thorough and regular cleaning to remove the residue.",
"title": "Effect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Gunpowder loads can be used in modern firearms as long as they are not gas-operated. The most compatible modern guns are smoothbore-barreled shotguns that are long-recoil operated. Combined with chrome-plated essential parts such as barrels and bores, these elements heavily reduce fouling and corrosion; the combination of these factors makes the shotgun easier to clean.",
"title": "Effect"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The first confirmed reference to what can be considered gunpowder in China occurred in the 9th century AD during the Tang dynasty, first in a formula contained in the Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue (太上聖祖金丹秘訣) in 808, and then about 50 years later in a Taoist text known as the Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe (真元妙道要略). The Taishang Shengzu Jindan Mijue mentions a formula composed of six parts sulfur to six parts saltpeter to one part birthwort herb. According to the Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe, \"Some have heated together sulfur, realgar and saltpeter with honey; smoke and flames result, so that their hands and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down.\" Based on these Taoist texts, the invention of gunpowder by Chinese alchemists was likely an accidental byproduct from experiments seeking to create the elixir of life. This experimental medicine origin is reflected in its Chinese name huoyao (Chinese: 火药/火藥; pinyin: huǒ yào/xuo yɑʊ/), which means \"fire medicine\". Saltpeter was known to the Chinese by the mid-1st century AD and was primarily produced in the provinces of Sichuan, Shanxi, and Shandong. There is strong evidence of the use of saltpeter and sulfur in various medicinal combinations. A Chinese alchemical text dated 492 noted saltpeter burnt with a purple flame, providing a practical and reliable means of distinguishing it from other inorganic salts, thus enabling alchemists to evaluate and compare purification techniques; the earliest Latin accounts of saltpeter purification are dated after 1200.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The earliest chemical formula for gunpowder appeared in the 11th century Song dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao (Complete Essentials from the Military Classics), written by Zeng Gongliang between 1040 and 1044. The Wujing Zongyao provides encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures that included petrochemicals—as well as garlic and honey. A slow match for flame-throwing mechanisms using the siphon principle and for fireworks and rockets is mentioned. The mixture formulas in this book contain at most 50% saltpeter — not enough to create an explosion, they produce an incendiary instead. The Essentials was written by a Song dynasty court bureaucrat and there is little evidence that it had any immediate impact on warfare; there is no mention of its use in the chronicles of the wars against the Tanguts in the 11th century, and China was otherwise mostly at peace during this century. However, it had already been used for fire arrows since at least the 10th century. Its first recorded military application dates its use to the year 904 in the form of incendiary projectiles. In the following centuries various gunpowder weapons such as bombs, fire lances, and the gun appeared in China. Explosive weapons such as bombs have been discovered in a shipwreck off the shore of Japan dated from 1281, during the Mongol invasions of Japan.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "By 1083 the Song court was producing hundreds of thousands of fire arrows for their garrisons. Bombs and the first proto-guns, known as \"fire lances\", became prominent during the 12th century and were used by the Song during the Jin-Song Wars. Fire lances were first recorded to have been used at the Siege of De'an in 1132 by Song forces against the Jin. In the early 13th century the Jin used iron-casing bombs. Projectiles were added to fire lances, and re-usable fire lance barrels were developed, first out of hardened paper, and then metal. By 1257 some fire lances were firing wads of bullets. In the late 13th-century metal fire lances became 'eruptors', proto-cannons firing co-viative projectiles (mixed with the propellant, rather than seated over it with a wad), and by 1287 at the latest, had become true guns, the hand cannon.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "According to Iqtidar Alam Khan, it was invading Mongols who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world. The Muslims acquired knowledge of gunpowder sometime between 1240 and 1280, by which point the Syrian Hasan al-Rammah had written recipes, instructions for the purification of saltpeter, and descriptions of gunpowder incendiaries. It is implied by al-Rammah's usage of \"terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources\" and his references to saltpeter as \"Chinese snow\" (Arabic: ثلج الصين thalj al-ṣīn), fireworks as \"Chinese flowers\", and rockets as \"Chinese arrows\" that knowledge of gunpowder arrived from China. However, because al-Rammah attributes his material to \"his father and forefathers\", al-Hassan argues that gunpowder became prevalent in Syria and Egypt by \"the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth\". In Persia saltpeter was known as \"Chinese salt\" (Persian: نمک چینی) namak-i chīnī) or \"salt from Chinese salt marshes\" (نمک شوره چینی namak-i shūra-yi chīnī).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Hasan al-Rammah included 107 gunpowder recipes in his text al-Furusiyyah wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices), 22 of which are for rockets. If one takes the median of 17 of these 22 compositions for rockets (75% nitrates, 9.06% sulfur, and 15.94% charcoal), it is nearly identical to the modern reported ideal recipe of 75% potassium nitrate, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal. The text also mentions fuses, incendiary bombs, naphtha pots, fire lances, and an illustration and description of the earliest torpedo. The torpedo was called the \"egg which moves itself and burns\". Two iron sheets were fastened together and tightened using felt. The flattened pear-shaped vessel was filled with gunpowder, metal filings, \"good mixtures\", two rods, and a large rocket for propulsion. Judging by the illustration, it was evidently supposed to glide across the water. Fire lances were used in battles between the Muslims and Mongols in 1299 and 1303.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Al-Hassan claims that in the Battle of Ain Jalut of 1260, the Mamluks used against the Mongols, in \"the first cannon in history\", formula with near-identical ideal composition ratios for explosive gunpowder. Other historians urge caution regarding claims of Islamic firearms use in the 1204–1324 period as late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder, naft, that they used for an earlier incendiary, naphtha.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The earliest surviving documentary evidence for cannons in the Islamic world is from an Arabic manuscript dated to the early 14th century. The author's name is uncertain but may have been Shams al-Din Muhammad, who died in 1350. Dating from around 1320-1350, the illustrations show gunpowder weapons such as gunpowder arrows, bombs, fire tubes, and fire lances or proto-guns. The manuscript describes a type of gunpowder weapon called a midfa which uses gunpowder to shoot projectiles out of a tube at the end of a stock. Some consider this to be a cannon while others do not. The problem with identifying cannons in early 14th century Arabic texts is the term midfa, which appears from 1342 to 1352 but cannot be proven to be true hand-guns or bombards. Contemporary accounts of a metal-barrel cannon in the Islamic world do not occur until 1365. Needham believes that in its original form the term midfa refers to the tube or cylinder of a naphtha projector (flamethrower), then after the invention of gunpowder it meant the tube of fire lances, and eventually it applied to the cylinder of hand-gun and cannon.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "According to Paul E. J. Hammer, the Mamluks certainly used cannons by 1342. According to J. Lavin, cannons were used by Moors at the siege of Algeciras in 1343. A metal cannon firing an iron ball was described by Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas al-Qalqashandi between 1365 and 1376.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The musket appeared in the Ottoman Empire by 1465. In 1598, Chinese writer Zhao Shizhen described Turkish muskets as being superior to European muskets. The Chinese military book Wu Pei Chih (1621) later described Turkish muskets that used a rack-and-pinion mechanism, which was not known to have been used in European or Chinese firearms at the time.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The state-controlled manufacture of gunpowder by the Ottoman Empire through early supply chains to obtain nitre, sulfur and high-quality charcoal from oaks in Anatolia contributed significantly to its expansion between the 15th and 18th century. It was not until later in the 19th century when the syndicalist production of Turkish gunpowder was greatly reduced, which coincided with the decline of its military might.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appears in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in 1267 called Opus Majus and Opus Tertium. The oldest written recipes in continental Europe were recorded under the name Marcus Graecus or Mark the Greek between 1280 and 1300 in the Liber Ignium, or Book of Fires.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Some sources mention possible gunpowder weapons being deployed by the Mongols against European forces at the Battle of Mohi in 1241. Professor Kenneth Warren Chase credits the Mongols for introducing into Europe gunpowder and its associated weaponry. However, there is no clear route of transmission, and while the Mongols are often pointed to as the likeliest vector, Timothy May points out that \"there is no concrete evidence that the Mongols used gunpowder weapons on a regular basis outside of China.\" However, Timothy May also points out \"However... the Mongols used the gunpowder weapon in their wars against the Jin, the Song and in their invasions of Japan.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Records show that, in England, gunpowder was being made in 1346 at the Tower of London; a powder house existed at the Tower in 1461, and in 1515 three King's gunpowder makers worked there. Gunpowder was also being made or stored at other royal castles, such as Portchester. The English Civil War (1642–1645) led to an expansion of the gunpowder industry, with the repeal of the Royal Patent in August 1641.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In late 14th century Europe, gunpowder was improved by corning, the practice of drying it into small clumps to improve combustion and consistency. During this time, European manufacturers also began regularly purifying saltpeter, using wood ashes containing potassium carbonate to precipitate calcium from their dung liquor, and using ox blood, alum, and slices of turnip to clarify the solution.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "During the Renaissance, two European schools of pyrotechnic thought emerged, one in Italy and the other at Nuremberg, Germany. In Italy, Vannoccio Biringuccio, born in 1480, was a member of the guild Fraternita di Santa Barbara but broke with the tradition of secrecy by setting down everything he knew in a book titled De la pirotechnia, written in vernacular. It was published posthumously in 1540, with 9 editions over 138 years, and also reprinted by MIT Press in 1966.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "By the mid-17th century fireworks were used for entertainment on an unprecedented scale in Europe, being popular even at resorts and public gardens. With the publication of Deutliche Anweisung zur Feuerwerkerey (1748), methods for creating fireworks were sufficiently well-known and well-described that \"Firework making has become an exact science.\" In 1774 Louis XVI ascended to the throne of France at age 20. After he discovered that France was not self-sufficient in gunpowder, a Gunpowder Administration was established; to head it, the lawyer Antoine Lavoisier was appointed. Although from a bourgeois family, after his degree in law Lavoisier became wealthy from a company set up to collect taxes for the Crown; this allowed him to pursue experimental natural science as a hobby.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Without access to cheap saltpeter (controlled by the British), for hundreds of years France had relied on saltpetremen with royal warrants, the droit de fouille or \"right to dig\", to seize nitrous-containing soil and demolish walls of barnyards, without compensation to the owners. This caused farmers, the wealthy, or entire villages to bribe the petermen and the associated bureaucracy to leave their buildings alone and the saltpeter uncollected. Lavoisier instituted a crash program to increase saltpeter production, revised (and later eliminated) the droit de fouille, researched best refining and powder manufacturing methods, instituted management and record-keeping, and established pricing that encouraged private investment in works. Although saltpeter from new Prussian-style putrefaction works had not been produced yet (the process taking about 18 months), in only a year France had gunpowder to export. A chief beneficiary of this surplus was the American Revolution. By careful testing and adjusting the proportions and grinding time, powder from mills such as at Essonne outside Paris became the best in the world by 1788, and inexpensive.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Two British physicists, Andrew Noble and Frederick Abel, worked to improve the properties of gunpowder during the late 19th century. This formed the basis for the Noble-Abel gas equation for internal ballistics.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The introduction of smokeless powder in the late 19th century led to a contraction of the gunpowder industry. After the end of World War I, the majority of the British gunpowder manufacturers merged into a single company, \"Explosives Trades limited\", and a number of sites were closed down, including those in Ireland. This company became Nobel Industries Limited, and in 1926 became a founding member of Imperial Chemical Industries. The Home Office removed gunpowder from its list of Permitted Explosives. Shortly afterwards, on 31 December 1931, the former Curtis & Harvey's Glynneath gunpowder factory at Pontneddfechan in Wales closed down. The factory was demolished by fire in 1932. The last remaining gunpowder mill at the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey was damaged by a German parachute mine in 1941 and it never reopened. This was followed by the closure and demolition of the gunpowder section at the Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Chorley, at the end of World War II, and of ICI Nobel's Roslin gunpowder factory which closed in 1954. This left ICI Nobel's Ardeer site in Scotland, which included a gunpowder factory, as the only factory in Great Britain producing gunpowder. The gunpowder area of the Ardeer site closed in October 1976.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Gunpowder and gunpowder weapons were transmitted to India through the Mongol invasions of India. The Mongols were defeated by Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate, and some of the Mongol soldiers remained in northern India after their conversion to Islam. It was written in the Tarikh-i Firishta (1606–1607) that Nasiruddin Mahmud the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate presented the envoy of the Mongol ruler Hulegu Khan with a dazzling pyrotechnics display upon his arrival in Delhi in 1258. Nasiruddin Mahmud tried to express his strength as a ruler and tried to ward off any Mongol attempt similar to the Siege of Baghdad (1258). Firearms known as top-o-tufak also existed in many Muslim kingdoms in India by as early as 1366. From then on the employment of gunpowder warfare in India was prevalent, with events such as the \"Siege of Belgaum\" in 1473 by Sultan Muhammad Shah Bahmani.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The shipwrecked Ottoman Admiral Seydi Ali Reis is known to have introduced the earliest type of matchlock weapons, which the Ottomans used against the Portuguese during the Siege of Diu (1531). After that, a diverse variety of firearms, large guns in particular, became visible in Tanjore, Dacca, Bijapur, and Murshidabad. Guns made of bronze were recovered from Calicut (1504)- the former capital of the Zamorins",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The Mughal emperor Akbar mass-produced matchlocks for the Mughal Army. Akbar is personally known to have shot a leading Rajput commander during the Siege of Chittorgarh. The Mughals began to use bamboo rockets (mainly for signalling) and employ sappers: special units that undermined heavy stone fortifications to plant gunpowder charges.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan is known to have introduced much more advanced matchlocks, their designs were a combination of Ottoman and Mughal designs. Shah Jahan also countered the British and other Europeans in his province of Gujarāt, which supplied Europe saltpeter for use in gunpowder warfare during the 17th century. Bengal and Mālwa participated in saltpeter production. The Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English used Chhapra as a center of saltpeter refining.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Ever since the founding of the Sultanate of Mysore by Hyder Ali, French military officers were employed to train the Mysore Army. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan were the first to introduce modern cannons and muskets, their army was also the first in India to have official uniforms. During the Second Anglo-Mysore War Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan unleashed the Mysorean rockets at their British opponents effectively defeating them on various occasions. The Mysorean rockets inspired the development of the Congreve rocket, which the British widely used during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Cannons were introduced to Majapahit when Kublai Khan's Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese sought to invade Java in 1293. History of Yuan mentioned that the Mongol used cannons (Chinese: 炮—Pào) against Daha forces. Cannons were used by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1352 during its invasion of the Khmer Empire. Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the Khmer Empire. By the end of the century firearms were also used by the Trần dynasty.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Even though the knowledge of making gunpowder-based weapon has been known after the failed Mongol invasion of Java, and the predecessor of firearms, the pole gun (bedil tombak), was recorded as being used by Java in 1413, the knowledge of making \"true\" firearms came much later, after the middle of the 15th century. It was brought by the Islamic nations of West Asia, most probably the Arabs. The precise year of introduction is unknown, but it may be safely concluded to be no earlier than 1460. Before the arrival of the Portuguese in Southeast Asia, the natives already possessed primitive firearms, the Java arquebus. Portuguese influence to local weaponry after the capture of Malacca (1511) resulted in a new type of hybrid tradition matchlock firearm, the istinggar.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "When the Portuguese came to the archipelago, they referred to the breech-loading swivel gun as berço, while the Spaniards call it verso. By the early 16th century, the Javanese already locally producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as \"sacred cannon\" or \"holy cannon\". These cannons varied between 180- and 260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3 and 8 tons, length of them between 3 and 6 m.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation. Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers. According to colonel McKenzie quoted in Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles', The History of Java (1817), the purest sulfur was supplied from a crater from a mountain near the straits of Bali.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "On the origins of gunpowder technology, historian Tonio Andrade remarked, \"Scholars today overwhelmingly concur that the gun was invented in China.\" Gunpowder and the gun are widely believed by historians to have originated from China due to the large body of evidence that documents the evolution of gunpowder from a medicine to an incendiary and explosive, and the evolution of the gun from the fire lance to a metal gun, whereas similar records do not exist elsewhere. As Andrade explains, the large amount of variation in gunpowder recipes in China relative to Europe is \"evidence of experimentation in China, where gunpowder was at first used as an incendiary and only later became an explosive and a propellant... in contrast, formulas in Europe diverged only very slightly from the ideal proportions for use as an explosive and a propellant, suggesting that gunpowder was introduced as a mature technology.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "However, the history of gunpowder is not without controversy. A major problem confronting the study of early gunpowder history is ready access to sources close to the events described. Often the first records potentially describing use of gunpowder in warfare were written several centuries after the fact, and may well have been colored by the contemporary experiences of the chronicler. Translation difficulties have led to errors or loose interpretations bordering on artistic licence. Ambiguous language can make it difficult to distinguish gunpowder weapons from similar technologies that do not rely on gunpowder. A commonly cited example is a report of the Battle of Mohi in Eastern Europe that mentions a \"long lance\" sending forth \"evil-smelling vapors and smoke\", which has been variously interpreted by different historians as the \"first-gas attack upon European soil\" using gunpowder, \"the first use of cannon in Europe\", or merely a \"toxic gas\" with no evidence of gunpowder. It is difficult to accurately translate original Chinese alchemical texts, which tend to explain phenomena through metaphor, into modern scientific language with rigidly defined terminology in English. Early texts potentially mentioning gunpowder are sometimes marked by a linguistic process where semantic change occurred. For instance, the Arabic word naft transitioned from denoting naphtha to denoting gunpowder, and the Chinese word pào changed in meaning from trebuchet to a cannon. This has led to arguments on the exact origins of gunpowder based on etymological foundations. Science and technology historian Bert S. Hall makes the observation that, \"It goes without saying, however, that historians bent on special pleading, or simply with axes of their own to grind, can find rich material in these terminological thickets.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Another major area of contention in modern studies of the history of gunpowder is regarding the transmission of gunpowder. While the literary and archaeological evidence supports a Chinese origin for gunpowder and guns, the manner in which gunpowder technology was transferred from China to the West is still under debate. It is unknown why the rapid spread of gunpowder technology across Eurasia took place over several decades whereas other technologies such as paper, the compass, and printing did not reach Europe until centuries after they were invented in China.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Gunpowder is a granular mixture of:",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Potassium nitrate is the most important ingredient in terms of both bulk and function because the combustion process releases oxygen from the potassium nitrate, promoting the rapid burning of the other ingredients. To reduce the likelihood of accidental ignition by static electricity, the granules of modern gunpowder are typically coated with graphite, which prevents the build-up of electrostatic charge.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Charcoal does not consist of pure carbon; rather, it consists of partially pyrolyzed cellulose, in which the wood is not completely decomposed. Carbon differs from ordinary charcoal. Whereas charcoal's autoignition temperature is relatively low, carbon's is much greater. Thus, a gunpowder composition containing pure carbon would burn similarly to a match head, at best.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The current standard composition for the gunpowder manufactured by pyrotechnicians was adopted as long ago as 1780. Proportions by weight are 75% potassium nitrate (known as saltpeter or saltpetre), 15% softwood charcoal, and 10% sulfur. These ratios have varied over the centuries and by country, and can be altered somewhat depending on the purpose of the powder. For instance, power grades of black powder, unsuitable for use in firearms but adequate for blasting rock in quarrying operations, are called blasting powder rather than gunpowder with standard proportions of 70% nitrate, 14% charcoal, and 16% sulfur; blasting powder may be made with the cheaper sodium nitrate substituted for potassium nitrate and proportions may be as low as 40% nitrate, 30% charcoal, and 30% sulfur. In 1857, Lammot du Pont solved the main problem of using cheaper sodium nitrate formulations when he patented DuPont \"B\" blasting powder. After manufacturing grains from press-cake in the usual way, his process tumbled the powder with graphite dust for 12 hours. This formed a graphite coating on each grain that reduced its ability to absorb moisture.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Neither the use of graphite nor sodium nitrate was new. Glossing gunpowder corns with graphite was already an accepted technique in 1839, and sodium nitrate-based blasting powder had been made in Peru for many years using the sodium nitrate mined at Tarapacá (now in Chile). Also, in 1846, two plants were built in south-west England to make blasting powder using this sodium nitrate. The idea may well have been brought from Peru by Cornish miners returning home after completing their contracts. Another suggestion is that it was William Lobb, the plant collector, who recognised the possibilities of sodium nitrate during his travels in South America. Lammot du Pont would have known about the use of graphite and probably also knew about the plants in south-west England. In his patent he was careful to state that his claim was for the combination of graphite with sodium nitrate-based powder, rather than for either of the two individual technologies.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "French war powder in 1879 used the ratio 75% saltpeter, 12.5% charcoal, 12.5% sulfur. English war powder in 1879 used the ratio 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal, 10% sulfur. The British Congreve rockets used 62.4% saltpeter, 23.2% charcoal and 14.4% sulfur, but the British Mark VII gunpowder was changed to 65% saltpeter, 20% charcoal and 15% sulfur. The explanation for the wide variety in formulation relates to usage. Powder used for rocketry can use a slower burn rate since it accelerates the projectile for a much longer time—whereas powders for weapons such as flintlocks, cap-locks, or matchlocks need a higher burn rate to accelerate the projectile in a much shorter distance. Cannons usually used lower burn-rate powders, because most would burst with higher burn-rate powders.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Besides black powder, there are other historically important types of gunpowder. \"Brown gunpowder\" is cited as composed of 79% nitre, 3% sulfur, and 18% charcoal per 100 of dry powder, with about 2% moisture. Prismatic Brown Powder is a large-grained product the Rottweil Company introduced in 1884 in Germany, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy shortly thereafter. The French navy adopted a fine, 3.1 millimeter, not prismatic grained product called Slow Burning Cocoa (SBC) or \"cocoa powder\". These brown powders reduced burning rate even further by using as little as 2 percent sulfur and using charcoal made from rye straw that had not been completely charred, hence the brown color.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Lesmok powder was a product developed by DuPont in 1911, one of several semi-smokeless products in the industry containing a mixture of black and nitrocellulose powder. It was sold to Winchester and others primarily for .22 and .32 small calibers. Its advantage was that it was believed at the time to be less corrosive than smokeless powders then in use. It was not understood in the U.S. until the 1920s that the actual source of corrosion was the potassium chloride residue from potassium chlorate sensitized primers. The bulkier black powder fouling better disperses primer residue. Failure to mitigate primer corrosion by dispersion caused the false impression that nitrocellulose-based powder caused corrosion. Lesmok had some of the bulk of black powder for dispersing primer residue, but somewhat less total bulk than straight black powder, thus requiring less frequent bore cleaning. It was last sold by Winchester in 1947.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The development of smokeless powders, such as cordite, in the late 19th century created the need for a spark-sensitive priming charge, such as gunpowder. However, the sulfur content of traditional gunpowders caused corrosion problems with Cordite Mk I and this led to the introduction of a range of sulfur-free gunpowders, of varying grain sizes. They typically contain 70.5 parts of saltpeter and 29.5 parts of charcoal. Like black powder, they were produced in different grain sizes. In the United Kingdom, the finest grain was known as sulfur-free mealed powder (SMP). Coarser grains were numbered as sulfur-free gunpowder (SFG n): 'SFG 12', 'SFG 20', 'SFG 40' and 'SFG 90', for example where the number represents the smallest BSS sieve mesh size, which retained no grains.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Sulfur's main role in gunpowder is to decrease the ignition temperature. A sample reaction for sulfur-free gunpowder would be:",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The term black powder was coined in the late 19th century, primarily in the United States, to distinguish prior gunpowder formulations from the new smokeless powders and semi-smokeless powders. Semi-smokeless powders featured bulk volume properties that approximated black powder, but had significantly reduced amounts of smoke and combustion products. Smokeless powder has different burning properties (pressure vs. time) and can generate higher pressures and work per gram. This can rupture older weapons designed for black powder. Smokeless powders ranged in color from brownish tan to yellow to white. Most of the bulk semi-smokeless powders ceased to be manufactured in the 1920s.",
"title": "Components"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The original dry-compounded powder used in 15th-century Europe was known as \"Serpentine\", either a reference to Satan or to a common artillery piece that used it. The ingredients were ground together with a mortar and pestle, perhaps for 24 hours, resulting in a fine flour. Vibration during transportation could cause the components to separate again, requiring remixing in the field. Also if the quality of the saltpeter was low (for instance if it was contaminated with highly hygroscopic calcium nitrate), or if the powder was simply old (due to the mildly hygroscopic nature of potassium nitrate), in humid weather it would need to be re-dried. The dust from \"repairing\" powder in the field was a major hazard.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Loading cannons or bombards before the powder-making advances of the Renaissance was a skilled art. Fine powder loaded haphazardly or too tightly would burn incompletely or too slowly. Typically, the breech-loading powder chamber in the rear of the piece was filled only about half full, the serpentine powder neither too compressed nor too loose, a wooden bung pounded in to seal the chamber from the barrel when assembled, and the projectile placed on. A carefully determined empty space was necessary for the charge to burn effectively. When the cannon was fired through the touchhole, turbulence from the initial surface combustion caused the rest of the powder to be rapidly exposed to the flame.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The advent of much more powerful and easy to use corned powder changed this procedure, but serpentine was used with older guns into the 17th century.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "For propellants to oxidize and burn rapidly and effectively, the combustible ingredients must be reduced to the smallest possible particle sizes, and be as thoroughly mixed as possible. Once mixed, however, for better results in a gun, makers discovered that the final product should be in the form of individual dense grains that spread the fire quickly from grain to grain, much as straw or twigs catch fire more quickly than a pile of sawdust.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In late 14th century Europe and China, gunpowder was improved by wet grinding; liquid such as distilled spirits were added during the grinding-together of the ingredients and the moist paste dried afterwards. The principle of wet mixing to prevent the separation of dry ingredients, invented for gunpowder, is used today in the pharmaceutical industry. It was discovered that if the paste was rolled into balls before drying the resulting gunpowder absorbed less water from the air during storage and traveled better. The balls were then crushed in a mortar by the gunner immediately before use, with the old problem of uneven particle size and packing causing unpredictable results. If the right size particles were chosen, however, the result was a great improvement in power. Forming the damp paste into corn-sized clumps by hand or with the use of a sieve instead of larger balls produced a product after drying that loaded much better, as each tiny piece provided its own surrounding air space that allowed much more rapid combustion than a fine powder. This \"corned\" gunpowder was from 30% to 300% more powerful. An example is cited where 15 kilograms (34 lb) of serpentine was needed to shoot a 21-kilogram (47 lb) ball, but only 8.2 kilograms (18 lb) of corned powder.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Because the dry powdered ingredients must be mixed and bonded together for extrusion and cut into grains to maintain the blend, size reduction and mixing is done while the ingredients are damp, usually with water. After 1800, instead of forming grains by hand or with sieves, the damp mill-cake was pressed in molds to increase its density and extract the liquid, forming press-cake. The pressing took varying amounts of time, depending on conditions such as atmospheric humidity. The hard, dense product was broken again into tiny pieces, which were separated with sieves to produce a uniform product for each purpose: coarse powders for cannons, finer grained powders for muskets, and the finest for small hand guns and priming. Inappropriately fine-grained powder often caused cannons to burst before the projectile could move down the barrel, due to the high initial spike in pressure. Mammoth powder with large grains, made for Rodman's 15-inch cannon, reduced the pressure to only 20 percent as high as ordinary cannon powder would have produced.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "In the mid-19th century, measurements were made determining that the burning rate within a grain of black powder (or a tightly packed mass) is about 6 cm/s (0.20 feet/s), while the rate of ignition propagation from grain to grain is around 9 m/s (30 feet/s), over two orders of magnitude faster.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Modern corning first compresses the fine black powder meal into blocks with a fixed density (1.7 g/cm). In the United States, gunpowder grains were designated F (for fine) or C (for coarse). Grain diameter decreased with a larger number of Fs and increased with a larger number of Cs, ranging from about 2 mm (1⁄16 in) for 7F to 15 mm (9⁄16 in) for 7C. Even larger grains were produced for artillery bore diameters greater than about 17 cm (6.7 in). The standard DuPont Mammoth powder developed by Thomas Rodman and Lammot du Pont for use during the American Civil War had grains averaging 15 mm (0.6 in) in diameter with edges rounded in a glazing barrel. Other versions had grains the size of golf and tennis balls for use in 20-inch (51 cm) Rodman guns. In 1875 DuPont introduced Hexagonal powder for large artillery, which was pressed using shaped plates with a small center core—about 38 mm (1+1⁄2 in) diameter, like a wagon wheel nut, the center hole widened as the grain burned. By 1882 German makers also produced hexagonal grained powders of a similar size for artillery.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "By the late 19th century manufacturing focused on standard grades of black powder from Fg used in large bore rifles and shotguns, through FFg (medium and small-bore arms such as muskets and fusils), FFFg (small-bore rifles and pistols), and FFFFg (extreme small bore, short pistols and most commonly for priming flintlocks). A coarser grade for use in military artillery blanks was designated A-1. These grades were sorted on a system of screens with oversize retained on a mesh of 6 wires per inch, A-1 retained on 10 wires per inch, Fg retained on 14, FFg on 24, FFFg on 46, and FFFFg on 60. Fines designated FFFFFg were usually reprocessed to minimize explosive dust hazards. In the United Kingdom, the main service gunpowders were classified RFG (rifle grained fine) with diameter of one or two millimeters and RLG (rifle grained large) for grain diameters between two and six millimeters. Gunpowder grains can alternatively be categorized by mesh size: the BSS sieve mesh size, being the smallest mesh size, which retains no grains. Recognized grain sizes are Gunpowder G 7, G 20, G 40, and G 90.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Owing to the large market of antique and replica black-powder firearms in the US, modern black powder substitutes like Pyrodex, Triple Seven and Black Mag3 pellets have been developed since the 1970s. These products, which should not be confused with smokeless powders, aim to produce less fouling (solid residue), while maintaining the traditional volumetric measurement system for charges. Claims of less corrosiveness of these products have been controversial however. New cleaning products for black-powder guns have also been developed for this market.",
"title": "Granularity"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "A simple, commonly cited, chemical equation for the combustion of gunpowder is:",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "A balanced, but still simplified, equation is:",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The exact percentages of ingredients varied greatly through the medieval period as the recipes were developed by trial and error, and needed to be updated for changing military technology.",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Gunpowder does not burn as a single reaction, so the byproducts are not easily predicted. One study showed that it produced (in order of descending quantities) 55.91% solid products: potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, potassium sulfide, sulfur, potassium nitrate, potassium thiocyanate, carbon, ammonium carbonate and 42.98% gaseous products: carbon dioxide, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, methane, 1.11% water.",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Gunpowder made with less-expensive and more plentiful sodium nitrate instead of potassium nitrate (in appropriate proportions) works just as well. However, it is more hygroscopic than powders made from potassium nitrate. Muzzleloaders have been known to fire after hanging on a wall for decades in a loaded state, provided they remained dry. By contrast, gunpowder made with sodium nitrate must be kept sealed to remain stable. Gunpowder releases 3 megajoules per kilogram and contains its own oxidant. This is less than TNT (4.7 megajoules per kilogram), or gasoline (47.2 megajoules per kilogram in combustion, but gasoline requires an oxidant; for instance, an optimized gasoline and O2 mixture releases 10.4 megajoules per kilogram, taking into account the mass of the oxygen).",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Gunpowder also has a low energy density compared to modern \"smokeless\" powders, and thus to achieve high energy loadings, large amounts are needed with heavy projectiles.",
"title": "Chemistry"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "For the most powerful black powder, meal powder, a wood charcoal, is used. The best wood for the purpose is Pacific willow, but others such as alder or buckthorn can be used. In Great Britain between the 15th and 19th centuries charcoal from alder buckthorn was greatly prized for gunpowder manufacture; cottonwood was used by the American Confederate States. The ingredients are reduced in particle size and mixed as intimately as possible. Originally, this was with a mortar-and-pestle or a similarly operating stamping-mill, using copper, bronze or other non-sparking materials, until supplanted by the rotating ball mill principle with non-sparking bronze or lead. Historically, a marble or limestone edge runner mill, running on a limestone bed, was used in Great Britain; however, by the mid 19th century this had changed to either an iron-shod stone wheel or a cast iron wheel running on an iron bed. The mix was dampened with alcohol or water during grinding to prevent accidental ignition. This also helps the extremely soluble saltpeter to mix into the microscopic pores of the very high surface-area charcoal.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Around the late 14th century, European powdermakers first began adding liquid during grinding to improve mixing, reduce dust, and with it the risk of explosion. The powder-makers would then shape the resulting paste of dampened gunpowder, known as mill cake, into corns, or grains, to dry. Not only did corned powder keep better because of its reduced surface area, gunners also found that it was more powerful and easier to load into guns. Before long, powder-makers standardized the process by forcing mill cake through sieves instead of corning powder by hand.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "The improvement was based on reducing the surface area of a higher density composition. At the beginning of the 19th century, makers increased density further by static pressing. They shoveled damp mill cake into a two-foot square box, placed this beneath a screw press and reduced it to half its volume. \"Press cake\" had the hardness of slate. They broke the dried slabs with hammers or rollers, and sorted the granules with sieves into different grades. In the United States, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, who had learned the trade from Lavoisier, tumbled the dried grains in rotating barrels to round the edges and increase durability during shipping and handling. (Sharp grains rounded off in transport, producing fine \"meal dust\" that changed the burning properties.)",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Another advance was the manufacture of kiln charcoal by distilling wood in heated iron retorts instead of burning it in earthen pits. Controlling the temperature influenced the power and consistency of the finished gunpowder. In 1863, in response to high prices for Indian saltpeter, DuPont chemists developed a process using potash or mined potassium chloride to convert plentiful Chilean sodium nitrate to potassium nitrate.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "The following year (1864) the Gatebeck Low Gunpowder Works in Cumbria (Great Britain) started a plant to manufacture potassium nitrate by essentially the same chemical process. This is nowadays called the 'Wakefield Process', after the owners of the company. It would have used potassium chloride from the Staßfurt mines, near Magdeburg, Germany, which had recently become available in industrial quantities.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "During the 18th century, gunpowder factories became increasingly dependent on mechanical energy. Despite mechanization, production difficulties related to humidity control, especially during the pressing, were still present in the late 19th century. A paper from 1885 laments that \"Gunpowder is such a nervous and sensitive spirit, that in almost every process of manufacture it changes under our hands as the weather changes.\" Pressing times to the desired density could vary by a factor of three depending on the atmospheric humidity.",
"title": "Production"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "The United Nations Model Regulations on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods and national transportation authorities, such as United States Department of Transportation, have classified gunpowder (black powder) as a Group A: Primary explosive substance for shipment because it ignites so easily. Complete manufactured devices containing black powder are usually classified as Group D: Secondary detonating substance, or black powder, or article containing secondary detonating substance, such as firework, class D model rocket engine, etc., for shipment because they are harder to ignite than loose powder. As explosives, they all fall into the category of Class 1.",
"title": "Legal status"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Besides its use as a propellant in firearms and artillery, black powder's other main use has been as a blasting powder in quarrying, mining, and road construction (including railroad construction). During the 19th century, outside of war emergencies such as the Crimean War or the American Civil War, more black powder was used in these industrial uses than in firearms and artillery. Dynamite gradually replaced it for those uses. Today, industrial explosives for such uses are still a huge market, but most of the market is in newer explosives rather than black powder.",
"title": "Other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Beginning in the 1930s, gunpowder or smokeless powder was used in rivet guns, stun guns for animals, cable splicers and other industrial construction tools. The \"stud gun\", a powder-actuated tool, drove nails or screws into solid concrete, a function not possible with hydraulic tools, and today is still an important part of various industries, but the cartridges usually use smokeless powders. Industrial shotguns have been used to eliminate persistent material rings in operating rotary kilns (such as those for cement, lime, phosphate, etc.) and clinker in operating furnaces, and commercial tools make the method more reliable.",
"title": "Other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Gunpowder has occasionally been employed for other purposes besides weapons, mining, fireworks and construction:",
"title": "Other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "",
"title": "Footnotes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "",
"title": "Notes"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines, tunnels, and roads. Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic shockwave. Ignition of gunpowder packed behind a projectile generates enough pressure to force the shot from the muzzle at high speed, but usually not enough force to rupture the gun barrel. It thus makes a good propellant but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications with its low-yield explosive power. Nonetheless, it was widely used to fill fused artillery shells until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives were put into use. Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Originally developed by Taoists for medicinal purposes, it was first used for warfare around AD 904. Its use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil. | 2001-10-16T20:05:46Z | 2023-12-21T15:21:37Z | [
"Template:Refn",
"Template:For timeline",
"Template:Further",
"Template:IPA",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Zh",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Lang-fa",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite thesis",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Handloading",
"Template:Lang-ar",
"Template:Original research inline",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Cite AV media",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Transliteration",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:Fix",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Harvcolnb",
"Template:Sfnm",
"Template:Cite journal"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder |
12,738 | Grampus | Grampus may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Grampus may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Grampus may refer to: | 2022-10-25T17:15:54Z | [
"Template:HMS",
"Template:Ship",
"Template:USS",
"Template:Disambiguation",
"Template:Wiktionary"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grampus |
|
12,740 | Gary Kildall | Gary Arlen Kildall (/ˈkɪldˌɔːl/; May 19, 1942 – July 11, 1994) was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur. During the 1970s, Kildall created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools, and subsequently founded Digital Research, Inc. (or "DRI") to market and sell his software products. Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers (rather than simply as equipment controllers), and to organize a company around this concept. Due to his accomplishments during this era, Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.
During the 1980s, Kildall also appeared on PBS as co-host (with Stewart Cheifet) of Computer Chronicles, a weekly informational program which covered the latest developments in personal computing. Although Kildall's entrepreneurial career in computing spanned more than two decades, he is mainly remembered in connection with his development of the CP/M operating system, an early multi-platform microcomputer OS that has many parallels to the later MS-DOS used on the IBM PC.
Gary Kildall was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington, where his family operated a seamanship school. His father, Joseph Kildall, was a captain of Norwegian heritage. His mother Emma was of half Swedish descent, as Kildall's grandmother was born in Långbäck, Sweden, in Skellefteå Municipality, but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age.
Kildall later attended the University of Washington (UW), hoping to become a mathematics teacher. During his studies, Kildall became increasingly interested in computer technology and received his degree in 1972.
Gary fulfilled a draft obligation to the United States Navy by teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. Being within an hour's drive of Silicon Valley, Kildall heard about the first commercially available microprocessor, the Intel 4004. He bought one of the processors and began writing experimental programs for it. To learn more about the processors, he worked at Intel as a consultant on his days off.
Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972, then resumed teaching at NPS. He published a paper that introduced the theory of data-flow analysis used today in optimizing compilers (sometimes known as Kildall's method), and he continued to experiment with microcomputers and the emerging technology of floppy disks.
Intel lent him systems using the 8008 and 8080 processors, and in 1973, he developed the first high-level programming language for microprocessors, called PL/M. For Intel he also wrote 8008 and 8080 instruction set simulators named INTERP/8 and INTERP/80. He created CP/M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy drive, combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale. He demonstrated CP/M to Intel, but Intel had little interest and chose to market PL/M instead.
Kildall and his wife Dorothy established a company, originally called "Intergalactic Digital Research" (later renamed as Digital Research, Inc.), to market CP/M through advertisements in hobbyist magazines. Digital Research licensed CP/M for the IMSAI 8080, a popular clone of the Altair 8800. As more manufacturers licensed CP/M, it became a de facto standard and had to support an increasing number of hardware variations. In response, Kildall pioneered the concept of a BIOS, a set of simple programs stored in the computer hardware (ROM or EPROM chip) that enabled CP/M to run on different systems without modification.
CP/M's quick success took Kildall by surprise, and he was slow to update it for high density floppy disks and hard disk drives. After hardware manufacturers talked about creating a rival operating system, Kildall started a rush project to develop CP/M 2. By 1981, at the peak of its popularity, CP/M ran on 3000 different computer models and DRI had US$5.4 million in yearly revenues.
IBM approached Digital Research in 1980, at Bill Gates' suggestion, to negotiate the purchase of a forthcoming version of CP/M called CP/M-86 for the IBM PC. Gary had left initial negotiations to his wife, Dorothy, as he usually did, while he and colleague and developer of MP/M operating system Tom Rolander used Gary's private aeroplane to deliver software to manufacturer Bill Godbout. Before the IBM representatives would explain the purpose of their visit, they insisted that Dorothy sign a non-disclosure agreement. On the advice of DRI attorney Gerry Davis, Dorothy refused to sign the agreement without Gary's approval. Gary returned in the afternoon and tried to move the discussion with IBM forward, and accounts disagree on whether he signed the non-disclosure agreement, as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives.
Various reasons have been given for the two companies failing to reach an agreement. DRI, which had only a few products, might have been unwilling to sell its main product to IBM for a one-time payment rather than its usual royalty-based plan. Dorothy might have believed that the company could not deliver CP/M-86 on IBM's proposed schedule, as the company was busy developing an implementation of the PL/I programming language for Data General. Also possible, the IBM representatives might have been annoyed that DRI had spent hours on what they considered a routine formality. According to Kildall, the IBM representatives took the same flight to Florida that night that he and Dorothy took for their vacation, and they negotiated further on the flight, reaching a handshake agreement. IBM lead negotiator Jack Sams insisted that he never met Gary, and one IBM colleague has confirmed that Sams said so at the time. He accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight, and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk with Microsoft again.
Sams related the story to Gates, who had already agreed to provide a BASIC interpreter and several other programs for the PC. Gates' impression of the story was that Gary capriciously "went flying", as he would later tell reporters. Sams left Gates with the task of finding a usable operating system, and a few weeks later he proposed using the operating system 86-DOS—an independently developed operating system that implemented Kildall's CP/M API—from Seattle Computer Products (SCP). Paul Allen negotiated a licensing deal with SCP. Allen had 86-DOS adapted for IBM's hardware, and IBM shipped it as IBM PC DOS.
Kildall obtained a copy of PC DOS, examined it, and concluded that it infringed on CP/M. When he asked Gerry Davis what legal options were available, Davis told him that intellectual property law for software was not clear enough to sue. Instead Kildall only threatened IBM with legal action, and IBM responded with a proposal to offer CP/M-86 as an option for the PC in return for a release of liability. Kildall accepted, believing that IBM's new system (like its previous personal computers) would not be a significant commercial success. When the IBM PC was introduced, IBM sold its operating system as an unbundled option. One of the operating system options was PC DOS, priced at US$40. PC DOS was seen as a practically necessary option; most software titles required it and without it the IBM PC was limited to its built-in Cassette BASIC. CP/M-86 shipped a few months later six times more expensive at US$240, and sold poorly against DOS and enjoyed far less software support.
With the loss of the IBM deal, Gary and Dorothy found themselves under pressure to bring in more experienced management, and Gary's influence over the company waned. He worked in various experimental and research projects, such as a version of CP/M with multitasking (MP/M), it was a multi-user and multi-tasking version of the CP/M operating system created by Digital Research developer Tom Rolander in 1979. Kildall also worked on an implementation of the Logo programming language. He hoped that Logo, an educational dialect of LISP, would supplant BASIC in education, but it did not.
After seeing a demonstration of the Apple Lisa, Kildall oversaw the creation of DRI's own graphical user interface, called GEM. Novell acquired DRI in 1991 in a deal that netted millions for Kildall.
Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985, but remained chairman of the board.
Kildall co-hosted a public television program produced by PBS called Computer Chronicles. It followed trends in personal computing. Gary co-hosted the program for seven years during the first eight seasons from 1983 to 1990. After this time the program continued through its 19th season, with the last episode aired on June 25, 2002.
In 1984 Gary started another company, Activenture, which adapted optical disc technology for computer use. In early 1985 it was renamed KnowledgeSet and released the first computer encyclopedia in June 1985, a CD-ROM version of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia named The Electronic Encyclopedia, later acquired by Banta Corporation.
Kildall's final business venture, known as Prometheus Light and Sound (PLS) and based in Austin, Texas, developed a modular PBX communication system that integrated land-line telephones with mobile phones (called "Intelliphone") to reduce the then-high online costs and to remotely connect with home appliances.
Prometheus Light and Sound system included a UUCP-based store and forward system to exchange emails and files between the various nodes and was planned to include TCP/IP support at a later point in time.
Kildall self-described as a "greaser" during high school, and his colleagues recall him as creative, easygoing, and adventurous. In addition to flying, he loved sports cars, auto racing, and boating, and had a lifelong love of the sea.
I think I’ll make a cassette tape of the ‘IBM Flying Story.’ I’ll carry a few copies in my jacket to give out on occasion. There’s only one problem. I [will] tell this story [to someone], and after I’m done, the same person [will say], ‘Yeah, but did you go flying and blow IBM off?’
Gary Kildall, Computer Connections
Although Kildall preferred to leave the IBM affair in the past and to be known for his work before and afterward, he continually faced comparisons between himself and Bill Gates, as well as fading memories of his contributions. A legend grew around the fateful IBM-DRI meeting, encouraged by Gates and various journalists, suggesting that Kildall had irresponsibly taken the day off for a recreational flight.
In later years, Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft, and began suffering from alcoholism.
Selling DRI to Novell had made Kildall a wealthy man, and he moved to the West Lake Hills suburb of Austin. His Austin house was a lakeside property, with stalls for several sports cars, and a video studio in the basement. Kildall owned and flew his own Learjet and had at least one boat on the lake. While in Austin he also participated in volunteer efforts to assist children with HIV/AIDS. He also owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view in Pebble Beach, California, near the headquarters of DRI.
In 1992, Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program's 25th anniversary event. As a distinguished graduate of the program, Kildall was disappointed when asked to attend simply as an audience member. He also took offense at the decision to give the keynote speech to Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout who had donated to UW, but had never attended.
In response, Kildall began writing a memoir, entitled Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry. The memoir, which Kildall sought to publish, expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software.
Don't think for a minute that [Bill] Gates made it 'big time' because of his technical savvy.
Gary Kildall, Computer Connections
Writing about Bill Gates, Kildall described him as "more of an opportunist than a technical type, and severely opinionated, even when the opinion he holds is absurd."
In an appendix, he called DOS "plain and simple theft" because its first 26 system calls worked the same as CP/M's. He accused IBM of contriving the price difference between PC DOS and CP/M-86 in order to marginalize CP/M.
Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993, but the full text remains unpublished. Journalist Harold Evans used the memoir as a primary source for a chapter about Kildall in the 2004 book They Made America, concluding that Microsoft had robbed Kildall of his inventions. IBM veterans from the PC project disputed the book's description of events, and Microsoft described it as "one-sided and inaccurate."
In August 2016, Kildall's family made the first seven chapters of Computer Connections available as a free public download.
On July 8, 1994, at the age of 52, Kildall sustained a head injury at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill, a biker bar in Monterey, California. The exact circumstances of the injury are unclear. Various sources have claimed he fell from a chair, fell down steps, or was assaulted because he had entered the establishment wearing Harley-Davidson leathers. Harold Evans, in They Made America, states that Kildall "stumbled and hit his head" inside the premises, and "was found on the floor."
Following the injury, Kildall was discharged from the hospital twice. He was pronounced dead at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, on July 11, 1994.
An autopsy, conducted on July 12, did not conclusively determine the cause of death. Evans states that Kildall's head injury triggered a cerebral hemorrhage, causing a blood clot to form inside the skull. A CP/M Usenet FAQ states that Kildall was concussed due to his injury, and died of a heart attack; the connection between the two is unclear.
Initial news reports and police investigation viewed Kildall's death as a possible homicide. According to the coroner's report, Kildall's fatal injury may have taken place "as a result of foul play," and the case was referred to the Monterey Police Department. "We're going to investigate it as a possible homicide," said police Sgt. Frank Sollecito. "I'm not going to flat-out say it's a homicide".
Kildall's body was cremated. His remains were buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, in north Seattle.
Following the announcement of Kildall's death, Bill Gates commented that he was "one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution" and "a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work. Although we were competitors, I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry. His untimely death was very unfortunate and his work will be missed."
In March 1995, Kildall was posthumously honored by the Software Publishers Association (SPA) for his contributions to the microcomputer industry:
In April 2014, the city of Pacific Grove installed a commemorative plaque outside Kildall's former residence, which also served as the early headquarters of Digital Research. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary Arlen Kildall (/ˈkɪldˌɔːl/; May 19, 1942 – July 11, 1994) was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur. During the 1970s, Kildall created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools, and subsequently founded Digital Research, Inc. (or \"DRI\") to market and sell his software products. Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers (rather than simply as equipment controllers), and to organize a company around this concept. Due to his accomplishments during this era, Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "During the 1980s, Kildall also appeared on PBS as co-host (with Stewart Cheifet) of Computer Chronicles, a weekly informational program which covered the latest developments in personal computing. Although Kildall's entrepreneurial career in computing spanned more than two decades, he is mainly remembered in connection with his development of the CP/M operating system, an early multi-platform microcomputer OS that has many parallels to the later MS-DOS used on the IBM PC.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Gary Kildall was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington, where his family operated a seamanship school. His father, Joseph Kildall, was a captain of Norwegian heritage. His mother Emma was of half Swedish descent, as Kildall's grandmother was born in Långbäck, Sweden, in Skellefteå Municipality, but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Kildall later attended the University of Washington (UW), hoping to become a mathematics teacher. During his studies, Kildall became increasingly interested in computer technology and received his degree in 1972.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Gary fulfilled a draft obligation to the United States Navy by teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. Being within an hour's drive of Silicon Valley, Kildall heard about the first commercially available microprocessor, the Intel 4004. He bought one of the processors and began writing experimental programs for it. To learn more about the processors, he worked at Intel as a consultant on his days off.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972, then resumed teaching at NPS. He published a paper that introduced the theory of data-flow analysis used today in optimizing compilers (sometimes known as Kildall's method), and he continued to experiment with microcomputers and the emerging technology of floppy disks.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Intel lent him systems using the 8008 and 8080 processors, and in 1973, he developed the first high-level programming language for microprocessors, called PL/M. For Intel he also wrote 8008 and 8080 instruction set simulators named INTERP/8 and INTERP/80. He created CP/M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy drive, combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale. He demonstrated CP/M to Intel, but Intel had little interest and chose to market PL/M instead.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Kildall and his wife Dorothy established a company, originally called \"Intergalactic Digital Research\" (later renamed as Digital Research, Inc.), to market CP/M through advertisements in hobbyist magazines. Digital Research licensed CP/M for the IMSAI 8080, a popular clone of the Altair 8800. As more manufacturers licensed CP/M, it became a de facto standard and had to support an increasing number of hardware variations. In response, Kildall pioneered the concept of a BIOS, a set of simple programs stored in the computer hardware (ROM or EPROM chip) that enabled CP/M to run on different systems without modification.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "CP/M's quick success took Kildall by surprise, and he was slow to update it for high density floppy disks and hard disk drives. After hardware manufacturers talked about creating a rival operating system, Kildall started a rush project to develop CP/M 2. By 1981, at the peak of its popularity, CP/M ran on 3000 different computer models and DRI had US$5.4 million in yearly revenues.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "IBM approached Digital Research in 1980, at Bill Gates' suggestion, to negotiate the purchase of a forthcoming version of CP/M called CP/M-86 for the IBM PC. Gary had left initial negotiations to his wife, Dorothy, as he usually did, while he and colleague and developer of MP/M operating system Tom Rolander used Gary's private aeroplane to deliver software to manufacturer Bill Godbout. Before the IBM representatives would explain the purpose of their visit, they insisted that Dorothy sign a non-disclosure agreement. On the advice of DRI attorney Gerry Davis, Dorothy refused to sign the agreement without Gary's approval. Gary returned in the afternoon and tried to move the discussion with IBM forward, and accounts disagree on whether he signed the non-disclosure agreement, as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Various reasons have been given for the two companies failing to reach an agreement. DRI, which had only a few products, might have been unwilling to sell its main product to IBM for a one-time payment rather than its usual royalty-based plan. Dorothy might have believed that the company could not deliver CP/M-86 on IBM's proposed schedule, as the company was busy developing an implementation of the PL/I programming language for Data General. Also possible, the IBM representatives might have been annoyed that DRI had spent hours on what they considered a routine formality. According to Kildall, the IBM representatives took the same flight to Florida that night that he and Dorothy took for their vacation, and they negotiated further on the flight, reaching a handshake agreement. IBM lead negotiator Jack Sams insisted that he never met Gary, and one IBM colleague has confirmed that Sams said so at the time. He accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight, and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk with Microsoft again.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Sams related the story to Gates, who had already agreed to provide a BASIC interpreter and several other programs for the PC. Gates' impression of the story was that Gary capriciously \"went flying\", as he would later tell reporters. Sams left Gates with the task of finding a usable operating system, and a few weeks later he proposed using the operating system 86-DOS—an independently developed operating system that implemented Kildall's CP/M API—from Seattle Computer Products (SCP). Paul Allen negotiated a licensing deal with SCP. Allen had 86-DOS adapted for IBM's hardware, and IBM shipped it as IBM PC DOS.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Kildall obtained a copy of PC DOS, examined it, and concluded that it infringed on CP/M. When he asked Gerry Davis what legal options were available, Davis told him that intellectual property law for software was not clear enough to sue. Instead Kildall only threatened IBM with legal action, and IBM responded with a proposal to offer CP/M-86 as an option for the PC in return for a release of liability. Kildall accepted, believing that IBM's new system (like its previous personal computers) would not be a significant commercial success. When the IBM PC was introduced, IBM sold its operating system as an unbundled option. One of the operating system options was PC DOS, priced at US$40. PC DOS was seen as a practically necessary option; most software titles required it and without it the IBM PC was limited to its built-in Cassette BASIC. CP/M-86 shipped a few months later six times more expensive at US$240, and sold poorly against DOS and enjoyed far less software support.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "With the loss of the IBM deal, Gary and Dorothy found themselves under pressure to bring in more experienced management, and Gary's influence over the company waned. He worked in various experimental and research projects, such as a version of CP/M with multitasking (MP/M), it was a multi-user and multi-tasking version of the CP/M operating system created by Digital Research developer Tom Rolander in 1979. Kildall also worked on an implementation of the Logo programming language. He hoped that Logo, an educational dialect of LISP, would supplant BASIC in education, but it did not.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "After seeing a demonstration of the Apple Lisa, Kildall oversaw the creation of DRI's own graphical user interface, called GEM. Novell acquired DRI in 1991 in a deal that netted millions for Kildall.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985, but remained chairman of the board.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Kildall co-hosted a public television program produced by PBS called Computer Chronicles. It followed trends in personal computing. Gary co-hosted the program for seven years during the first eight seasons from 1983 to 1990. After this time the program continued through its 19th season, with the last episode aired on June 25, 2002.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 1984 Gary started another company, Activenture, which adapted optical disc technology for computer use. In early 1985 it was renamed KnowledgeSet and released the first computer encyclopedia in June 1985, a CD-ROM version of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia named The Electronic Encyclopedia, later acquired by Banta Corporation.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Kildall's final business venture, known as Prometheus Light and Sound (PLS) and based in Austin, Texas, developed a modular PBX communication system that integrated land-line telephones with mobile phones (called \"Intelliphone\") to reduce the then-high online costs and to remotely connect with home appliances.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Prometheus Light and Sound system included a UUCP-based store and forward system to exchange emails and files between the various nodes and was planned to include TCP/IP support at a later point in time.",
"title": "Business career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Kildall self-described as a \"greaser\" during high school, and his colleagues recall him as creative, easygoing, and adventurous. In addition to flying, he loved sports cars, auto racing, and boating, and had a lifelong love of the sea.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "I think I’ll make a cassette tape of the ‘IBM Flying Story.’ I’ll carry a few copies in my jacket to give out on occasion. There’s only one problem. I [will] tell this story [to someone], and after I’m done, the same person [will say], ‘Yeah, but did you go flying and blow IBM off?’",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Gary Kildall, Computer Connections",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Although Kildall preferred to leave the IBM affair in the past and to be known for his work before and afterward, he continually faced comparisons between himself and Bill Gates, as well as fading memories of his contributions. A legend grew around the fateful IBM-DRI meeting, encouraged by Gates and various journalists, suggesting that Kildall had irresponsibly taken the day off for a recreational flight.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In later years, Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft, and began suffering from alcoholism.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Selling DRI to Novell had made Kildall a wealthy man, and he moved to the West Lake Hills suburb of Austin. His Austin house was a lakeside property, with stalls for several sports cars, and a video studio in the basement. Kildall owned and flew his own Learjet and had at least one boat on the lake. While in Austin he also participated in volunteer efforts to assist children with HIV/AIDS. He also owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view in Pebble Beach, California, near the headquarters of DRI.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1992, Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program's 25th anniversary event. As a distinguished graduate of the program, Kildall was disappointed when asked to attend simply as an audience member. He also took offense at the decision to give the keynote speech to Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout who had donated to UW, but had never attended.",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In response, Kildall began writing a memoir, entitled Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry. The memoir, which Kildall sought to publish, expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software.",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Don't think for a minute that [Bill] Gates made it 'big time' because of his technical savvy.",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Gary Kildall, Computer Connections",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Writing about Bill Gates, Kildall described him as \"more of an opportunist than a technical type, and severely opinionated, even when the opinion he holds is absurd.\"",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In an appendix, he called DOS \"plain and simple theft\" because its first 26 system calls worked the same as CP/M's. He accused IBM of contriving the price difference between PC DOS and CP/M-86 in order to marginalize CP/M.",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993, but the full text remains unpublished. Journalist Harold Evans used the memoir as a primary source for a chapter about Kildall in the 2004 book They Made America, concluding that Microsoft had robbed Kildall of his inventions. IBM veterans from the PC project disputed the book's description of events, and Microsoft described it as \"one-sided and inaccurate.\"",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "In August 2016, Kildall's family made the first seven chapters of Computer Connections available as a free public download.",
"title": "Computer Connections"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "On July 8, 1994, at the age of 52, Kildall sustained a head injury at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill, a biker bar in Monterey, California. The exact circumstances of the injury are unclear. Various sources have claimed he fell from a chair, fell down steps, or was assaulted because he had entered the establishment wearing Harley-Davidson leathers. Harold Evans, in They Made America, states that Kildall \"stumbled and hit his head\" inside the premises, and \"was found on the floor.\"",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Following the injury, Kildall was discharged from the hospital twice. He was pronounced dead at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, on July 11, 1994.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "An autopsy, conducted on July 12, did not conclusively determine the cause of death. Evans states that Kildall's head injury triggered a cerebral hemorrhage, causing a blood clot to form inside the skull. A CP/M Usenet FAQ states that Kildall was concussed due to his injury, and died of a heart attack; the connection between the two is unclear.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Initial news reports and police investigation viewed Kildall's death as a possible homicide. According to the coroner's report, Kildall's fatal injury may have taken place \"as a result of foul play,\" and the case was referred to the Monterey Police Department. \"We're going to investigate it as a possible homicide,\" said police Sgt. Frank Sollecito. \"I'm not going to flat-out say it's a homicide\".",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Kildall's body was cremated. His remains were buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, in north Seattle.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Following the announcement of Kildall's death, Bill Gates commented that he was \"one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution\" and \"a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work. Although we were competitors, I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry. His untimely death was very unfortunate and his work will be missed.\"",
"title": "Recognition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In March 1995, Kildall was posthumously honored by the Software Publishers Association (SPA) for his contributions to the microcomputer industry:",
"title": "Recognition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In April 2014, the city of Pacific Grove installed a commemorative plaque outside Kildall's former residence, which also served as the early headquarters of Digital Research.",
"title": "Recognition"
}
]
| Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur. During the 1970s, Kildall created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools, and subsequently founded Digital Research, Inc. to market and sell his software products. Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers, and to organize a company around this concept. Due to his accomplishments during this era, Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution. During the 1980s, Kildall also appeared on PBS as co-host of Computer Chronicles, a weekly informational program which covered the latest developments in personal computing. Although Kildall's entrepreneurial career in computing spanned more than two decades, he is mainly remembered in connection with his development of the CP/M operating system, an early multi-platform microcomputer OS that has many parallels to the later MS-DOS used on the IBM PC. | 2001-10-18T17:52:48Z | 2023-12-25T06:28:35Z | [
"Template:Use list-defined references",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Currency",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:R",
"Template:Refs",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Val",
"Template:Quote box",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Youtube",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Digital Research"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall |
12,741 | Gesta Danorum | Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia.
Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century. In addition, Gesta Danorum offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe.
The sixteen books, in prose with an occasional excursion into poetry, can be categorized into two parts: Books 1–9, which deal with Norse mythology and semi-legendary Danish history, and Books 10–16, which deal with medieval history. Book 9 ends with Gorm the Old. The last three books (14–16), which describe Danish conquests on the south shore of the Baltic Sea and wars against Slavic peoples (the Northern Crusades), are very valuable for the history of West Slavic tribes (Polabian Slavs, Pomeranians) and Slavic paganism. Book 14 contains a unique description of the temple on the island of Rügen.
The first book is mostly Saxo's original work, sharing little with other primary works, but taking some inspiration from Ancient Greek epics. It very briefly covers the rule of the eponymous founder of the Danish nation, Dan, but also his brother Angul, his sons Humble and Lother, and Dan's grandson, Skiold, whose son, Gram is the first Danish king to be given some detail, his reign revolves around conquering Sweden and Finland, only to die in a battle. Most of the book deals with the adventures of Hading, the son of Gram and Finnish princess, Signe. Here the adventure concerns the loss of Denmark to the Swedes as well as Hading's attempts to reclaim it with the help of giants and Odin. The book concludes with Hading's suicide after hearing of his friend's death.
Follows adventures of Hading's descendants, who perform cunning raids across the Baltic Sea and far as England, while encountering many supernatural events and being forced to solve disputes via single combat.
Introduces Amleth as a grandson of a Danish king, whose father was murdered by his uncle, the governor of Jylland. Amleth pretends to be a fool in fear of his uncle who has married his mother.
Deals with Amleth securing his place as the king of the Danes, and return to Britain where he ends up marrying a Britanian princess, whose father plots the demise of Amleth, and the queen of Scotland who is famous for murdering all her suitors.
Focused on empire-building of Frotho III and his brilliant Norwegian advisor, Erick the Eloquent. Ultimately Frotho ends up ruling over Britain, Scandinavia, the Slavs, and the Huns. Saxo makes many parallels to Augustus.
Follows the adventurers of the legendary hero, Starkad who is disappointed in the decadent ways of Frothi III's descendants.
Is a collection of short and unrelated love stories, many of these ventures feature shieldmaidens.
Covers the famous Battle of Brávellir, between Harald Wartooth and Sigurd Ring. Danish involvement in the Saxon wars against Charlemagne, voyages to Biarmia, and the death of Starkad.
The book deals with Ragnar Lothbrok and his rising empire, he appoints many of his sons to govern parts of his empire all the way from Scotland to Scythia.
When exactly Gesta Danorum was written is the subject of numerous works; however, it is generally agreed that Gesta Danorum was not finished before 1208. The last event described in the last book (Book 16) is King Canute VI of Denmark subduing Pomerania under Duke Bogislaw I, in 1186. However the preface of the work, dedicated to Archbishop Anders Sunesen, mentions the Danish conquest of the areas north of the Elbe in 1208.
Book 14, comprising nearly one-quarter of the text of the entire work, ends with Absalon's appointment to archbishop in 1178. Since this book is so large and Absalon has greater importance than King Valdemar I, this book may have been written first and comprised a work on its own. It is possible that Saxo then enlarged it with Books 15 and 16, telling the story of King Valdemar I's last years and King Canute VI's first years.
It is believed that Saxo then wrote Books 11, 12, and 13. Svend Aagesen's history of Denmark, Brevis Historia Regum Dacie (circa 1186), states that Saxo had decided to write about "The king-father and his sons," which would be King Sweyn Estridson, in Books 11, 12, and 13. He would later add the first ten books. This would also explain the 22 years between the last event described in the last book (Book 16) and the 1208 event described in the preface.
The original manuscripts of the work are lost, except for four fragments: the Angers Fragment, Lassen Fragment, Kall-Rasmussen Fragment and Plesner Fragment. The Angers Fragment is the biggest fragment, and the only one attested to be in Saxo's own handwriting. The other ones are copies from c. 1275. All four fragments are in the collection of the Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The text has, however, survived. In 1510–1512, Christiern Pedersen, a Danish translator working in Paris, searched Denmark high and low for an existing copy of Saxo's works, which by that time was nearly all but lost. By that time most knowledge of Saxo's work came from a summary located in Chronica Jutensis, from around 1342, called Compendium Saxonis. It is also in this summary that the name Gesta Danorum is found. The title Saxo himself used for his work is unknown.
Christiern Pedersen finally found a copy in the collection of Archbishop Birger Gunnersen of Lund, Skåne (Skåne is now part of Sweden, but at the time was still part of Denmark), which he gladly lent him. With the help of printer Jodocus Badius, Gesta Danorum was refined and printed.
The first printed press publication and the oldest known complete text of Saxo's works is Christiern Pedersen's Latin edition, printed and published by Jodocus Badius in Paris, France, on 15 March 1514 under the title of Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae ("History of the Kings and heroes of the Danes"). The edition features the following colophon: ...impressit in inclyta Parrhisorum academia Iodocus Badius Ascensius Idibus Martiis. MDXIIII. Supputatione Romana. (the Ides of March, 1514).
The full front page reads (with abbreviations expanded) in Latin:
Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae stilo eleganti a Saxone Grammatico natione Zialandico necnon Roskildensis ecclesiae praeposito, abhinc supra trecentos annos conscriptae et nunc primum literaria serie illustratae tersissimeque impressae.
English language:
Histories of the Kings and heroes of the Danes, composed in elegant style by Saxo Grammaticus, a Zealander and also provost of the church of Roskilde, over three hundred years ago, and now for the first time illustrated and printed correctly in a learned compilation.
The source of all existing translations and new editions is Christiern Pedersen's Latin Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae. There exist a number of different translations today, some complete, some partial:
Gesta Danorum is also translated partially in other English, French and German releases.
Certain aspects of Gesta Danorum formed the basis for William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Saxo's version, told of in Books 3 and 4, is very similar to that of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Saxo's version, two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi are given the rule over Jutland by King Rørik Slyngebond of the Danes. Soon after, Orvendil marries King Rørik's daughter, Geruth (Gertrude in Hamlet). Amleth is their first and only child.
Fengi becomes resentful of his brother's marriage, and also wants sole leadership of Jutland, so therefore murders Orvendil. After a very brief period of mourning, Fengi marries Geruth, and declares himself sole leader of Jutland. Eventually, Amleth avenges his father's murder and plans the murder of his uncle, making him the new and rightful King of Jutland. However, while Hamlet dies in Shakespeare's version just after his uncle's death, in Saxo's version Amleth survives and begins ruling his kingdom, going on to other adventures. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gesta Danorum (\"Deeds of the Danes\") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus (\"Saxo the Literate\", literally \"the Grammarian\"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century. In addition, Gesta Danorum offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The sixteen books, in prose with an occasional excursion into poetry, can be categorized into two parts: Books 1–9, which deal with Norse mythology and semi-legendary Danish history, and Books 10–16, which deal with medieval history. Book 9 ends with Gorm the Old. The last three books (14–16), which describe Danish conquests on the south shore of the Baltic Sea and wars against Slavic peoples (the Northern Crusades), are very valuable for the history of West Slavic tribes (Polabian Slavs, Pomeranians) and Slavic paganism. Book 14 contains a unique description of the temple on the island of Rügen.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The first book is mostly Saxo's original work, sharing little with other primary works, but taking some inspiration from Ancient Greek epics. It very briefly covers the rule of the eponymous founder of the Danish nation, Dan, but also his brother Angul, his sons Humble and Lother, and Dan's grandson, Skiold, whose son, Gram is the first Danish king to be given some detail, his reign revolves around conquering Sweden and Finland, only to die in a battle. Most of the book deals with the adventures of Hading, the son of Gram and Finnish princess, Signe. Here the adventure concerns the loss of Denmark to the Swedes as well as Hading's attempts to reclaim it with the help of giants and Odin. The book concludes with Hading's suicide after hearing of his friend's death.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Follows adventures of Hading's descendants, who perform cunning raids across the Baltic Sea and far as England, while encountering many supernatural events and being forced to solve disputes via single combat.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Introduces Amleth as a grandson of a Danish king, whose father was murdered by his uncle, the governor of Jylland. Amleth pretends to be a fool in fear of his uncle who has married his mother.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Deals with Amleth securing his place as the king of the Danes, and return to Britain where he ends up marrying a Britanian princess, whose father plots the demise of Amleth, and the queen of Scotland who is famous for murdering all her suitors.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Focused on empire-building of Frotho III and his brilliant Norwegian advisor, Erick the Eloquent. Ultimately Frotho ends up ruling over Britain, Scandinavia, the Slavs, and the Huns. Saxo makes many parallels to Augustus.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Follows the adventurers of the legendary hero, Starkad who is disappointed in the decadent ways of Frothi III's descendants.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Is a collection of short and unrelated love stories, many of these ventures feature shieldmaidens.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Covers the famous Battle of Brávellir, between Harald Wartooth and Sigurd Ring. Danish involvement in the Saxon wars against Charlemagne, voyages to Biarmia, and the death of Starkad.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The book deals with Ragnar Lothbrok and his rising empire, he appoints many of his sons to govern parts of his empire all the way from Scotland to Scythia.",
"title": "Books"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "When exactly Gesta Danorum was written is the subject of numerous works; however, it is generally agreed that Gesta Danorum was not finished before 1208. The last event described in the last book (Book 16) is King Canute VI of Denmark subduing Pomerania under Duke Bogislaw I, in 1186. However the preface of the work, dedicated to Archbishop Anders Sunesen, mentions the Danish conquest of the areas north of the Elbe in 1208.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Book 14, comprising nearly one-quarter of the text of the entire work, ends with Absalon's appointment to archbishop in 1178. Since this book is so large and Absalon has greater importance than King Valdemar I, this book may have been written first and comprised a work on its own. It is possible that Saxo then enlarged it with Books 15 and 16, telling the story of King Valdemar I's last years and King Canute VI's first years.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "It is believed that Saxo then wrote Books 11, 12, and 13. Svend Aagesen's history of Denmark, Brevis Historia Regum Dacie (circa 1186), states that Saxo had decided to write about \"The king-father and his sons,\" which would be King Sweyn Estridson, in Books 11, 12, and 13. He would later add the first ten books. This would also explain the 22 years between the last event described in the last book (Book 16) and the 1208 event described in the preface.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The original manuscripts of the work are lost, except for four fragments: the Angers Fragment, Lassen Fragment, Kall-Rasmussen Fragment and Plesner Fragment. The Angers Fragment is the biggest fragment, and the only one attested to be in Saxo's own handwriting. The other ones are copies from c. 1275. All four fragments are in the collection of the Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The text has, however, survived. In 1510–1512, Christiern Pedersen, a Danish translator working in Paris, searched Denmark high and low for an existing copy of Saxo's works, which by that time was nearly all but lost. By that time most knowledge of Saxo's work came from a summary located in Chronica Jutensis, from around 1342, called Compendium Saxonis. It is also in this summary that the name Gesta Danorum is found. The title Saxo himself used for his work is unknown.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Christiern Pedersen finally found a copy in the collection of Archbishop Birger Gunnersen of Lund, Skåne (Skåne is now part of Sweden, but at the time was still part of Denmark), which he gladly lent him. With the help of printer Jodocus Badius, Gesta Danorum was refined and printed.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The first printed press publication and the oldest known complete text of Saxo's works is Christiern Pedersen's Latin edition, printed and published by Jodocus Badius in Paris, France, on 15 March 1514 under the title of Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae (\"History of the Kings and heroes of the Danes\"). The edition features the following colophon: ...impressit in inclyta Parrhisorum academia Iodocus Badius Ascensius Idibus Martiis. MDXIIII. Supputatione Romana. (the Ides of March, 1514).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The full front page reads (with abbreviations expanded) in Latin:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae stilo eleganti a Saxone Grammatico natione Zialandico necnon Roskildensis ecclesiae praeposito, abhinc supra trecentos annos conscriptae et nunc primum literaria serie illustratae tersissimeque impressae.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "English language:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Histories of the Kings and heroes of the Danes, composed in elegant style by Saxo Grammaticus, a Zealander and also provost of the church of Roskilde, over three hundred years ago, and now for the first time illustrated and printed correctly in a learned compilation.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The source of all existing translations and new editions is Christiern Pedersen's Latin Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae. There exist a number of different translations today, some complete, some partial:",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Gesta Danorum is also translated partially in other English, French and German releases.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Certain aspects of Gesta Danorum formed the basis for William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Saxo's version, told of in Books 3 and 4, is very similar to that of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Saxo's version, two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi are given the rule over Jutland by King Rørik Slyngebond of the Danes. Soon after, Orvendil marries King Rørik's daughter, Geruth (Gertrude in Hamlet). Amleth is their first and only child.",
"title": "Hamlet"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Fengi becomes resentful of his brother's marriage, and also wants sole leadership of Jutland, so therefore murders Orvendil. After a very brief period of mourning, Fengi marries Geruth, and declares himself sole leader of Jutland. Eventually, Amleth avenges his father's murder and plans the murder of his uncle, making him the new and rightful King of Jutland. However, while Hamlet dies in Shakespeare's version just after his uncle's death, in Saxo's version Amleth survives and begins ruling his kingdom, going on to other adventures.",
"title": "Hamlet"
}
]
| Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus. It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia. Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century. In addition, Gesta Danorum offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe. | 2001-10-18T20:06:24Z | 2023-12-26T04:45:43Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Wikisource-inline",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:More footnotes",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Norsemythology",
"Template:Italic title",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Unreferenced section",
"Template:Refend"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesta_Danorum |
12,743 | Garrison Keillor | Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (/ˈkiːlər/; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.
Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota, the son of Grace Ruth (née Denham) and John Philip Keillor. His father was a carpenter and postal worker who was half-Canadian with English ancestry; Keillor's paternal grandfather was from Kingston, Ontario. His maternal grandparents were Scottish emigrants from Glasgow. He was the third of six children, with three brothers and two sisters.
Keillor's family belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, an Evangelical Christian movement that he has since left. In 2006, he told Christianity Today that he was attending the St. John the Evangelist Episcopal church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after previously attending a Lutheran church in New York.
Keillor graduated from Anoka High School in 1960 and from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in English in 1966. During college, he began his broadcasting career on the student-operated radio station known today as Radio K.
In his 2004 book Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America, Keillor mentions some of his noteworthy ancestors, including Joseph Crandall, who was an associate of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island and the first American Baptist church; and Prudence Crandall, who founded the first African-American women's school in America.
Garrison Keillor started his professional radio career in November 1969 with Minnesota Educational Radio (MER), later Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), which today distributes programs under the American Public Media (APM) brand. He hosted a weekday drive-time broadcast called A Prairie Home Entertainment, on KSJR FM at St. John's University in Collegeville. The show's eclectic music was a major divergence from the station's usual classical fare. During this time he submitted fiction to The New Yorker magazine, where his first story for that publication, "Local Family Keeps Son Happy," appeared in September 1970.
Keillor resigned from The Morning Program in February 1971 in protest of what he considered interference with his musical programming; as part of his protest, he played nothing but the Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda" during one broadcast. When he returned to the station in October, the show was dubbed A Prairie Home Companion.
Keillor has attributed the idea for the live Saturday night radio program to his 1973 assignment to write about the Grand Ole Opry for The New Yorker, but he had already begun showcasing local musicians on the morning show, despite limited studio space. In August 1973, MPR announced plans to broadcast a Saturday night version of A Prairie Home Companion with live musicians.
A Prairie Home Companion (PHC) debuted as an old-style variety show before a live audience on July 6, 1974; it featured guest musicians and a cadre cast doing musical numbers and comic skits replete with elaborate live sound effects. The show was punctuated by spoof commercial spots for PHC fictitious sponsors such as Powdermilk Biscuits, the Ketchup Advisory Board, and the Professional Organization of English Majors (POEM); it presents parodic serial melodramas, such as The Adventures of Guy Noir, Private Eye and The Lives of the Cowboys. Keillor voiced Noir, the cowboy Lefty, and other recurring characters, and provided lead or backup vocals for some of the show's musical numbers. The show aired from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
After the show's intermission, Keillor read clever and often humorous greetings to friends and family at home submitted by members of the theater audience in exchange for an honorarium. Also in the second half of the show, Keillor delivered a monologue called The News from Lake Wobegon, a fictitious town based in part on Keillor's own hometown of Anoka, Minnesota, and on Freeport and other small towns in Stearns County, Minnesota, where he lived in the early 1970s. Lake Wobegon is a quintessentially Minnesota small town characterized by the narrator as a place "... where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
The original PHC ran until 1987, when Keillor ended it to focus on other projects. In 1989, he launched a new live radio program from New York City, The American Radio Company of the Air, which had essentially the same format as PHC. In 1992, he moved ARC back to St. Paul, and a year later changed the name back to A Prairie Home Companion; it remained a fixture of Saturday night radio broadcasting for decades.
On a typical broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, Keillor's name was not mentioned unless a guest addressed him by name, although some sketches featured Keillor as his alter ego, Carson Wyler. In the closing credits, which Keillor read, he gave himself no billing or credit except "written by Sarah Bellum," a joking reference to his own brain.
Keillor regularly took the radio company on the road to broadcast from popular venues around the United States; the touring production typically featured local celebrities and skits incorporating local color. In April 2000, he took the program to Edinburgh, Scotland, producing two performances in the city's Queen's Hall, which were broadcast by BBC Radio. He toured Scotland with the program to celebrate its 25th anniversary. (In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the program is known as Garrison Keillor's Radio Show.) Keillor produced broadcast performances similar to PHC but without the "Prairie Home Companion" brand, as in his 2008 appearance at the Oregon Bach Festival. He was also the host of The Writer's Almanac, from 1993 to 2017, which, like PHC, was produced and distributed by American Public Media.
In a March 2011 interview, Keillor announced that he would be retiring from A Prairie Home Companion in 2013; but in a December 2011 interview with the Sioux City Journal, Keillor said: "The show is going well. I love doing it. Why quit?" During an interview on July 20, 2015, Keillor announced his intent to retire from the show after the 2015–2016 season, saying, "I have a lot of other things that I want to do. I mean, nobody retires anymore. Writers never retire. But this is my last season. This tour this summer is the farewell tour."
Keillor's final episode of the show was recorded live for an audience of 18,000 fans at the Hollywood Bowl in California on July 1, 2016, and broadcast the next day, ending 42 seasons of the show. After the performance, President Barack Obama phoned Keillor to congratulate him. The show continued on October 15, 2016, with Chris Thile as its host.
On November 29, 2017, the Star Tribune reported that Minnesota Public Radio was terminating all business relationships with Keillor as a result of "allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him." In January 2018, MPR CEO Jon McTaggart elaborated that they had received allegations of "dozens" of sexually inappropriate incidents from the individual, including requests for sexual contact. Keillor denied any wrongdoing and said his firing stems from an incident when he touched a woman's bare back while trying to console her. He said he had apologized to her soon after, that they had already made up, and that he was surprised to hear the allegations when her lawyer called.
In its statement of termination, MPR announced that Keillor would keep his executive credit for the show, but that since he owns the trademark for the phrase "prairie home companion", they would cease rebroadcasting episodes of A Prairie Home Companion featuring Keillor and remove the trademarked phrase from the radio show hosted by Chris Thile. MPR also eliminated its business connections to PrairieHome.org and stopped distributing Keillor's daily program The Writer's Almanac. The Washington Post also canceled Keillor's weekly column when they learned he had continued writing columns, including a controversial piece criticizing Al Franken's resignation because of sexual misconduct allegations, without revealing that he was under investigation at MPR.
Several fans wrote MPR to protest Keillor's firing, but only 153 members canceled their memberships because of it. In January 2018, Keillor announced he was in mediation with MPR over the firing. On January 23, 2018, MPR News reported further on the investigation after interviewing almost 60 people who had worked with Keillor. The story described other alleged sexual misconduct by Keillor, and a $16,000 severance check for a woman who was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent her from talking about her time at MPR (she refused and never deposited the check).
Keillor received a letter from the MPR CEO, Jon McTaggart, dated April 5, 2018, confirming that both sides wanted archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again. In April 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement under which MPR would restore the online archives.
Also due to the allegations of inappropriate behavior, Keillor's segment in the PBS series Finding Your Roots episode that aired on December 19, 2017, was replaced by an older segment featuring Maya Rudolph.
At age 13, Keillor adopted the pen name "Garrison" to distinguish his personal life from his professional writing. He commonly uses "Garrison" in public and in other media.
Keillor has been called "[o]ne of the most perceptive and witty commentators about Midwestern life" by Randall Balmer in Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism. He has written numerous magazine and newspaper articles and more than a dozen books for adults as well as children. In addition to writing for The New Yorker, he has written for The Atlantic Monthly and National Geographic. He has also written for Salon.com and authored an advice column there under the name "Mr. Blue." Following a heart operation, he resigned on September 4, 2001, his last column being titled "Every dog has his day":
In 2004 Keillor published a collection of political essays, Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America, and in June 2005 he began a column called The Old Scout, which ran at Salon.com and in syndicated newspapers. The column went on hiatus in April 2010 so that he could "finish a screenplay and start writing a novel."
On November 1, 2006, Keillor opened an independent bookstore, "Common Good Books, G. Keillor, Prop." in the Blair Arcade Building at the southwest corner of Selby and N. Western Avenues in the Cathedral Hill area in the Summit-University neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
In April 2012, the store moved to a new location on Snelling Avenue across from Macalester College in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. In April of 2019, Keillor sold his interest in the bookstore.
Probably owing in part to his distinctive North-Central accent, Keillor is often used as a voice-over actor. Some notable appearances include:
In 2006, Keillor wrote and portrayed himself in the musical comedy film A Prairie Home Companion, directed by Robert Altman. It is a fictional representation of behind-the-scenes activities at the long-running public radio show of the same name. The film received mostly positive reviews and was a moderate box-office success on a small budget. It features an ensemble cast including Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, and Lily Tomlin.
In Slate, Sam Anderson called Keillor "very clearly a genius. His range and stamina alone are incredible—after 30 years, he rarely repeats himself—and he has the genuine wisdom of a Cosby or Mark Twain." But Keillor's "willful simplicity," Anderson wrote, "is annoying because, after a while, it starts to feel prescriptive. Being a responsible adult doesn't necessarily mean speaking slowly about tomatoes." Anderson also noted that in 1985, when Time magazine called Keillor the funniest man in America, Bill Cosby said, "That's true if you're a pilgrim."
Keillor's style, particularly his speaking voice, has often been parodied.
Keillor is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He is 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) tall. He considers himself a loner and prefers not to make eye contact with people. Though not diagnosed, he also considers himself to be on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He spoke about his experiences as an autistic person in his keynote address at the 19th Annual Minnesota Autism Conference in 2014.
Keillor has been married three times. He was married to Mary Guntzel from 1965 to 1976; they had one son, Jason (born 1969). He was married to Ulla Skaerved, a former exchange student from Denmark at Keillor's high school whom he re-encountered at a class reunion, from 1985 to 1990. He married classical string player Jenny Lind Nilsson (born 1957), who is also from Anoka, in 1995. They have one daughter, Maia Grace Keillor (born December 29, 1997).
Between his first and second marriages, Keillor was romantically involved with Margaret Moos, who worked as a producer of A Prairie Home Companion.
On September 7, 2009, Keillor was briefly hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke. He returned to work a few days later.
In 2006, after a visit to a United Methodist church in Highland Park, Texas, Keillor created a local controversy with his remarks about the event, including the rhetorical suggestion of a connection between event participants and supporters of torture and a statement creating an impression of political intimidation: "I walked in, was met by two burly security men ... and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics." In response, the lecture series coordinator said the two "burly security men" were a local policeman and the church's own security supervisor, both present because the agreement with Keillor's publisher specified that the venue provide security. In addition, the coordinator said that Keillor arrived at the church, declined an introduction, and took the stage without an opportunity to mingle with the audience, so he did not know when these warnings might have been dispensed. The publicist concurred, saying that Keillor did not have contact with any church members or people in the audience before he spoke.
Supposedly, before Keillor's remarks, participants at the event had considered the visit cordial and warm. Asked to respond, Keillor stuck to his story, describing the people who advised him not to discuss politics and saying he had no security guards at other stops on the tour.
In 2007, Keillor wrote a column that in part criticized "stereotypical" gay parents, who he said were "sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers." In response to the strong reactions of many readers, Keillor said:
I live in a small world – the world of entertainment, musicians, writers – in which gayness is as common as having brown eyes ... And in that small world, we talk openly and we kid each other a lot. But in the larger world, gayness is controversial ... and so gay people feel besieged to some degree and rightly so ... My column spoke as we would speak in my small world, and it was read by people in the larger world and thus the misunderstanding. And for that, I am sorry. Gay people who set out to be parents can be just as good parents as anybody else, and they know that, and so do I.
In 2008, Keillor created a controversy in St. Paul when he filed a lawsuit against his neighbor's plan to build an addition on her home, citing his need for "light and air" and a view of "open space and beyond". Keillor's home is significantly larger than others in his neighborhood and it would still be significantly larger than his neighbor's with its planned addition. Keillor came to an undisclosed settlement with his neighbor shortly after the story became public.
In 2009, one of Keillor's "Old Scout" columns contained a reference to "lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys" and a complaint about "Silent Night" as rewritten by Unitarians, upsetting some readers. A Unitarian minister named Cynthia Landrum responded, "Listening to him talk about us over the years, it's becoming more and more evident that he isn't laughing with us—he's laughing at us", while Jeff Jacoby of The Boston Globe called Keillor "cranky and intolerant". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gary Edward \"Garrison\" Keillor (/ˈkiːlər/; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota, the son of Grace Ruth (née Denham) and John Philip Keillor. His father was a carpenter and postal worker who was half-Canadian with English ancestry; Keillor's paternal grandfather was from Kingston, Ontario. His maternal grandparents were Scottish emigrants from Glasgow. He was the third of six children, with three brothers and two sisters.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Keillor's family belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, an Evangelical Christian movement that he has since left. In 2006, he told Christianity Today that he was attending the St. John the Evangelist Episcopal church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after previously attending a Lutheran church in New York.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Keillor graduated from Anoka High School in 1960 and from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in English in 1966. During college, he began his broadcasting career on the student-operated radio station known today as Radio K.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In his 2004 book Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America, Keillor mentions some of his noteworthy ancestors, including Joseph Crandall, who was an associate of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island and the first American Baptist church; and Prudence Crandall, who founded the first African-American women's school in America.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Garrison Keillor started his professional radio career in November 1969 with Minnesota Educational Radio (MER), later Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), which today distributes programs under the American Public Media (APM) brand. He hosted a weekday drive-time broadcast called A Prairie Home Entertainment, on KSJR FM at St. John's University in Collegeville. The show's eclectic music was a major divergence from the station's usual classical fare. During this time he submitted fiction to The New Yorker magazine, where his first story for that publication, \"Local Family Keeps Son Happy,\" appeared in September 1970.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Keillor resigned from The Morning Program in February 1971 in protest of what he considered interference with his musical programming; as part of his protest, he played nothing but the Beach Boys' \"Help Me, Rhonda\" during one broadcast. When he returned to the station in October, the show was dubbed A Prairie Home Companion.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Keillor has attributed the idea for the live Saturday night radio program to his 1973 assignment to write about the Grand Ole Opry for The New Yorker, but he had already begun showcasing local musicians on the morning show, despite limited studio space. In August 1973, MPR announced plans to broadcast a Saturday night version of A Prairie Home Companion with live musicians.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "A Prairie Home Companion (PHC) debuted as an old-style variety show before a live audience on July 6, 1974; it featured guest musicians and a cadre cast doing musical numbers and comic skits replete with elaborate live sound effects. The show was punctuated by spoof commercial spots for PHC fictitious sponsors such as Powdermilk Biscuits, the Ketchup Advisory Board, and the Professional Organization of English Majors (POEM); it presents parodic serial melodramas, such as The Adventures of Guy Noir, Private Eye and The Lives of the Cowboys. Keillor voiced Noir, the cowboy Lefty, and other recurring characters, and provided lead or backup vocals for some of the show's musical numbers. The show aired from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "After the show's intermission, Keillor read clever and often humorous greetings to friends and family at home submitted by members of the theater audience in exchange for an honorarium. Also in the second half of the show, Keillor delivered a monologue called The News from Lake Wobegon, a fictitious town based in part on Keillor's own hometown of Anoka, Minnesota, and on Freeport and other small towns in Stearns County, Minnesota, where he lived in the early 1970s. Lake Wobegon is a quintessentially Minnesota small town characterized by the narrator as a place \"... where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The original PHC ran until 1987, when Keillor ended it to focus on other projects. In 1989, he launched a new live radio program from New York City, The American Radio Company of the Air, which had essentially the same format as PHC. In 1992, he moved ARC back to St. Paul, and a year later changed the name back to A Prairie Home Companion; it remained a fixture of Saturday night radio broadcasting for decades.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "On a typical broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, Keillor's name was not mentioned unless a guest addressed him by name, although some sketches featured Keillor as his alter ego, Carson Wyler. In the closing credits, which Keillor read, he gave himself no billing or credit except \"written by Sarah Bellum,\" a joking reference to his own brain.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Keillor regularly took the radio company on the road to broadcast from popular venues around the United States; the touring production typically featured local celebrities and skits incorporating local color. In April 2000, he took the program to Edinburgh, Scotland, producing two performances in the city's Queen's Hall, which were broadcast by BBC Radio. He toured Scotland with the program to celebrate its 25th anniversary. (In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the program is known as Garrison Keillor's Radio Show.) Keillor produced broadcast performances similar to PHC but without the \"Prairie Home Companion\" brand, as in his 2008 appearance at the Oregon Bach Festival. He was also the host of The Writer's Almanac, from 1993 to 2017, which, like PHC, was produced and distributed by American Public Media.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In a March 2011 interview, Keillor announced that he would be retiring from A Prairie Home Companion in 2013; but in a December 2011 interview with the Sioux City Journal, Keillor said: \"The show is going well. I love doing it. Why quit?\" During an interview on July 20, 2015, Keillor announced his intent to retire from the show after the 2015–2016 season, saying, \"I have a lot of other things that I want to do. I mean, nobody retires anymore. Writers never retire. But this is my last season. This tour this summer is the farewell tour.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Keillor's final episode of the show was recorded live for an audience of 18,000 fans at the Hollywood Bowl in California on July 1, 2016, and broadcast the next day, ending 42 seasons of the show. After the performance, President Barack Obama phoned Keillor to congratulate him. The show continued on October 15, 2016, with Chris Thile as its host.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "On November 29, 2017, the Star Tribune reported that Minnesota Public Radio was terminating all business relationships with Keillor as a result of \"allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.\" In January 2018, MPR CEO Jon McTaggart elaborated that they had received allegations of \"dozens\" of sexually inappropriate incidents from the individual, including requests for sexual contact. Keillor denied any wrongdoing and said his firing stems from an incident when he touched a woman's bare back while trying to console her. He said he had apologized to her soon after, that they had already made up, and that he was surprised to hear the allegations when her lawyer called.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In its statement of termination, MPR announced that Keillor would keep his executive credit for the show, but that since he owns the trademark for the phrase \"prairie home companion\", they would cease rebroadcasting episodes of A Prairie Home Companion featuring Keillor and remove the trademarked phrase from the radio show hosted by Chris Thile. MPR also eliminated its business connections to PrairieHome.org and stopped distributing Keillor's daily program The Writer's Almanac. The Washington Post also canceled Keillor's weekly column when they learned he had continued writing columns, including a controversial piece criticizing Al Franken's resignation because of sexual misconduct allegations, without revealing that he was under investigation at MPR.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Several fans wrote MPR to protest Keillor's firing, but only 153 members canceled their memberships because of it. In January 2018, Keillor announced he was in mediation with MPR over the firing. On January 23, 2018, MPR News reported further on the investigation after interviewing almost 60 people who had worked with Keillor. The story described other alleged sexual misconduct by Keillor, and a $16,000 severance check for a woman who was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent her from talking about her time at MPR (she refused and never deposited the check).",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Keillor received a letter from the MPR CEO, Jon McTaggart, dated April 5, 2018, confirming that both sides wanted archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again. In April 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement under which MPR would restore the online archives.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Also due to the allegations of inappropriate behavior, Keillor's segment in the PBS series Finding Your Roots episode that aired on December 19, 2017, was replaced by an older segment featuring Maya Rudolph.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "At age 13, Keillor adopted the pen name \"Garrison\" to distinguish his personal life from his professional writing. He commonly uses \"Garrison\" in public and in other media.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Keillor has been called \"[o]ne of the most perceptive and witty commentators about Midwestern life\" by Randall Balmer in Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism. He has written numerous magazine and newspaper articles and more than a dozen books for adults as well as children. In addition to writing for The New Yorker, he has written for The Atlantic Monthly and National Geographic. He has also written for Salon.com and authored an advice column there under the name \"Mr. Blue.\" Following a heart operation, he resigned on September 4, 2001, his last column being titled \"Every dog has his day\":",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "In 2004 Keillor published a collection of political essays, Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America, and in June 2005 he began a column called The Old Scout, which ran at Salon.com and in syndicated newspapers. The column went on hiatus in April 2010 so that he could \"finish a screenplay and start writing a novel.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "On November 1, 2006, Keillor opened an independent bookstore, \"Common Good Books, G. Keillor, Prop.\" in the Blair Arcade Building at the southwest corner of Selby and N. Western Avenues in the Cathedral Hill area in the Summit-University neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In April 2012, the store moved to a new location on Snelling Avenue across from Macalester College in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood. In April of 2019, Keillor sold his interest in the bookstore.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Probably owing in part to his distinctive North-Central accent, Keillor is often used as a voice-over actor. Some notable appearances include:",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 2006, Keillor wrote and portrayed himself in the musical comedy film A Prairie Home Companion, directed by Robert Altman. It is a fictional representation of behind-the-scenes activities at the long-running public radio show of the same name. The film received mostly positive reviews and was a moderate box-office success on a small budget. It features an ensemble cast including Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, and Lily Tomlin.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "In Slate, Sam Anderson called Keillor \"very clearly a genius. His range and stamina alone are incredible—after 30 years, he rarely repeats himself—and he has the genuine wisdom of a Cosby or Mark Twain.\" But Keillor's \"willful simplicity,\" Anderson wrote, \"is annoying because, after a while, it starts to feel prescriptive. Being a responsible adult doesn't necessarily mean speaking slowly about tomatoes.\" Anderson also noted that in 1985, when Time magazine called Keillor the funniest man in America, Bill Cosby said, \"That's true if you're a pilgrim.\"",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Keillor's style, particularly his speaking voice, has often been parodied.",
"title": "Reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Keillor is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He is 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) tall. He considers himself a loner and prefers not to make eye contact with people. Though not diagnosed, he also considers himself to be on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He spoke about his experiences as an autistic person in his keynote address at the 19th Annual Minnesota Autism Conference in 2014.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Keillor has been married three times. He was married to Mary Guntzel from 1965 to 1976; they had one son, Jason (born 1969). He was married to Ulla Skaerved, a former exchange student from Denmark at Keillor's high school whom he re-encountered at a class reunion, from 1985 to 1990. He married classical string player Jenny Lind Nilsson (born 1957), who is also from Anoka, in 1995. They have one daughter, Maia Grace Keillor (born December 29, 1997).",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Between his first and second marriages, Keillor was romantically involved with Margaret Moos, who worked as a producer of A Prairie Home Companion.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "On September 7, 2009, Keillor was briefly hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke. He returned to work a few days later.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In 2006, after a visit to a United Methodist church in Highland Park, Texas, Keillor created a local controversy with his remarks about the event, including the rhetorical suggestion of a connection between event participants and supporters of torture and a statement creating an impression of political intimidation: \"I walked in, was met by two burly security men ... and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics.\" In response, the lecture series coordinator said the two \"burly security men\" were a local policeman and the church's own security supervisor, both present because the agreement with Keillor's publisher specified that the venue provide security. In addition, the coordinator said that Keillor arrived at the church, declined an introduction, and took the stage without an opportunity to mingle with the audience, so he did not know when these warnings might have been dispensed. The publicist concurred, saying that Keillor did not have contact with any church members or people in the audience before he spoke.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Supposedly, before Keillor's remarks, participants at the event had considered the visit cordial and warm. Asked to respond, Keillor stuck to his story, describing the people who advised him not to discuss politics and saying he had no security guards at other stops on the tour.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "In 2007, Keillor wrote a column that in part criticized \"stereotypical\" gay parents, who he said were \"sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers.\" In response to the strong reactions of many readers, Keillor said:",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "I live in a small world – the world of entertainment, musicians, writers – in which gayness is as common as having brown eyes ... And in that small world, we talk openly and we kid each other a lot. But in the larger world, gayness is controversial ... and so gay people feel besieged to some degree and rightly so ... My column spoke as we would speak in my small world, and it was read by people in the larger world and thus the misunderstanding. And for that, I am sorry. Gay people who set out to be parents can be just as good parents as anybody else, and they know that, and so do I.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 2008, Keillor created a controversy in St. Paul when he filed a lawsuit against his neighbor's plan to build an addition on her home, citing his need for \"light and air\" and a view of \"open space and beyond\". Keillor's home is significantly larger than others in his neighborhood and it would still be significantly larger than his neighbor's with its planned addition. Keillor came to an undisclosed settlement with his neighbor shortly after the story became public.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In 2009, one of Keillor's \"Old Scout\" columns contained a reference to \"lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys\" and a complaint about \"Silent Night\" as rewritten by Unitarians, upsetting some readers. A Unitarian minister named Cynthia Landrum responded, \"Listening to him talk about us over the years, it's becoming more and more evident that he isn't laughing with us—he's laughing at us\", while Jeff Jacoby of The Boston Globe called Keillor \"cranky and intolerant\".",
"title": "Personal life"
}
]
| Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion, which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history. In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media. | 2001-10-19T13:45:56Z | 2023-12-24T22:06:25Z | [
"Template:Infobox comedian",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 1980s",
"Template:Incomplete list",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:YouTube",
"Template:C-SPAN",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:American Public Media",
"Template:Tribune Company",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Dead link",
"Template:Sisterlinks",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:Garrison Keillor",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite journal"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor |
12,744 | Galatia | Galatia (/ɡəˈleɪʃə/; Ancient Greek: Γαλατία, Galatía, "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East.
Galatia was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the east by Pontus and Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the west by Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra (i.e. Ankara, today the capital of modern Turkey).
The terms "Galatians" came to be used by the Greeks for the three Celtic peoples of Anatolia: the Tectosages, the Trocmii, and the Tolistobogii. By the 1st century BC, the Celts had become so Hellenized that some Greek writers called them Hellenogalatai (Ἑλληνογαλάται). The Romans called them Gallograeci. Though the Celts had, to a large extent, integrated into Hellenistic Asia Minor, they preserved their linguistic and ethnic identity.
By the 4th century BC, the Celts had penetrated into the Balkans, coming into contact with the Thracians and Greeks. In 380 BC, they fought in the southern regions of Dalmatia (present day Croatia), and rumors circulated around the ancient world that Alexander the Great's father, Philip II of Macedonia had been assassinated by someone using a dagger of Celtic origins. Arrian writes that "Celts established on the Ionic coast" were among those who came to meet Alexander the Great during a campaign against the Getae in 335 BC. Several ancient accounts mention that the Celts formed an alliance with Dionysius I of Syracuse who sent them to fight alongside the Macedonians against the Thebans. In 279 BC, two Celtic factions united under the leadership of Brennus and began to push southwards from southern Bulgaria towards the Greek states. According to Livy, a sizable force split off from this main group and headed toward Asia Minor.
For several years, a federation of Hellespontine cities, including Byzantion and Chalkedon, prevented the Celts from entering Asia Minor. During the course of the power struggle between Nikomedes I of Bithynia and his brother Zipoetes, the former hired 20,000 Galatian mercenaries. The Galatians split into two groups headed by Leonnorius and Lutarius respectively, which crossed the Bosporus and the Hellespont respectively. In 277 BC, when the hostilities had ended the Galatians came out of Nikomedes' control and began raiding Greek cities in Asia Minor while Antiochus was solidifying his rule in Syria. The Galatians looted Cyzikus, Ilion, Didyma, Priene, Thyatira and Laodicea on the Lycus, while the citizens of Erythras paid them ransom. Either in 275 or 269 BC, Antiochus' army faced the Galatians somewhere on the plain of Sardis in the Battle of Elephants. In the aftermath of the battle, the Celts then settled in northern Phrygia, a region that eventually came to be known as Galatia.
The territory of Celtic Galatia included the cities of Ancyra (present day Ankara), Pessinus, Tavium, and Gordion.
Upon the death of Deiotarus, the Kingdom of Galatia was given to Amyntas, an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony. After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by Augustus into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman province. Near his capital Ancyra (modern Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the Phrygian god Men to venerate Augustus (the Monumentum Ancyranum), as a sign of fidelity. It was on the walls of this temple in Galatia that the major source for the Res Gestae of Augustus were preserved for modernity. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.
Josephus related the Biblical figure Gomer to Galatia (or perhaps to Gaul in general): "For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls], but were then called Gomerites." Others have related Gomer to Cimmerians.
Paul the Apostle visited Galatia in his missionary journeys, and wrote to the Christians there in the Epistle to the Galatians.
Although originally possessing a strong cultural identity, by the 2nd century AD, the Galatians had become assimilated (Hellenization) into the Hellenistic civilization of Anatolia. The Galatians were still speaking the Galatian language in the time of St. Jerome (347–420 AD), who wrote that the Galatians of Ancyra and the Treveri of Trier (in what is now the Rhineland) spoke the same language (Comentarii in Epistolam ad Galatos, 2.3, composed c. 387).
In an administrative reorganisation (c. 386–395), two new provinces succeeded it, Galatia Prima and Galatia Secunda or Salutaris, which included part of Phrygia. The fate of the Galatian people is a subject of some uncertainty, but they seem ultimately to have been absorbed into the Greek-speaking populations of Anatolia. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Galatia (/ɡəˈleɪʃə/; Ancient Greek: Γαλατία, Galatía, \"Gaul\") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the \"Gallia\" of the East.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Galatia was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the east by Pontus and Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the west by Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra (i.e. Ankara, today the capital of modern Turkey).",
"title": "Geography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The terms \"Galatians\" came to be used by the Greeks for the three Celtic peoples of Anatolia: the Tectosages, the Trocmii, and the Tolistobogii. By the 1st century BC, the Celts had become so Hellenized that some Greek writers called them Hellenogalatai (Ἑλληνογαλάται). The Romans called them Gallograeci. Though the Celts had, to a large extent, integrated into Hellenistic Asia Minor, they preserved their linguistic and ethnic identity.",
"title": "Celtic Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "By the 4th century BC, the Celts had penetrated into the Balkans, coming into contact with the Thracians and Greeks. In 380 BC, they fought in the southern regions of Dalmatia (present day Croatia), and rumors circulated around the ancient world that Alexander the Great's father, Philip II of Macedonia had been assassinated by someone using a dagger of Celtic origins. Arrian writes that \"Celts established on the Ionic coast\" were among those who came to meet Alexander the Great during a campaign against the Getae in 335 BC. Several ancient accounts mention that the Celts formed an alliance with Dionysius I of Syracuse who sent them to fight alongside the Macedonians against the Thebans. In 279 BC, two Celtic factions united under the leadership of Brennus and began to push southwards from southern Bulgaria towards the Greek states. According to Livy, a sizable force split off from this main group and headed toward Asia Minor.",
"title": "Celtic Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "For several years, a federation of Hellespontine cities, including Byzantion and Chalkedon, prevented the Celts from entering Asia Minor. During the course of the power struggle between Nikomedes I of Bithynia and his brother Zipoetes, the former hired 20,000 Galatian mercenaries. The Galatians split into two groups headed by Leonnorius and Lutarius respectively, which crossed the Bosporus and the Hellespont respectively. In 277 BC, when the hostilities had ended the Galatians came out of Nikomedes' control and began raiding Greek cities in Asia Minor while Antiochus was solidifying his rule in Syria. The Galatians looted Cyzikus, Ilion, Didyma, Priene, Thyatira and Laodicea on the Lycus, while the citizens of Erythras paid them ransom. Either in 275 or 269 BC, Antiochus' army faced the Galatians somewhere on the plain of Sardis in the Battle of Elephants. In the aftermath of the battle, the Celts then settled in northern Phrygia, a region that eventually came to be known as Galatia.",
"title": "Celtic Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The territory of Celtic Galatia included the cities of Ancyra (present day Ankara), Pessinus, Tavium, and Gordion.",
"title": "Celtic Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Upon the death of Deiotarus, the Kingdom of Galatia was given to Amyntas, an auxiliary commander in the Roman army of Brutus and Cassius who gained the favor of Mark Antony. After his death in 25 BC, Galatia was incorporated by Augustus into the Roman Empire, becoming a Roman province. Near his capital Ancyra (modern Ankara), Pylamenes, the king's heir, rebuilt a temple of the Phrygian god Men to venerate Augustus (the Monumentum Ancyranum), as a sign of fidelity. It was on the walls of this temple in Galatia that the major source for the Res Gestae of Augustus were preserved for modernity. Few of the provinces proved more enthusiastically loyal to Rome.",
"title": "Roman Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Josephus related the Biblical figure Gomer to Galatia (or perhaps to Gaul in general): \"For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls], but were then called Gomerites.\" Others have related Gomer to Cimmerians.",
"title": "Roman Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Paul the Apostle visited Galatia in his missionary journeys, and wrote to the Christians there in the Epistle to the Galatians.",
"title": "Roman Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Although originally possessing a strong cultural identity, by the 2nd century AD, the Galatians had become assimilated (Hellenization) into the Hellenistic civilization of Anatolia. The Galatians were still speaking the Galatian language in the time of St. Jerome (347–420 AD), who wrote that the Galatians of Ancyra and the Treveri of Trier (in what is now the Rhineland) spoke the same language (Comentarii in Epistolam ad Galatos, 2.3, composed c. 387).",
"title": "Roman Galatia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In an administrative reorganisation (c. 386–395), two new provinces succeeded it, Galatia Prima and Galatia Secunda or Salutaris, which included part of Phrygia. The fate of the Galatian people is a subject of some uncertainty, but they seem ultimately to have been absorbed into the Greek-speaking populations of Anatolia.",
"title": "Roman Galatia"
}
]
| Galatia was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace, who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East. | 2002-02-25T15:43:11Z | 2023-12-06T03:20:45Z | [
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Small",
"Template:Roman provinces AD 117",
"Template:Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Historical regions of Anatolia",
"Template:Distinguish",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Infobox",
"Template:Main",
"Template:'",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:History of Turkey timeline",
"Template:About",
"Template:Journeys of Paul of Tarsus",
"Template:Late Roman Provinces",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:EB1911",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Celts",
"Template:Lang-grc"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatia |
12,745 | Galatians | Galatians may refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Galatians may refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Galatians may refer to: Galatians (people)
Epistle to the Galatians, a book of the New Testament
English translation of the Greek Galatai or Latin Galatae, Galli, or Gallograeci to refer to either the Galatians or the Gauls in general | 2019-05-26T15:08:07Z | [
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatians |
|
12,746 | Generalization | A generalization is a form of abstraction whereby common properties of specific instances are formulated as general concepts or claims. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements (thus creating a conceptual model). As such, they are the essential basis of all valid deductive inferences (particularly in logic, mathematics and science), where the process of verification is necessary to determine whether a generalization holds true for any given situation.
Generalization can also be used to refer to the process of identifying the parts of a whole, as belonging to the whole. The parts, which might be unrelated when left on their own, may be brought together as a group, hence belonging to the whole by establishing a common relation between them.
However, the parts cannot be generalized into a whole—until a common relation is established among all parts. This does not mean that the parts are unrelated, only that no common relation has been established yet for the generalization.
The concept of generalization has broad application in many connected disciplines, and might sometimes have a more specific meaning in a specialized context (e.g. generalization in psychology, generalization in learning).
In general, given two related concepts A and B, A is a "generalization" of B (equiv., B is a special case of A) if and only if both of the following hold:
For example, the concept animal is a generalization of the concept bird, since every bird is an animal, but not all animals are birds (dogs, for instance). For more, see Specialisation (biology).
The connection of generalization to specialization (or particularization) is reflected in the contrasting words hypernym and hyponym. A hypernym as a generic stands for a class or group of equally ranked items, such as the term tree which stands for equally ranked items such as peach and oak, and the term ship which stands for equally ranked items such as cruiser and steamer. In contrast, a hyponym is one of the items included in the generic, such as peach and oak which are included in tree, and cruiser and steamer which are included in ship. A hypernym is superordinate to a hyponym, and a hyponym is subordinate to a hypernym.
An animal is a generalization of a mammal, a bird, a fish, an amphibian and a reptile.
Generalization has a long history in cartography as an art of creating maps for different scale and purpose. Cartographic generalization is the process of selecting and representing information of a map in a way that adapts to the scale of the display medium of the map. In this way, every map has, to some extent, been generalized to match the criteria of display. This includes small cartographic scale maps, which cannot convey every detail of the real world. As a result, cartographers must decide and then adjust the content within their maps, to create a suitable and useful map that conveys the geospatial information within their representation of the world.
Generalization is meant to be context-specific. That is to say, correctly generalized maps are those that emphasize the most important map elements, while still representing the world in the most faithful and recognizable way. The level of detail and importance in what is remaining on the map must outweigh the insignificance of items that were generalized—so as to preserve the distinguishing characteristics of what makes the map useful and important. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A generalization is a form of abstraction whereby common properties of specific instances are formulated as general concepts or claims. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements (thus creating a conceptual model). As such, they are the essential basis of all valid deductive inferences (particularly in logic, mathematics and science), where the process of verification is necessary to determine whether a generalization holds true for any given situation.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Generalization can also be used to refer to the process of identifying the parts of a whole, as belonging to the whole. The parts, which might be unrelated when left on their own, may be brought together as a group, hence belonging to the whole by establishing a common relation between them.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "However, the parts cannot be generalized into a whole—until a common relation is established among all parts. This does not mean that the parts are unrelated, only that no common relation has been established yet for the generalization.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The concept of generalization has broad application in many connected disciplines, and might sometimes have a more specific meaning in a specialized context (e.g. generalization in psychology, generalization in learning).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In general, given two related concepts A and B, A is a \"generalization\" of B (equiv., B is a special case of A) if and only if both of the following hold:",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "For example, the concept animal is a generalization of the concept bird, since every bird is an animal, but not all animals are birds (dogs, for instance). For more, see Specialisation (biology).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The connection of generalization to specialization (or particularization) is reflected in the contrasting words hypernym and hyponym. A hypernym as a generic stands for a class or group of equally ranked items, such as the term tree which stands for equally ranked items such as peach and oak, and the term ship which stands for equally ranked items such as cruiser and steamer. In contrast, a hyponym is one of the items included in the generic, such as peach and oak which are included in tree, and cruiser and steamer which are included in ship. A hypernym is superordinate to a hyponym, and a hyponym is subordinate to a hypernym.",
"title": "Hypernym and hyponym"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "An animal is a generalization of a mammal, a bird, a fish, an amphibian and a reptile.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Generalization has a long history in cartography as an art of creating maps for different scale and purpose. Cartographic generalization is the process of selecting and representing information of a map in a way that adapts to the scale of the display medium of the map. In this way, every map has, to some extent, been generalized to match the criteria of display. This includes small cartographic scale maps, which cannot convey every detail of the real world. As a result, cartographers must decide and then adjust the content within their maps, to create a suitable and useful map that conveys the geospatial information within their representation of the world.",
"title": "Examples"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Generalization is meant to be context-specific. That is to say, correctly generalized maps are those that emphasize the most important map elements, while still representing the world in the most faithful and recognizable way. The level of detail and importance in what is remaining on the map must outweigh the insignificance of items that were generalized—so as to preserve the distinguishing characteristics of what makes the map useful and important.",
"title": "Examples"
}
]
| A generalization is a form of abstraction whereby common properties of specific instances are formulated as general concepts or claims. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements. As such, they are the essential basis of all valid deductive inferences, where the process of verification is necessary to determine whether a generalization holds true for any given situation. Generalization can also be used to refer to the process of identifying the parts of a whole, as belonging to the whole. The parts, which might be unrelated when left on their own, may be brought together as a group, hence belonging to the whole by establishing a common relation between them. However, the parts cannot be generalized into a whole—until a common relation is established among all parts. This does not mean that the parts are unrelated, only that no common relation has been established yet for the generalization. The concept of generalization has broad application in many connected disciplines, and might sometimes have a more specific meaning in a specialized context. In general, given two related concepts A and B, A is a "generalization" of B if and only if both of the following hold: Every instance of concept B is also an instance of concept A.
There are instances of concept A which are not instances of concept B. For example, the concept animal is a generalization of the concept bird, since every bird is an animal, but not all animals are birds. For more, see Specialisation (biology). | 2023-07-20T12:24:30Z | [
"Template:See also",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Section link",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Wiktionary"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalization |
|
12,747 | Gia Carangi | Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for luxury fashion houses such as Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.
After Carangi became addicted to heroin, her career rapidly declined, which ultimately led her to quit from a modeling career in 1983. In 1986, at age 26, she died of AIDS-related complications. Believed to have contracted it from a contaminated needle, she became one of the first famous women to die of the virus. Her life was dramatized in the 1998 HBO television film Gia, directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi.
Carangi was born on January 29, 1960, in Philadelphia, the third and youngest child of Joseph Carangi, a restaurant owner, and Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), a homemaker. She had two older brothers. Her father was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry. Joseph and Kathleen had an unstable, violent marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to abandon the family when Carangi was eleven years old. Gia was described as "needy and manipulative" by relatives who recalled her as spoiled and shy as a child and a "mommy's girl" who did not receive the motherly attention that she desired. Those who knew Gia blamed her "fractured childhood" for the instability and drug dependence that plagued her adult life.
In her adolescent years, Carangi found the attention she sought from other teenage girls, befriending them by sending flowers. While attending Abraham Lincoln High School, Carangi bonded with "the Bowie kids", a group of obsessive David Bowie fans who emulated Bowie's "defiantly weird, high-glam" style. Carangi was drawn to Bowie for his fashion preferences and his ambiguous gender play and outspoken bisexuality. One of Carangi's friends later spoke of her "tomboy persona", describing her relaxed openness about her sexuality as reminiscent of the character Cay in the 1985 film Desert Hearts. Carangi and her "bi-try Bowie-mad" friends hung out in Philadelphia's gay clubs and bars. Though she's associated with the lesbian community, she did not want to take up "the accepted lesbian style."
After being featured in Philadelphia newspaper ads and being discovered by Sondra Scerca in Maurice Tannenbaum's hair salon, Carangi moved to New York City at the age of 17, where she signed with Wilhelmina Models. Her first major shoot, published in October 1978, was with top fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim, who had her pose nude behind a chain-link fence with makeup artist Sandy Linter. Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and pursued her, though the relationship never became stable. By the end of 1978, her first year in New York, Carangi was already a well-established model. Of her quick rise to prominence, described by Vogue as "meteoric", Carangi later said, "I started working with very good people, I mean all the time, very fast. I didn't build into a model, I just sort of became one."
Carangi was a favorite model of various fashion photographers, including Von Wangenheim, Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon, and Denis Piel. Well-integrated within the fashion world, she had the selection of several photographers, most notably Scavullo. Carangi was featured on the cover of many fashion magazines, including the April 1979 issue of British Vogue, the April 1979 and August 1980 issues of Vogue Paris, the August 1980 issue of American Vogue, the February 1981 issue of Vogue Italia, and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982. During these years, she also appeared in various advertising campaigns for high-profile fashion houses, including Armani, André Laug, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. At the height of her career, Carangi was most known in modeling circles by only her first name. During this time, she also appeared in the Blondie music video for "Atomic".
A regular at Studio 54 and the Mudd Club, Carangi usually used cocaine in clubs. After her agent, mentor, and friend Wilhelmina Cooper, died of lung cancer in March 1980, a devastated Carangi began using drugs and developed an addiction to heroin. Carangi's addiction soon began to affect her work; she had violent temper tantrums, walked out of photo shoots to buy drugs, and fell asleep in front of the camera. Scavullo recalled a fashion shoot with Carangi in the Caribbean when "she was crying, she couldn't find her drugs. I literally had to lay her down on her bed until she fell asleep." During one of her final location shoots for American Vogue, Carangi had red bumps in the crooks of her elbows where she had injected heroin. Despite airbrushing, some of the photos, as published in the November 1980 issue, reportedly still showed visible needle marks.
In November 1980, Carangi left Wilhelmina Models and signed with Ford Models, but she was dropped within weeks. By then, her career was in a steep decline. Modeling offers soon ceased and her fashion industry friends, including Sandy Linter, refused to speak to her, fearing their association with her would harm their careers. In an attempt to quit using drugs, she moved back to Philadelphia with her mother and stepfather in February 1981. Carangi underwent a 21-day detox program, but her sobriety was short-lived. She was arrested in March 1981 after she drove into a fence in a suburban neighborhood. After a chase with police, she was taken into custody where it was later determined she was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. After her release, Carangi briefly signed with a new agency, Legends, and worked sporadically, mainly in Europe.
In late 1981, although still using drugs, Carangi was determined to make a comeback in the fashion industry and signed with Elite Model Management. While some clients refused to work with her, others were willing to hire her because of her past status as a top model. Scavullo photographed her for the April 1982 cover of Cosmopolitan, her last cover appearance for an American magazine. Sean Byrnes, Scavullo's long-time assistant, later said, "What she was doing to herself finally became apparent in her pictures. ... I could see the change in her beauty. There was an emptiness in her eyes."
Carangi then mainly worked with photographer Albert Watson and found work modeling for department stores and catalogs. She appeared in an advertising campaign for Versace, shot by Richard Avedon. He hired her for the fashion house's next campaign, but during the photo shoot, in late 1982, Carangi became uncomfortable and left before any usable shots of her were taken. Around this time, Carangi enrolled in an outpatient methadone program but soon began using heroin again. By the end of 1982, she had only a few clients that were willing to hire her. Carangi's final photo shoot was for German mail-order clothing company Otto GmbH in Tunisia; she was sent home during the shoot for using heroin. She left New York for the final time in early 1983.
Carangi spent most of her modeling earnings on drugs, and spent the final three years of her life with various lovers, friends, and family members in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. She was admitted to an intense drug treatment program at Eagleville Hospital in December 1984. After treatment, she got a job in a clothing store, which she eventually quit. She later found employment as a checkout clerk and then worked in the cafeteria of a nursing home. By late 1985, she had begun using drugs again and was engaging in sex work in Atlantic City.
In December 1985, Carangi was admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Warminster, Pennsylvania, with bilateral pneumonia. A few days later, she was diagnosed with AIDS-related complex. In the fall of 1986, Carangi was hospitalized again, after being found on the street badly beaten and raped. On October 18, she was admitted to Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia. Carangi died at the Hahnemann Hospital of AIDS-related complications one month later, on November 18, 1986, at the age of 26, becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease. Her funeral was held on November 23 at a small funeral home in Philadelphia. No one from the fashion world attended. However, weeks later, Francesco Scavullo, Carangi's friend and confidant, sent a Mass card when he heard the news.
Carangi is often considered to be the first supermodel, although that title has been applied to others, including Margaux Hemingway, Audrey Munson, Lisa Fonssagrives, Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Cheryl Tiegs and Janice Dickinson. Model Cindy Crawford, who rose to prominence the year Carangi died, was referred to as "Baby Gia" because of her resemblance to Carangi. Crawford later recalled, "My agents took me to all the photographers who liked Gia: Albert Watson, Francesco Scavullo, Bill King. Everyone loved her look so much that they gladly saw me." Additionally, Carangi, whose sexual orientation has been reported as either lesbian or bisexual, is considered a lesbian icon and is said to have "epitomized lesbian chic more than a decade before the term was coined." Argentine model Mica Argañaraz has often been compared to Carangi, whom she considers a beauty icon.
Carangi's life has been the subject of several works. A biography of Carangi by Stephen Fried titled Thing of Beauty—taken from the first line of John Keats' famous poem Endymion—was published in 1993. Gia, a biographical television film starring Angelina Jolie, debuted on HBO in 1998. Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance, among other accolades. A documentary titled The Self-Destruction of Gia, released in 2003, showcased footage of Carangi, contemporary interviews with Carangi's family and former colleagues, including Sandy Linter, and footage of actress-screenwriter Zoë Lund, herself a heroin addict, who had been commissioned to write a screenplay based upon Carangi's life at the time of her own death of drug-related causes in 1999.
A biography of Carangi by Sacha Lanvin Baumann titled Born This Way: Friends, Colleagues, and Coworkers Recall Gia Carangi, the Supermodel Who Defined an Era, was published in 2015. Sondra Scerca, who brought Carangi to Wilhelmina, is currently writing a memoir titled GIA, WILLY and ME, which will be released in 2022. Carangi is commemorated on the AIDS Memorial Quilt on block #5949. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for luxury fashion houses such as Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "After Carangi became addicted to heroin, her career rapidly declined, which ultimately led her to quit from a modeling career in 1983. In 1986, at age 26, she died of AIDS-related complications. Believed to have contracted it from a contaminated needle, she became one of the first famous women to die of the virus. Her life was dramatized in the 1998 HBO television film Gia, directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Carangi was born on January 29, 1960, in Philadelphia, the third and youngest child of Joseph Carangi, a restaurant owner, and Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), a homemaker. She had two older brothers. Her father was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry. Joseph and Kathleen had an unstable, violent marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to abandon the family when Carangi was eleven years old. Gia was described as \"needy and manipulative\" by relatives who recalled her as spoiled and shy as a child and a \"mommy's girl\" who did not receive the motherly attention that she desired. Those who knew Gia blamed her \"fractured childhood\" for the instability and drug dependence that plagued her adult life.",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In her adolescent years, Carangi found the attention she sought from other teenage girls, befriending them by sending flowers. While attending Abraham Lincoln High School, Carangi bonded with \"the Bowie kids\", a group of obsessive David Bowie fans who emulated Bowie's \"defiantly weird, high-glam\" style. Carangi was drawn to Bowie for his fashion preferences and his ambiguous gender play and outspoken bisexuality. One of Carangi's friends later spoke of her \"tomboy persona\", describing her relaxed openness about her sexuality as reminiscent of the character Cay in the 1985 film Desert Hearts. Carangi and her \"bi-try Bowie-mad\" friends hung out in Philadelphia's gay clubs and bars. Though she's associated with the lesbian community, she did not want to take up \"the accepted lesbian style.\"",
"title": "Early life and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "After being featured in Philadelphia newspaper ads and being discovered by Sondra Scerca in Maurice Tannenbaum's hair salon, Carangi moved to New York City at the age of 17, where she signed with Wilhelmina Models. Her first major shoot, published in October 1978, was with top fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim, who had her pose nude behind a chain-link fence with makeup artist Sandy Linter. Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and pursued her, though the relationship never became stable. By the end of 1978, her first year in New York, Carangi was already a well-established model. Of her quick rise to prominence, described by Vogue as \"meteoric\", Carangi later said, \"I started working with very good people, I mean all the time, very fast. I didn't build into a model, I just sort of became one.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Carangi was a favorite model of various fashion photographers, including Von Wangenheim, Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon, and Denis Piel. Well-integrated within the fashion world, she had the selection of several photographers, most notably Scavullo. Carangi was featured on the cover of many fashion magazines, including the April 1979 issue of British Vogue, the April 1979 and August 1980 issues of Vogue Paris, the August 1980 issue of American Vogue, the February 1981 issue of Vogue Italia, and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982. During these years, she also appeared in various advertising campaigns for high-profile fashion houses, including Armani, André Laug, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. At the height of her career, Carangi was most known in modeling circles by only her first name. During this time, she also appeared in the Blondie music video for \"Atomic\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A regular at Studio 54 and the Mudd Club, Carangi usually used cocaine in clubs. After her agent, mentor, and friend Wilhelmina Cooper, died of lung cancer in March 1980, a devastated Carangi began using drugs and developed an addiction to heroin. Carangi's addiction soon began to affect her work; she had violent temper tantrums, walked out of photo shoots to buy drugs, and fell asleep in front of the camera. Scavullo recalled a fashion shoot with Carangi in the Caribbean when \"she was crying, she couldn't find her drugs. I literally had to lay her down on her bed until she fell asleep.\" During one of her final location shoots for American Vogue, Carangi had red bumps in the crooks of her elbows where she had injected heroin. Despite airbrushing, some of the photos, as published in the November 1980 issue, reportedly still showed visible needle marks.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In November 1980, Carangi left Wilhelmina Models and signed with Ford Models, but she was dropped within weeks. By then, her career was in a steep decline. Modeling offers soon ceased and her fashion industry friends, including Sandy Linter, refused to speak to her, fearing their association with her would harm their careers. In an attempt to quit using drugs, she moved back to Philadelphia with her mother and stepfather in February 1981. Carangi underwent a 21-day detox program, but her sobriety was short-lived. She was arrested in March 1981 after she drove into a fence in a suburban neighborhood. After a chase with police, she was taken into custody where it was later determined she was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. After her release, Carangi briefly signed with a new agency, Legends, and worked sporadically, mainly in Europe.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In late 1981, although still using drugs, Carangi was determined to make a comeback in the fashion industry and signed with Elite Model Management. While some clients refused to work with her, others were willing to hire her because of her past status as a top model. Scavullo photographed her for the April 1982 cover of Cosmopolitan, her last cover appearance for an American magazine. Sean Byrnes, Scavullo's long-time assistant, later said, \"What she was doing to herself finally became apparent in her pictures. ... I could see the change in her beauty. There was an emptiness in her eyes.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Carangi then mainly worked with photographer Albert Watson and found work modeling for department stores and catalogs. She appeared in an advertising campaign for Versace, shot by Richard Avedon. He hired her for the fashion house's next campaign, but during the photo shoot, in late 1982, Carangi became uncomfortable and left before any usable shots of her were taken. Around this time, Carangi enrolled in an outpatient methadone program but soon began using heroin again. By the end of 1982, she had only a few clients that were willing to hire her. Carangi's final photo shoot was for German mail-order clothing company Otto GmbH in Tunisia; she was sent home during the shoot for using heroin. She left New York for the final time in early 1983.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Carangi spent most of her modeling earnings on drugs, and spent the final three years of her life with various lovers, friends, and family members in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. She was admitted to an intense drug treatment program at Eagleville Hospital in December 1984. After treatment, she got a job in a clothing store, which she eventually quit. She later found employment as a checkout clerk and then worked in the cafeteria of a nursing home. By late 1985, she had begun using drugs again and was engaging in sex work in Atlantic City.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In December 1985, Carangi was admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Warminster, Pennsylvania, with bilateral pneumonia. A few days later, she was diagnosed with AIDS-related complex. In the fall of 1986, Carangi was hospitalized again, after being found on the street badly beaten and raped. On October 18, she was admitted to Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia. Carangi died at the Hahnemann Hospital of AIDS-related complications one month later, on November 18, 1986, at the age of 26, becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease. Her funeral was held on November 23 at a small funeral home in Philadelphia. No one from the fashion world attended. However, weeks later, Francesco Scavullo, Carangi's friend and confidant, sent a Mass card when he heard the news.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Carangi is often considered to be the first supermodel, although that title has been applied to others, including Margaux Hemingway, Audrey Munson, Lisa Fonssagrives, Dorian Leigh, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Cheryl Tiegs and Janice Dickinson. Model Cindy Crawford, who rose to prominence the year Carangi died, was referred to as \"Baby Gia\" because of her resemblance to Carangi. Crawford later recalled, \"My agents took me to all the photographers who liked Gia: Albert Watson, Francesco Scavullo, Bill King. Everyone loved her look so much that they gladly saw me.\" Additionally, Carangi, whose sexual orientation has been reported as either lesbian or bisexual, is considered a lesbian icon and is said to have \"epitomized lesbian chic more than a decade before the term was coined.\" Argentine model Mica Argañaraz has often been compared to Carangi, whom she considers a beauty icon.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Carangi's life has been the subject of several works. A biography of Carangi by Stephen Fried titled Thing of Beauty—taken from the first line of John Keats' famous poem Endymion—was published in 1993. Gia, a biographical television film starring Angelina Jolie, debuted on HBO in 1998. Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance, among other accolades. A documentary titled The Self-Destruction of Gia, released in 2003, showcased footage of Carangi, contemporary interviews with Carangi's family and former colleagues, including Sandy Linter, and footage of actress-screenwriter Zoë Lund, herself a heroin addict, who had been commissioned to write a screenplay based upon Carangi's life at the time of her own death of drug-related causes in 1999.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "A biography of Carangi by Sacha Lanvin Baumann titled Born This Way: Friends, Colleagues, and Coworkers Recall Gia Carangi, the Supermodel Who Defined an Era, was published in 2015. Sondra Scerca, who brought Carangi to Wilhelmina, is currently writing a memoir titled GIA, WILLY and ME, which will be released in 2022. Carangi is commemorated on the AIDS Memorial Quilt on block #5949.",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| Gia Marie Carangi was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for luxury fashion houses such as Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent. After Carangi became addicted to heroin, her career rapidly declined, which ultimately led her to quit from a modeling career in 1983. In 1986, at age 26, she died of AIDS-related complications. Believed to have contracted it from a contaminated needle, she became one of the first famous women to die of the virus. Her life was dramatized in the 1998 HBO television film Gia, directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi. | 2001-10-22T04:15:44Z | 2023-12-21T23:50:21Z | [
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Fashionmodel",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:One source",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Spaced ndash",
"Template:Find a Grave",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Infobox model",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Citation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gia_Carangi |
12,750 | Giacomo Puccini | Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.
His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas.
Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca, Italy, in 1858. He was the sixth of nine children of Michele Puccini (1813–1864) and Albina Magi (1830–1884). The Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccini's great-great-grandfather – also named Giacomo (1712–1781). This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca. He was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonio's son Domenico, and Domenico's son Michele (father of the subject of this article). Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some took additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for a time under Giovanni Paisiello. Each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera. Puccini's father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem.
With the Puccini family having occupied the position of maestro di cappella for 124 years (1740–1864) by the time of Michele's death, it was anticipated that Michele's son Giacomo would occupy that position as well when he was old enough. However, when Michele Puccini died in 1864, his son Giacomo was only six years old, and thus not capable of taking over his father's job. As a child, he nevertheless participated in the musical life of the Cattedrale di San Martino, as a member of the boys' choir and later as a substitute organist.
Puccini was given a general education at the seminary of San Michele in Lucca, and then at the seminary of the cathedral. One of Puccini's uncles, Fortunato Magi, supervised his musical education. Puccini got a diploma from the Pacini School of Music in Lucca in 1880, having studied there with his uncle Fortunato, and later with Carlo Angeloni, who had also instructed Alfredo Catalani. A grant from Queen Margherita, and assistance from another uncle, Nicholas Cerù, provided the funds necessary for Puccini to continue his studies at the Milan Conservatory, where he studied composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Antonio Bazzini. Puccini studied at the conservatory for three years, sharing a room with Pietro Mascagni. In 1880, at the age of 21, Puccini composed his Mass, which marks the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca.
Puccini wrote an orchestral piece called the Capriccio sinfonico as a thesis composition for the Milan Conservatory. Puccini's teachers Ponchielli and Bazzini were impressed by the work, and it was performed at a student concert at the conservatory on 14 July 1883, conducted by Franco Faccio. Puccini's work was favourably reviewed in the Milanese publication La Perseveranza, and thus Puccini began to build a reputation as a young composer of promise in Milanese music circles.
After the premiere of the Capriccio sinfonico, Ponchielli and Puccini discussed the possibility that Puccini's next work might be an opera. Ponchielli invited Puccini to stay at his villa, where Puccini was introduced to another young man named Ferdinando Fontana. Puccini and Fontana agreed to collaborate on an opera, for which Fontana would provide the libretto. The work, Le Villi, was entered into a competition sponsored by the Sozogno music publishing company in 1883 (the same competition in which Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana was the winner in 1889). Although it did not win, Le Villi was later staged at the Teatro Dal Verme, premiering on 31 May 1884. G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers assisted with the premier by printing the libretto without charge. Fellow students from the Milan Conservatory formed a large part of the orchestra. The performance was enough of a success that Casa Ricordi purchased the opera. Revised into a two-act version with an intermezzo between the acts, Le Villi was performed at La Scala in Milan, on 24 January 1885. However, Ricordi did not publish the score until 1887, hindering further performance of the work.
Giulio Ricordi, head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, was sufficiently impressed with Le Villi and its young composer that he commissioned a second opera, which would result in Edgar. Work was begun in 1884 when Fontana began working out the scenario for the libretto. Puccini finished primary composition in 1887 and orchestration in 1888. Edgar premiered at La Scala on 21 April 1889 to a lukewarm response. The work was withdrawn for revisions after its third performance. In a Milanese newspaper, Giulio Ricordi published a defence of Puccini's skill as a composer, while criticizing Fontana's libretto. A revised version met with success at the Teatro del Giglio in Puccini's native Lucca on 5 September 1891. In 1892, further revisions reduced the length of the opera from four acts to three, in a version that was well received in Ferrara and was performed in Turin and in Spain. Puccini made further revisions in 1901 and 1905, but the work never achieved popularity. Without the personal support of Ricordi, Edgar might have cost Puccini his career. Puccini had eloped with his former piano student, the married Elvira Gemignani, and Ricordi's associates were willing to turn a blind eye to his lifestyle as long as he was successful. When Edgar failed, they suggested to Ricordi that he should drop Puccini, but Ricordi said that he would stay with him and continued his allowance until his next opera.
On commencing his next opera, Manon Lescaut, Puccini announced that he would write his own libretto so that "no fool of a librettist" could spoil it. Ricordi persuaded him to accept Ruggero Leoncavallo as his librettist, but Puccini soon asked Ricordi to remove him from the project. Four other librettists were then involved with the opera, as Puccini constantly changed his mind about the structure of the piece. It was almost by accident that the final two, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, came together to complete the opera.
Manon Lescaut premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 2 February 1893. By coincidence, Puccini's first enduringly popular opera appeared within a week of the premiere of Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, which was first performed on 9 February 1893. In anticipation of the premiere, La Stampa wrote that Puccini was a young man concerning whom "great hopes" had a real basis ("un giovane che è tra i pochi sul quale le larghe speranze non siano benigne illusioni"). Because of the failure of Edgar, however, a failure of Manon Lescaut could have jeopardized Puccini's future as a composer. Although Giulio Ricordi, head of Casa Ricordi, was supportive of Puccini while Manon Lescaut was still in development, the Casa Ricordi board of directors was considering cutting off Puccini's financial support. In any event, "Manon Lescaut was Puccini's first and only uncontested triumph, acclaimed by critics and public alike." After the London premiere in 1894, George Bernard Shaw pronounced: "Puccini looks to me more like the heir of Verdi than any of his rivals."
Manon Lescaut was a great success and established Puccini's reputation as the most promising rising composer of his generation, and the most likely "successor" to Verdi as the leading exponent of the Italian operatic tradition. Illica and Giacosa returned as librettists for Puccini for his next three operas, probably his greatest successes: La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly.
Puccini's next work after Manon Lescaut was La bohème, a four-act opera based on the 1851 book by Henri Murger, La Vie de Bohème. La bohème premiered in Turin in 1896, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Within a few years, it had been performed in many of the leading opera houses of Europe, including in Britain, as well as in the United States. It was a popular success and remains one of the most frequently performed operas ever written.
The libretto of the opera, freely adapted from Murger's episodic novel, combines comic elements of the impoverished life of the young protagonists with tragic aspects, such as the death of the young seamstress Mimí. Puccini's own life as a young man in Milan served as a source of inspiration for elements of the libretto. During his years as a conservatory student and in the years before Manon Lescaut, he experienced poverty similar to that of the bohemians in La bohème, including a chronic shortage of necessities like food, clothing and money to pay rent. Although Puccini was granted a small monthly stipend by the Congregation of Charity in Rome (Congregazione di caritá), he frequently had to pawn his possessions to cover basic expenses. Early biographers such as Wakeling Dry and Eugenio Checchi, who were Puccini's contemporaries, drew express parallels between these incidents and particular events in the opera. Checchi cited a diary kept by Puccini while he was still a student, which recorded an occasion in which, as in Act 4 of the opera, a single herring served as a dinner for four people. Puccini himself commented: "I lived that Bohème, when there wasn't yet any thought stirring in my brain of seeking the theme of an opera". ("Quella Bohème io l'ho vissuta, quando ancora non mi mulinava nel cervello l'idea di cercarvi l'argomento per un'opera in musica.")
Puccini's composition of La bohème was the subject of a public dispute between Puccini and fellow composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo. In early 1893, the two composers discovered that they were both engaged in writing operas based on Murger's work. Leoncavallo had started his work first, and he and his music publisher claimed to have "priority" on the subject (although Murger's work was in the public domain). Puccini responded that he started his own work without having any knowledge of Leoncavallo's project, and wrote: "Let him compose. I will compose. The audience will decide." Puccini's opera premiered a year before that of Leoncavallo, and has been a perennial audience favourite, while Leoncavallo's version quickly faded into obscurity.
Puccini's next work after La bohème was Tosca (1900), arguably Puccini's first foray into verismo, the realistic depiction of many facets of real life including violence. Puccini had been considering an opera on this theme since he saw the play Tosca by Victorien Sardou in 1889, when 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."
The music of Tosca employs musical signatures for particular characters and emotions, which have been compared to Wagnerian leitmotivs, and some contemporaries saw Puccini as thereby adopting a new musical style influenced by Richard Wagner. Others viewed the work differently. Rejecting the allegation that Tosca displayed Wagnerian influences, a critic reporting on the Torino premiere of 20 February 1900 wrote: "I don't think you could find a more Puccinian score than this."
On 25 February 1903, Puccini was seriously injured in a car crash during a nighttime journey on the road from Lucca to Torre del Lago. The car was driven by Puccini's chauffeur and was carrying Puccini, his future wife Elvira, and their son Antonio. It went off the road, fell several metres, and flipped over. Elvira and Antonio were flung from the car and escaped with minor injuries. Puccini's chauffeur, also thrown from the car, suffered a serious fracture of his femur. Puccini was pinned under the vehicle, with a severe fracture of his right leg and with a portion of the car pressing down on his chest. A doctor living near the scene of the crash, together with another person who came to investigate, saved Puccini from the wreckage. The injury did not heal well, and Puccini remained under treatment for months. During the medical examinations that he underwent it was also found that he was suffering from a form of diabetes. The accident and its consequences slowed Puccini's completion of his next work, Madama Butterfly.
The original version of Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala on 17 February 1904 with Rosina Storchio in the title role. It was initially greeted with great hostility (probably largely owing to inadequate rehearsals). When Storchio's kimono accidentally lifted during the performance, some in the audience started shouting: "The butterfly is pregnant" and "There is the little Toscanini". The latter comment referred to her well publicised affair with Arturo Toscanini. This version was in two acts; after its disastrous premiere, Puccini withdrew the opera, revising it for what was virtually a second premiere at Brescia in May 1904 and performances in Buenos Aires, London, the US and Paris. In 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the "standard version". Today, the standard version of the opera is the version most often performed around the world. However, the original 1904 version is occasionally performed as well, and has been recorded.
After 1904, Puccini's compositions were less frequent. In 1906 Giacosa died and, in 1909, there was a scandal after Puccini's wife, Elvira, falsely accused their maid Doria Manfredi of having an affair with Puccini. Finally, in 1912, the death of Giulio Ricordi, Puccini's editor and publisher, ended a productive period of his career.
Puccini completed La fanciulla del West, based on a play by David Belasco, in 1910. This was commissioned by, and first performed at, the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Toscanini, then the musical director of the Met, conducted. This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met. The premiere was a great success. However, the compositional style employed in the opera, with few stand-alone arias, was criticized at the time. Some contemporaries also criticized the opera for failing to achieve an "American" tone. However, the opera has been acclaimed for its incorporation of advanced harmonic language and rhythmic complexity into the Italian operatic form. In addition, one aria from the opera, Ch'ella mi creda, has become a staple of compilation albums by operatic tenors. It is said that during World War I, Italian soldiers sang this aria to maintain their spirits. The 2008 Italian film, Puccini e la fanciulla (Puccini and the Girl), is based on the period of his life when he was composing the opera.
Puccini completed the score of La rondine, to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami in 1916 after two years of work, and it was premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 27 March 1917. The opera had been originally commissioned by Vienna's Carltheater; however, the outbreak of World War I prevented the premiere from being given there. Moreover, the firm of Ricordi had declined the score of the opera – Giulio Ricordi's son Tito was then in charge and he described the opera as "bad Lehár". It was taken up by their rival, Lorenzo Sonzogno, who arranged the first performance in neutral Monaco. The composer continued to work at revising this, the least known of his mature operas, until his death.
La rondine was initially conceived as an operetta, but Puccini eliminated spoken dialogue, rendering the work closer in form to an opera. A modern reviewer described La rondine as "a continuous fabric of lilting waltz tunes, catchy pop-styled melodies, and nostalgic love music," while characterizing the plot as recycling characters and incidents from works like 'La traviata' and 'Die Fledermaus'.
In 1918, Il trittico premiered in New York. This work is composed of three one-act operas, each concerning the concealment of a death: a horrific episode (Il tabarro) in the style of the Parisian Grand Guignol, a sentimental tragedy (Suor Angelica), and a comedy (Gianni Schicchi).
Turandot, Puccini's final opera, was left unfinished at the composer's death in November 1924, and the last two scenes were completed by Franco Alfano based on the composer's sketches. The libretto for Turandot was based on a play of the same name by Carlo Gozzi. The music of the opera is heavily inflected with pentatonic motifs, intended to produce an Asiatic flavour to the music. Turandot contains a number of memorable stand-alone arias, among them Nessun dorma.
The libretto of Edgar was a significant factor in the failure of that opera. Thereafter, especially throughout his middle and late career, Puccini was extremely selective, and at times indecisive, in his choice of subject matter for new works. Puccini was deeply involved in the process of writing the libretto itself, requiring many iterative revisions of his libretti in terms of both structure and text. Puccini's relationships with his librettists were at times very difficult. His publisher, Casa Ricordi, was frequently required to mediate disputes and impasses between them.
Puccini explored many possible subjects that he ultimately rejected only after a significant amount of effort—such as the creation of a libretto—had been put into them. Among the subjects that Puccini seriously considered, but abandoned, were: Cristoforo Sly, Anima Allegra (based on the play El genio alegre by Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero), Two Little Wooden Shoes (I due zoccoletti) (a short story by Maria Louise Ramé, a.k.a. Ouida), the life of Marie Antoinette, Margherita da Cortona, and Conchita (based on the novel La Femme et le pantin – The Woman and the Puppet, by Pierre Loüys). Some of these abandoned subjects were taken up and turned into operas by other composers. For example, Franco Vittadini made an opera of Anima Allegra, Mascagni's opera Lodoletta is derived from Two Little Wooden Shoes, and Riccardo Zandonai eventually wrote Conchita.
From 1891 onwards, Puccini spent most of his time, when not travelling on business, at Torre del Lago, a small community about fifteen miles from Lucca situated between the Ligurian Sea and Lake Massaciuccoli, just south of Viareggio. Torre del Lago was the primary place for Puccini to indulge his love of hunting. "I love hunting, I love cars: and for these things, in the isolation of Torre del Lago, I keep the faith." ("Amo la caccia, adoro l'automobile: e a questo e a quella nelle solitudini di Torre del Lago serbo intera la mia fede.")
By 1900, he had acquired land and built a villa on the lake, now known as the "Villa Puccini". He lived there until 1921, when pollution produced by peat works on the lake forced him to move to Viareggio, a few kilometres north. After his death, a mausoleum was created in the Villa Puccini and the composer is buried there in the chapel, along with his wife and son who died later.
The Villa Museo was owned by his granddaughter, Simonetta Puccini, until her death, and is open to the public. An annual Festival Puccini is held at Torre del Lago.
In the autumn of 1884, Puccini began a relationship with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani (née Bonturi, 1860–1930) in Lucca. Elvira's husband, Narciso Gemignani, was an "unrepentant womanizer", and Elvira's marriage was not a happy one. Elvira became pregnant by Puccini, and their son, Antonio (1886–1946), was born in Monza. Elvira left Lucca when the pregnancy began to show, and gave birth elsewhere to avoid gossip. Elvira, Antonio and Elvira's daughter by Narciso, Fosca (1880–1968), began to live with Puccini shortly afterwards. Narciso was killed by the husband of a woman that Narciso had an affair with, dying on 26 February 1903, one day after Puccini's car accident. Only then, in early 1904, were Puccini and Elvira able to marry, and to legitimize Antonio.
The marriage between Puccini and Elvira was also troubled by infidelity, as Puccini had frequent affairs himself, including with well-known singers such as Maria Jeritza, Emmy Destinn, Cesira Ferrani, and Hariclea Darclée. In 1906, while attending the opening of Madama Butterfly in Budapest, Puccini fell in love with Blanke Lendvai, the sister of Hungarian composer Ervin Lendvai (his friend and protégé for many years). Blanke and Puccini exchanged love letters until 1911, when he started an affair with German aristocrat Baroness Josephine von Stangel, which lasted for six years.
In 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused Doria Manfredi, a maid working for the Puccini family, of having an affair with the composer. After the accusation, Manfredi committed suicide. However, an autopsy determined that Manfredi had died a virgin, refuting the allegations made against her. Elvira Puccini was prosecuted for slander and was sentenced to more than five months in prison, although a payment to the Manfredi family by Puccini spared Elvira from having to serve the sentence. Some music critics and interpreters of Puccini's work have speculated that the psychological effects of this incident on Puccini interfered with his ability to complete compositions later in his career, and also influenced the development of his characters such as Liù (from Turandot), a slave girl who dies tragically by suicide.
In 2007, documents were found in the possession of Nadia Manfredi, a descendant of the Manfredi family, which indicated that Puccini was actually having an affair with Giulia Manfredi, Doria's cousin. Upon the discovery of these documents, the press began to allege that Puccini had fathered Giulia Manfredi's son Antonio, which would make Nadia a granddaughter of Puccini.
Unlike Wagner and Verdi, Puccini was not active in politics. Puccini biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz wrote: "Throughout this entire period [of World War I and its immediate aftermath], Puccini's interest in politics was close to zero, as it had been all his life, so far as one can judge. He seemed almost indifferent to everything from mayoral elections in Viareggio to cabinet appointments in Rome." Another biographer speculates that Puccini may have been—if he had a political philosophy—a monarchist.
Puccini's indifference to politics caused him problems during World War I. Puccini's long-standing and close friendship with Toscanini was interrupted for nearly a decade because of an argument in the summer of 1914 (in the opening months of the war) during which Puccini remarked that Italy could benefit from German organization. Puccini was also criticized during the war for his work on La rondine under a 1913 commission contract with an Austrian theater after Italy and Austria-Hungary became opponents in the war in 1915 (although the contract was ultimately cancelled). Puccini did not participate in the public war effort, but privately rendered assistance to individuals and families affected by the war.
In 1919, Puccini was commissioned to write music to an ode by Fausto Salvatori [it] honouring Italy's victories in World War I. The work, Inno a Roma (Hymn to Rome), was to premiere on 21 April 1919, during a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Rome. The premiere was delayed to 1 June 1919, when it was played at the opening of a gymnastics competition. Although not written for the fascists, Inno a Roma was widely played during Fascist street parades and public ceremonies.
Puccini had some contact with Benito Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party in the year preceding his death. In 1923 the Fascist Party in Viareggio made Puccini an honorary member and sent him a membership card. However, evidence that Puccini was actually a member of the Fascist Party is ambiguous. The Italian Senate has traditionally included a small number of members appointed in recognition of their cultural contributions to the nation. Puccini hoped to attain this honour, which had been granted to Verdi, and undertook to use his connections to bring about the appointment. While honorary senators could vote, there is no indication that Puccini sought the appointment for this purpose. Puccini also wished to establish a national theatre in Viareggio, a project which would require government support. Puccini met with Mussolini twice, in November and December 1923, seeking support for the theatre project. While the theatre project never came to fruition, Puccini was named Senator (senatore a vita) a few months before his death.
At the time Puccini met with Mussolini, Mussolini had been prime minister for approximately a year, but his party had not yet taken full control of the Italian Parliament through the violence and irregularities of the 1924 general election. Puccini was no longer alive when Mussolini announced the end of representative government, and the beginning of a fascist dictatorship, in his speech before the Chamber of Deputies on 3 January 1925.
A chain smoker of Toscano cigars and cigarettes, Puccini began to complain of chronic sore throats towards the end of 1923. A diagnosis of throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment, which was being offered in Brussels. Puccini and his wife never understood how serious the cancer was, as the news was revealed only to his son.
Puccini died in Brussels on 29 November 1924, aged 65, from complications after the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery. News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème. The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin's Funeral March for the stunned audience. He was buried in Milan, in Toscanini's family tomb, but that was always intended as a temporary measure. In 1926 his son arranged for the transfer of his father's remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago.
Most broadly, Puccini wrote in the style of the late-Romantic period of classical music (see Romantic music). Music historians also refer to Puccini as a component of the giovane scuola ("young school"), a cohort of composers who came onto the Italian operatic scene as Verdi's career came to an end, such as Mascagni, Leoncavallo, and others mentioned below. Puccini is also frequently referred to as a verismo composer.
Puccini's career extended from the end of the Romantic period into the modern period. He consciously attempted to 'update' his style to keep pace with new trends but did not attempt to fully adopt a modern style. One critic, Andrew Davis, has stated: "Loyalty toward nineteenth-century Italian-opera traditions and, more generally, toward the musical language of his Tuscan heritage is one of the clearest features of Puccini's music." Davis also identifies, however, a "stylistic pluralism" in Puccini's work, including influences from "the German symphonic tradition, French harmonic and orchestrational traditions, and, to a lesser extent, aspects of Wagnerian chromaticism". In addition, Puccini frequently sought to introduce music or sounds from outside sources into his operas, such as his use of Chinese folk melodies in Turandot.
All of Puccini's operas have at least one set piece for a lead singer that is separate enough from its surroundings that it can be treated as a distinct aria, and most of his works have several of these. At the same time, Puccini's work continued the trend away from operas constructed from a series of set pieces, and instead used a more "through-composed" or integrated construction. His works are strongly melodic. In orchestration, Puccini frequently doubled the vocal line in unison or at octaves in order to emphasize and strengthen the melodic line.
Verismo is a style of Italian opera that began in 1890 with the first performance of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, peaked in the early 1900s, and lingered into the 1920s. The style is distinguished by realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – depictions of everyday life, especially the life of the contemporary lower classes. Verismo does not usually employ the historical or mythical subjects associated with Romanticism. Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Andrea Chénier are uniformly considered to be verismo operas. Puccini's career as a composer is almost entirely coincident in time with the verismo movement. Only his Le Villi and Edgar preceded Cavalleria Rusticana. Some view Puccini as essentially a verismo composer, while others, although acknowledging that he took part in the movement to some degree, do not view him as a "pure" verismo composer. In addition, critics differ as to the degree to which particular operas by Puccini are, or are not, properly described as verismo operas. Two of Puccini's operas, Tosca and Il Tabarro, are universally considered to be verismo operas. Puccini scholar Mosco Carner places only two of Puccini's operas other than Tosca and Il tabarro within the verismo school: Madama Butterfly, and La Fanciulla del West. Because only three verismo works that were not composed by Puccini continue to appear regularly on stage (the aforementioned Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Andrea Chénier), Puccini's contribution has had lasting significance to the genre.
Both during his lifetime and in posterity, Puccini's success outstripped other Italian opera composers of his time, and he has been matched in this regard by only a handful of composers in the entire history of opera. Between 2004 and 2018, Puccini ranked third (behind Verdi and Mozart) in the number of performances of his operas worldwide, as surveyed by Operabase. Three of his operas (La bohème, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly) were amongst the 10 most frequently performed operas worldwide.
Gustav Kobbé, the original author of The Complete Opera Book, a standard reference work on opera, wrote in the 1919 edition: "Puccini is considered the most important figure in operatic Italy today, the successor of Verdi, if there is any." Other contemporaries shared this view. Italian opera composers of the generation with whom Puccini was compared included Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919), Umberto Giordano (1867–1948), Francesco Cilea (1866–1950), Baron Pierantonio Tasca (1858–1934), Gaetano Coronaro (1852–1908), and Alberto Franchetti (1860–1942). Only three composers, and three works, by Italian contemporaries of Puccini appear on the Operabase list of most-performed works: Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, and Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano. Kobbé contrasted Puccini's ability to achieve "sustained" success with the failure of Mascagni and Leoncavallo to produce more than merely "one sensationally successful short opera". By the time of Puccini's death in 1924, he had earned $4 million from his works.
Although the popular success of Puccini's work is undeniable, and his mastery of the craft of composition has been consistently recognized, opinion among critics as to the artistic value of his work has always been divided. Grove Music Online described Puccini's strengths as a composer as follows:
Puccini succeeded in mastering the orchestra as no other Italian had done before him, creating new forms by manipulating structures inherited from the great Italian tradition, loading them with bold harmonic progressions which had little or nothing to do with what was happening then in Italy, though they were in step with the work of French, Austrian and German colleagues.
In his work on Puccini, Julian Budden describes Puccini as a gifted and original composer, noting the innovation hidden in the popularity of works such as "Che gelida manina". He describes the aria in musical terms (the signature embedded in the harmony for example), and points out that its structure was rather unheard of at the time, having three distinct musical paragraphs that nonetheless form a complete and coherent whole. This gumption in musical experimentation was the essence of Puccini's style, as evidenced in his diverse settings and use of the motif to express ideas beyond those in the story and text.
Puccini has, however, consistently been the target of condescension by some music critics who find his music insufficiently sophisticated or difficult. Some have explicitly condemned his efforts to please his audience, such as this contemporary Italian critic:
He willingly stops himself at minor genius, stroking the taste of the public ... obstinately shunning too-daring innovation ... A little heroism, but not taken to great heights; a little bit of veristic comedy, but brief; a lot of sentiment and romantic idyll: this is the recipe in which he finds happiness. ([E]gli si arresta volentieri alla piccola genialità, accarezzando il gusto del pubblico ... rifuggendo ostinato dalle troppo ardite innovazioni. ... Un po' di eroismo, ma non spinto a grandi altezze, un po' di commedia verista, ma breve; molto idillio sentimentale e romantico: ecco la ricetta in cui egli compiace.)
Budden attempted to explain the paradox of Puccini's immense popular success and technical mastery on the one hand, and the relative disregard in which his work has been held by academics:
No composer communicates more directly with an audience than Puccini. Indeed, for many years he has remained a victim of his own popularity; hence the resistance to his music in academic circles. Be it remembered, however, that Verdi's melodies were once dismissed as barrel-organ fodder. The truth is that music that appeals immediately to a public becomes subject to bad imitation, which can cast a murky shadow over the original. So long as counterfeit Puccinian melody dominated the world of sentimental operetta, many found it difficult to come to terms with the genuine article. Now that the current coin of light music has changed, the composer admired by Schoenberg, Ravel, and Stravinsky can be seen to emerge in his full stature.
Founded in 1996 in Lucca, the Centro di studi Giacomo Puccini embraces a wide range of approaches to the study of Puccini's work. In the US, the American Center for Puccini Studies specializes in the presentation of unusual performing editions of the composer's works and introduces neglected or unknown Puccini pieces. It was founded in 2004 by the singer and director Harry Dunstan.
Puccini wrote orchestral pieces, sacred music, chamber music, solo music for piano and organ and songs for voice and piano, most notably his 1880 mass Messa di gloria, his Preludio Sinfonico of 1882, and his 1890 string quartet movement Crisantemi. However, he is primarily known for his operas: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca, Italy, in 1858. He was the sixth of nine children of Michele Puccini (1813–1864) and Albina Magi (1830–1884). The Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccini's great-great-grandfather – also named Giacomo (1712–1781). This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca. He was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonio's son Domenico, and Domenico's son Michele (father of the subject of this article). Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some took additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for a time under Giovanni Paisiello. Each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera. Puccini's father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem.",
"title": "Family and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "With the Puccini family having occupied the position of maestro di cappella for 124 years (1740–1864) by the time of Michele's death, it was anticipated that Michele's son Giacomo would occupy that position as well when he was old enough. However, when Michele Puccini died in 1864, his son Giacomo was only six years old, and thus not capable of taking over his father's job. As a child, he nevertheless participated in the musical life of the Cattedrale di San Martino, as a member of the boys' choir and later as a substitute organist.",
"title": "Family and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Puccini was given a general education at the seminary of San Michele in Lucca, and then at the seminary of the cathedral. One of Puccini's uncles, Fortunato Magi, supervised his musical education. Puccini got a diploma from the Pacini School of Music in Lucca in 1880, having studied there with his uncle Fortunato, and later with Carlo Angeloni, who had also instructed Alfredo Catalani. A grant from Queen Margherita, and assistance from another uncle, Nicholas Cerù, provided the funds necessary for Puccini to continue his studies at the Milan Conservatory, where he studied composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Antonio Bazzini. Puccini studied at the conservatory for three years, sharing a room with Pietro Mascagni. In 1880, at the age of 21, Puccini composed his Mass, which marks the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca.",
"title": "Family and education"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Puccini wrote an orchestral piece called the Capriccio sinfonico as a thesis composition for the Milan Conservatory. Puccini's teachers Ponchielli and Bazzini were impressed by the work, and it was performed at a student concert at the conservatory on 14 July 1883, conducted by Franco Faccio. Puccini's work was favourably reviewed in the Milanese publication La Perseveranza, and thus Puccini began to build a reputation as a young composer of promise in Milanese music circles.",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "After the premiere of the Capriccio sinfonico, Ponchielli and Puccini discussed the possibility that Puccini's next work might be an opera. Ponchielli invited Puccini to stay at his villa, where Puccini was introduced to another young man named Ferdinando Fontana. Puccini and Fontana agreed to collaborate on an opera, for which Fontana would provide the libretto. The work, Le Villi, was entered into a competition sponsored by the Sozogno music publishing company in 1883 (the same competition in which Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana was the winner in 1889). Although it did not win, Le Villi was later staged at the Teatro Dal Verme, premiering on 31 May 1884. G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers assisted with the premier by printing the libretto without charge. Fellow students from the Milan Conservatory formed a large part of the orchestra. The performance was enough of a success that Casa Ricordi purchased the opera. Revised into a two-act version with an intermezzo between the acts, Le Villi was performed at La Scala in Milan, on 24 January 1885. However, Ricordi did not publish the score until 1887, hindering further performance of the work.",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Giulio Ricordi, head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, was sufficiently impressed with Le Villi and its young composer that he commissioned a second opera, which would result in Edgar. Work was begun in 1884 when Fontana began working out the scenario for the libretto. Puccini finished primary composition in 1887 and orchestration in 1888. Edgar premiered at La Scala on 21 April 1889 to a lukewarm response. The work was withdrawn for revisions after its third performance. In a Milanese newspaper, Giulio Ricordi published a defence of Puccini's skill as a composer, while criticizing Fontana's libretto. A revised version met with success at the Teatro del Giglio in Puccini's native Lucca on 5 September 1891. In 1892, further revisions reduced the length of the opera from four acts to three, in a version that was well received in Ferrara and was performed in Turin and in Spain. Puccini made further revisions in 1901 and 1905, but the work never achieved popularity. Without the personal support of Ricordi, Edgar might have cost Puccini his career. Puccini had eloped with his former piano student, the married Elvira Gemignani, and Ricordi's associates were willing to turn a blind eye to his lifestyle as long as he was successful. When Edgar failed, they suggested to Ricordi that he should drop Puccini, but Ricordi said that he would stay with him and continued his allowance until his next opera.",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "On commencing his next opera, Manon Lescaut, Puccini announced that he would write his own libretto so that \"no fool of a librettist\" could spoil it. Ricordi persuaded him to accept Ruggero Leoncavallo as his librettist, but Puccini soon asked Ricordi to remove him from the project. Four other librettists were then involved with the opera, as Puccini constantly changed his mind about the structure of the piece. It was almost by accident that the final two, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, came together to complete the opera.",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Manon Lescaut premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 2 February 1893. By coincidence, Puccini's first enduringly popular opera appeared within a week of the premiere of Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, which was first performed on 9 February 1893. In anticipation of the premiere, La Stampa wrote that Puccini was a young man concerning whom \"great hopes\" had a real basis (\"un giovane che è tra i pochi sul quale le larghe speranze non siano benigne illusioni\"). Because of the failure of Edgar, however, a failure of Manon Lescaut could have jeopardized Puccini's future as a composer. Although Giulio Ricordi, head of Casa Ricordi, was supportive of Puccini while Manon Lescaut was still in development, the Casa Ricordi board of directors was considering cutting off Puccini's financial support. In any event, \"Manon Lescaut was Puccini's first and only uncontested triumph, acclaimed by critics and public alike.\" After the London premiere in 1894, George Bernard Shaw pronounced: \"Puccini looks to me more like the heir of Verdi than any of his rivals.\"",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Manon Lescaut was a great success and established Puccini's reputation as the most promising rising composer of his generation, and the most likely \"successor\" to Verdi as the leading exponent of the Italian operatic tradition. Illica and Giacosa returned as librettists for Puccini for his next three operas, probably his greatest successes: La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly.",
"title": "Early career and first operas"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Puccini's next work after Manon Lescaut was La bohème, a four-act opera based on the 1851 book by Henri Murger, La Vie de Bohème. La bohème premiered in Turin in 1896, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Within a few years, it had been performed in many of the leading opera houses of Europe, including in Britain, as well as in the United States. It was a popular success and remains one of the most frequently performed operas ever written.",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The libretto of the opera, freely adapted from Murger's episodic novel, combines comic elements of the impoverished life of the young protagonists with tragic aspects, such as the death of the young seamstress Mimí. Puccini's own life as a young man in Milan served as a source of inspiration for elements of the libretto. During his years as a conservatory student and in the years before Manon Lescaut, he experienced poverty similar to that of the bohemians in La bohème, including a chronic shortage of necessities like food, clothing and money to pay rent. Although Puccini was granted a small monthly stipend by the Congregation of Charity in Rome (Congregazione di caritá), he frequently had to pawn his possessions to cover basic expenses. Early biographers such as Wakeling Dry and Eugenio Checchi, who were Puccini's contemporaries, drew express parallels between these incidents and particular events in the opera. Checchi cited a diary kept by Puccini while he was still a student, which recorded an occasion in which, as in Act 4 of the opera, a single herring served as a dinner for four people. Puccini himself commented: \"I lived that Bohème, when there wasn't yet any thought stirring in my brain of seeking the theme of an opera\". (\"Quella Bohème io l'ho vissuta, quando ancora non mi mulinava nel cervello l'idea di cercarvi l'argomento per un'opera in musica.\")",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Puccini's composition of La bohème was the subject of a public dispute between Puccini and fellow composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo. In early 1893, the two composers discovered that they were both engaged in writing operas based on Murger's work. Leoncavallo had started his work first, and he and his music publisher claimed to have \"priority\" on the subject (although Murger's work was in the public domain). Puccini responded that he started his own work without having any knowledge of Leoncavallo's project, and wrote: \"Let him compose. I will compose. The audience will decide.\" Puccini's opera premiered a year before that of Leoncavallo, and has been a perennial audience favourite, while Leoncavallo's version quickly faded into obscurity.",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Puccini's next work after La bohème was Tosca (1900), arguably Puccini's first foray into verismo, the realistic depiction of many facets of real life including violence. Puccini had been considering an opera on this theme since he saw the play Tosca by Victorien Sardou in 1889, when 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.\"",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The music of Tosca employs musical signatures for particular characters and emotions, which have been compared to Wagnerian leitmotivs, and some contemporaries saw Puccini as thereby adopting a new musical style influenced by Richard Wagner. Others viewed the work differently. Rejecting the allegation that Tosca displayed Wagnerian influences, a critic reporting on the Torino premiere of 20 February 1900 wrote: \"I don't think you could find a more Puccinian score than this.\"",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "On 25 February 1903, Puccini was seriously injured in a car crash during a nighttime journey on the road from Lucca to Torre del Lago. The car was driven by Puccini's chauffeur and was carrying Puccini, his future wife Elvira, and their son Antonio. It went off the road, fell several metres, and flipped over. Elvira and Antonio were flung from the car and escaped with minor injuries. Puccini's chauffeur, also thrown from the car, suffered a serious fracture of his femur. Puccini was pinned under the vehicle, with a severe fracture of his right leg and with a portion of the car pressing down on his chest. A doctor living near the scene of the crash, together with another person who came to investigate, saved Puccini from the wreckage. The injury did not heal well, and Puccini remained under treatment for months. During the medical examinations that he underwent it was also found that he was suffering from a form of diabetes. The accident and its consequences slowed Puccini's completion of his next work, Madama Butterfly.",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The original version of Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala on 17 February 1904 with Rosina Storchio in the title role. It was initially greeted with great hostility (probably largely owing to inadequate rehearsals). When Storchio's kimono accidentally lifted during the performance, some in the audience started shouting: \"The butterfly is pregnant\" and \"There is the little Toscanini\". The latter comment referred to her well publicised affair with Arturo Toscanini. This version was in two acts; after its disastrous premiere, Puccini withdrew the opera, revising it for what was virtually a second premiere at Brescia in May 1904 and performances in Buenos Aires, London, the US and Paris. In 1907, Puccini made his final revisions to the opera in a fifth version, which has become known as the \"standard version\". Today, the standard version of the opera is the version most often performed around the world. However, the original 1904 version is occasionally performed as well, and has been recorded.",
"title": "Middle career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "After 1904, Puccini's compositions were less frequent. In 1906 Giacosa died and, in 1909, there was a scandal after Puccini's wife, Elvira, falsely accused their maid Doria Manfredi of having an affair with Puccini. Finally, in 1912, the death of Giulio Ricordi, Puccini's editor and publisher, ended a productive period of his career.",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Puccini completed La fanciulla del West, based on a play by David Belasco, in 1910. This was commissioned by, and first performed at, the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 10 December 1910 with Met stars Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn for whom Puccini created the leading roles of Dick Johnson and Minnie. Toscanini, then the musical director of the Met, conducted. This was the first world premiere of an opera at the Met. The premiere was a great success. However, the compositional style employed in the opera, with few stand-alone arias, was criticized at the time. Some contemporaries also criticized the opera for failing to achieve an \"American\" tone. However, the opera has been acclaimed for its incorporation of advanced harmonic language and rhythmic complexity into the Italian operatic form. In addition, one aria from the opera, Ch'ella mi creda, has become a staple of compilation albums by operatic tenors. It is said that during World War I, Italian soldiers sang this aria to maintain their spirits. The 2008 Italian film, Puccini e la fanciulla (Puccini and the Girl), is based on the period of his life when he was composing the opera.",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Puccini completed the score of La rondine, to a libretto by Giuseppe Adami in 1916 after two years of work, and it was premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 27 March 1917. The opera had been originally commissioned by Vienna's Carltheater; however, the outbreak of World War I prevented the premiere from being given there. Moreover, the firm of Ricordi had declined the score of the opera – Giulio Ricordi's son Tito was then in charge and he described the opera as \"bad Lehár\". It was taken up by their rival, Lorenzo Sonzogno, who arranged the first performance in neutral Monaco. The composer continued to work at revising this, the least known of his mature operas, until his death.",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "La rondine was initially conceived as an operetta, but Puccini eliminated spoken dialogue, rendering the work closer in form to an opera. A modern reviewer described La rondine as \"a continuous fabric of lilting waltz tunes, catchy pop-styled melodies, and nostalgic love music,\" while characterizing the plot as recycling characters and incidents from works like 'La traviata' and 'Die Fledermaus'.",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In 1918, Il trittico premiered in New York. This work is composed of three one-act operas, each concerning the concealment of a death: a horrific episode (Il tabarro) in the style of the Parisian Grand Guignol, a sentimental tragedy (Suor Angelica), and a comedy (Gianni Schicchi).",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Turandot, Puccini's final opera, was left unfinished at the composer's death in November 1924, and the last two scenes were completed by Franco Alfano based on the composer's sketches. The libretto for Turandot was based on a play of the same name by Carlo Gozzi. The music of the opera is heavily inflected with pentatonic motifs, intended to produce an Asiatic flavour to the music. Turandot contains a number of memorable stand-alone arias, among them Nessun dorma.",
"title": "Later works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The libretto of Edgar was a significant factor in the failure of that opera. Thereafter, especially throughout his middle and late career, Puccini was extremely selective, and at times indecisive, in his choice of subject matter for new works. Puccini was deeply involved in the process of writing the libretto itself, requiring many iterative revisions of his libretti in terms of both structure and text. Puccini's relationships with his librettists were at times very difficult. His publisher, Casa Ricordi, was frequently required to mediate disputes and impasses between them.",
"title": "Librettists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Puccini explored many possible subjects that he ultimately rejected only after a significant amount of effort—such as the creation of a libretto—had been put into them. Among the subjects that Puccini seriously considered, but abandoned, were: Cristoforo Sly, Anima Allegra (based on the play El genio alegre by Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero), Two Little Wooden Shoes (I due zoccoletti) (a short story by Maria Louise Ramé, a.k.a. Ouida), the life of Marie Antoinette, Margherita da Cortona, and Conchita (based on the novel La Femme et le pantin – The Woman and the Puppet, by Pierre Loüys). Some of these abandoned subjects were taken up and turned into operas by other composers. For example, Franco Vittadini made an opera of Anima Allegra, Mascagni's opera Lodoletta is derived from Two Little Wooden Shoes, and Riccardo Zandonai eventually wrote Conchita.",
"title": "Librettists"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "From 1891 onwards, Puccini spent most of his time, when not travelling on business, at Torre del Lago, a small community about fifteen miles from Lucca situated between the Ligurian Sea and Lake Massaciuccoli, just south of Viareggio. Torre del Lago was the primary place for Puccini to indulge his love of hunting. \"I love hunting, I love cars: and for these things, in the isolation of Torre del Lago, I keep the faith.\" (\"Amo la caccia, adoro l'automobile: e a questo e a quella nelle solitudini di Torre del Lago serbo intera la mia fede.\")",
"title": "Torre del Lago"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "By 1900, he had acquired land and built a villa on the lake, now known as the \"Villa Puccini\". He lived there until 1921, when pollution produced by peat works on the lake forced him to move to Viareggio, a few kilometres north. After his death, a mausoleum was created in the Villa Puccini and the composer is buried there in the chapel, along with his wife and son who died later.",
"title": "Torre del Lago"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The Villa Museo was owned by his granddaughter, Simonetta Puccini, until her death, and is open to the public. An annual Festival Puccini is held at Torre del Lago.",
"title": "Torre del Lago"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In the autumn of 1884, Puccini began a relationship with a married woman named Elvira Gemignani (née Bonturi, 1860–1930) in Lucca. Elvira's husband, Narciso Gemignani, was an \"unrepentant womanizer\", and Elvira's marriage was not a happy one. Elvira became pregnant by Puccini, and their son, Antonio (1886–1946), was born in Monza. Elvira left Lucca when the pregnancy began to show, and gave birth elsewhere to avoid gossip. Elvira, Antonio and Elvira's daughter by Narciso, Fosca (1880–1968), began to live with Puccini shortly afterwards. Narciso was killed by the husband of a woman that Narciso had an affair with, dying on 26 February 1903, one day after Puccini's car accident. Only then, in early 1904, were Puccini and Elvira able to marry, and to legitimize Antonio.",
"title": "Marriage and affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The marriage between Puccini and Elvira was also troubled by infidelity, as Puccini had frequent affairs himself, including with well-known singers such as Maria Jeritza, Emmy Destinn, Cesira Ferrani, and Hariclea Darclée. In 1906, while attending the opening of Madama Butterfly in Budapest, Puccini fell in love with Blanke Lendvai, the sister of Hungarian composer Ervin Lendvai (his friend and protégé for many years). Blanke and Puccini exchanged love letters until 1911, when he started an affair with German aristocrat Baroness Josephine von Stangel, which lasted for six years.",
"title": "Marriage and affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In 1909, Puccini's wife Elvira publicly accused Doria Manfredi, a maid working for the Puccini family, of having an affair with the composer. After the accusation, Manfredi committed suicide. However, an autopsy determined that Manfredi had died a virgin, refuting the allegations made against her. Elvira Puccini was prosecuted for slander and was sentenced to more than five months in prison, although a payment to the Manfredi family by Puccini spared Elvira from having to serve the sentence. Some music critics and interpreters of Puccini's work have speculated that the psychological effects of this incident on Puccini interfered with his ability to complete compositions later in his career, and also influenced the development of his characters such as Liù (from Turandot), a slave girl who dies tragically by suicide.",
"title": "Marriage and affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 2007, documents were found in the possession of Nadia Manfredi, a descendant of the Manfredi family, which indicated that Puccini was actually having an affair with Giulia Manfredi, Doria's cousin. Upon the discovery of these documents, the press began to allege that Puccini had fathered Giulia Manfredi's son Antonio, which would make Nadia a granddaughter of Puccini.",
"title": "Marriage and affairs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Unlike Wagner and Verdi, Puccini was not active in politics. Puccini biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz wrote: \"Throughout this entire period [of World War I and its immediate aftermath], Puccini's interest in politics was close to zero, as it had been all his life, so far as one can judge. He seemed almost indifferent to everything from mayoral elections in Viareggio to cabinet appointments in Rome.\" Another biographer speculates that Puccini may have been—if he had a political philosophy—a monarchist.",
"title": "Politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Puccini's indifference to politics caused him problems during World War I. Puccini's long-standing and close friendship with Toscanini was interrupted for nearly a decade because of an argument in the summer of 1914 (in the opening months of the war) during which Puccini remarked that Italy could benefit from German organization. Puccini was also criticized during the war for his work on La rondine under a 1913 commission contract with an Austrian theater after Italy and Austria-Hungary became opponents in the war in 1915 (although the contract was ultimately cancelled). Puccini did not participate in the public war effort, but privately rendered assistance to individuals and families affected by the war.",
"title": "Politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "In 1919, Puccini was commissioned to write music to an ode by Fausto Salvatori [it] honouring Italy's victories in World War I. The work, Inno a Roma (Hymn to Rome), was to premiere on 21 April 1919, during a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Rome. The premiere was delayed to 1 June 1919, when it was played at the opening of a gymnastics competition. Although not written for the fascists, Inno a Roma was widely played during Fascist street parades and public ceremonies.",
"title": "Politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Puccini had some contact with Benito Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party in the year preceding his death. In 1923 the Fascist Party in Viareggio made Puccini an honorary member and sent him a membership card. However, evidence that Puccini was actually a member of the Fascist Party is ambiguous. The Italian Senate has traditionally included a small number of members appointed in recognition of their cultural contributions to the nation. Puccini hoped to attain this honour, which had been granted to Verdi, and undertook to use his connections to bring about the appointment. While honorary senators could vote, there is no indication that Puccini sought the appointment for this purpose. Puccini also wished to establish a national theatre in Viareggio, a project which would require government support. Puccini met with Mussolini twice, in November and December 1923, seeking support for the theatre project. While the theatre project never came to fruition, Puccini was named Senator (senatore a vita) a few months before his death.",
"title": "Politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "At the time Puccini met with Mussolini, Mussolini had been prime minister for approximately a year, but his party had not yet taken full control of the Italian Parliament through the violence and irregularities of the 1924 general election. Puccini was no longer alive when Mussolini announced the end of representative government, and the beginning of a fascist dictatorship, in his speech before the Chamber of Deputies on 3 January 1925.",
"title": "Politics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "A chain smoker of Toscano cigars and cigarettes, Puccini began to complain of chronic sore throats towards the end of 1923. A diagnosis of throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment, which was being offered in Brussels. Puccini and his wife never understood how serious the cancer was, as the news was revealed only to his son.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Puccini died in Brussels on 29 November 1924, aged 65, from complications after the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery. News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème. The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin's Funeral March for the stunned audience. He was buried in Milan, in Toscanini's family tomb, but that was always intended as a temporary measure. In 1926 his son arranged for the transfer of his father's remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago.",
"title": "Death"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Most broadly, Puccini wrote in the style of the late-Romantic period of classical music (see Romantic music). Music historians also refer to Puccini as a component of the giovane scuola (\"young school\"), a cohort of composers who came onto the Italian operatic scene as Verdi's career came to an end, such as Mascagni, Leoncavallo, and others mentioned below. Puccini is also frequently referred to as a verismo composer.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Puccini's career extended from the end of the Romantic period into the modern period. He consciously attempted to 'update' his style to keep pace with new trends but did not attempt to fully adopt a modern style. One critic, Andrew Davis, has stated: \"Loyalty toward nineteenth-century Italian-opera traditions and, more generally, toward the musical language of his Tuscan heritage is one of the clearest features of Puccini's music.\" Davis also identifies, however, a \"stylistic pluralism\" in Puccini's work, including influences from \"the German symphonic tradition, French harmonic and orchestrational traditions, and, to a lesser extent, aspects of Wagnerian chromaticism\". In addition, Puccini frequently sought to introduce music or sounds from outside sources into his operas, such as his use of Chinese folk melodies in Turandot.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "All of Puccini's operas have at least one set piece for a lead singer that is separate enough from its surroundings that it can be treated as a distinct aria, and most of his works have several of these. At the same time, Puccini's work continued the trend away from operas constructed from a series of set pieces, and instead used a more \"through-composed\" or integrated construction. His works are strongly melodic. In orchestration, Puccini frequently doubled the vocal line in unison or at octaves in order to emphasize and strengthen the melodic line.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Verismo is a style of Italian opera that began in 1890 with the first performance of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, peaked in the early 1900s, and lingered into the 1920s. The style is distinguished by realistic – sometimes sordid or violent – depictions of everyday life, especially the life of the contemporary lower classes. Verismo does not usually employ the historical or mythical subjects associated with Romanticism. Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Andrea Chénier are uniformly considered to be verismo operas. Puccini's career as a composer is almost entirely coincident in time with the verismo movement. Only his Le Villi and Edgar preceded Cavalleria Rusticana. Some view Puccini as essentially a verismo composer, while others, although acknowledging that he took part in the movement to some degree, do not view him as a \"pure\" verismo composer. In addition, critics differ as to the degree to which particular operas by Puccini are, or are not, properly described as verismo operas. Two of Puccini's operas, Tosca and Il Tabarro, are universally considered to be verismo operas. Puccini scholar Mosco Carner places only two of Puccini's operas other than Tosca and Il tabarro within the verismo school: Madama Butterfly, and La Fanciulla del West. Because only three verismo works that were not composed by Puccini continue to appear regularly on stage (the aforementioned Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Andrea Chénier), Puccini's contribution has had lasting significance to the genre.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Both during his lifetime and in posterity, Puccini's success outstripped other Italian opera composers of his time, and he has been matched in this regard by only a handful of composers in the entire history of opera. Between 2004 and 2018, Puccini ranked third (behind Verdi and Mozart) in the number of performances of his operas worldwide, as surveyed by Operabase. Three of his operas (La bohème, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly) were amongst the 10 most frequently performed operas worldwide.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Gustav Kobbé, the original author of The Complete Opera Book, a standard reference work on opera, wrote in the 1919 edition: \"Puccini is considered the most important figure in operatic Italy today, the successor of Verdi, if there is any.\" Other contemporaries shared this view. Italian opera composers of the generation with whom Puccini was compared included Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945), Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919), Umberto Giordano (1867–1948), Francesco Cilea (1866–1950), Baron Pierantonio Tasca (1858–1934), Gaetano Coronaro (1852–1908), and Alberto Franchetti (1860–1942). Only three composers, and three works, by Italian contemporaries of Puccini appear on the Operabase list of most-performed works: Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, and Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano. Kobbé contrasted Puccini's ability to achieve \"sustained\" success with the failure of Mascagni and Leoncavallo to produce more than merely \"one sensationally successful short opera\". By the time of Puccini's death in 1924, he had earned $4 million from his works.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Although the popular success of Puccini's work is undeniable, and his mastery of the craft of composition has been consistently recognized, opinion among critics as to the artistic value of his work has always been divided. Grove Music Online described Puccini's strengths as a composer as follows:",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Puccini succeeded in mastering the orchestra as no other Italian had done before him, creating new forms by manipulating structures inherited from the great Italian tradition, loading them with bold harmonic progressions which had little or nothing to do with what was happening then in Italy, though they were in step with the work of French, Austrian and German colleagues.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "In his work on Puccini, Julian Budden describes Puccini as a gifted and original composer, noting the innovation hidden in the popularity of works such as \"Che gelida manina\". He describes the aria in musical terms (the signature embedded in the harmony for example), and points out that its structure was rather unheard of at the time, having three distinct musical paragraphs that nonetheless form a complete and coherent whole. This gumption in musical experimentation was the essence of Puccini's style, as evidenced in his diverse settings and use of the motif to express ideas beyond those in the story and text.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Puccini has, however, consistently been the target of condescension by some music critics who find his music insufficiently sophisticated or difficult. Some have explicitly condemned his efforts to please his audience, such as this contemporary Italian critic:",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "He willingly stops himself at minor genius, stroking the taste of the public ... obstinately shunning too-daring innovation ... A little heroism, but not taken to great heights; a little bit of veristic comedy, but brief; a lot of sentiment and romantic idyll: this is the recipe in which he finds happiness. ([E]gli si arresta volentieri alla piccola genialità, accarezzando il gusto del pubblico ... rifuggendo ostinato dalle troppo ardite innovazioni. ... Un po' di eroismo, ma non spinto a grandi altezze, un po' di commedia verista, ma breve; molto idillio sentimentale e romantico: ecco la ricetta in cui egli compiace.)",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Budden attempted to explain the paradox of Puccini's immense popular success and technical mastery on the one hand, and the relative disregard in which his work has been held by academics:",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "No composer communicates more directly with an audience than Puccini. Indeed, for many years he has remained a victim of his own popularity; hence the resistance to his music in academic circles. Be it remembered, however, that Verdi's melodies were once dismissed as barrel-organ fodder. The truth is that music that appeals immediately to a public becomes subject to bad imitation, which can cast a murky shadow over the original. So long as counterfeit Puccinian melody dominated the world of sentimental operetta, many found it difficult to come to terms with the genuine article. Now that the current coin of light music has changed, the composer admired by Schoenberg, Ravel, and Stravinsky can be seen to emerge in his full stature.",
"title": "Style and critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Founded in 1996 in Lucca, the Centro di studi Giacomo Puccini embraces a wide range of approaches to the study of Puccini's work. In the US, the American Center for Puccini Studies specializes in the presentation of unusual performing editions of the composer's works and introduces neglected or unknown Puccini pieces. It was founded in 2004 by the singer and director Harry Dunstan.",
"title": "Puccini studies"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Puccini wrote orchestral pieces, sacred music, chamber music, solo music for piano and organ and songs for voice and piano, most notably his 1880 mass Messa di gloria, his Preludio Sinfonico of 1882, and his 1890 string quartet movement Crisantemi. However, he is primarily known for his operas:",
"title": "Works"
}
]
| Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera, he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all of which are among the most frequently performed and recorded of all operas. | 2001-10-22T15:02:58Z | 2023-12-09T02:09:35Z | [
"Template:Em",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:Romantic music",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Interlanguage link multi",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Almanacco",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Subscription required",
"Template:IMSLP",
"Template:Internet Archive author",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Spaced ndash",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Infobox classical composer",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Quotation needed",
"Template:ChoralWiki",
"Template:Giacomo Puccini"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Puccini |
12,753 | Gramophone (disambiguation) | Gramophone or phonograph is a device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.
Gramophone may also refer to: | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gramophone or phonograph is a device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Gramophone may also refer to:",
"title": ""
}
]
| Gramophone or phonograph is a device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. Gramophone may also refer to: | 2019-08-27T13:09:10Z | [
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Intitle",
"Template:Disambiguation"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_(disambiguation) |
|
12,754 | George Cukor | George Dewey Cukor (/ˈkjuːkɔːr/ KEW-kor; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Our Betters (1933), and Little Women (1933). When Selznick moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1933, Cukor followed and directed Dinner at Eight (1933) and David Copperfield (1935) for Selznick, and Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Camille (1936) for Irving Thalberg.
He was replaced as one of the directors of Gone with the Wind (1939), but he went on to direct The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964), which was his fifth time nominated. He continued to work into the early 1980s.
Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the younger child and only son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants Viktor, an assistant district attorney, and Helén Ilona Gross. His parents selected his middle name in honor of Spanish–American War hero George Dewey. The family was not particularly religious (pork was a staple on the dinner table), and when he started attending temple as a boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented. As a result, he was ambivalent about his faith and dismissive of old world traditions from childhood, and as an adult he embraced Anglophilia to remove himself even further from his roots.
As a child, Cukor appeared in several amateur plays and took dance lessons, and at the age of seven he performed in a recital with David O. Selznick, who in later years became a mentor and friend. As a teenager, Cukor frequently was taken to the New York Hippodrome by his uncle. Infatuated with theatre, he often cut classes at DeWitt Clinton High School to attend afternoon matinees. During his senior year, he worked as a supernumerary with the Metropolitan Opera, earning 50¢ per appearance, and $1 if he was required to perform in blackface.
Following his graduation in 1917, Cukor was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in law. He halfheartedly enrolled in the City College of New York, where he entered the Students Army Training Corps in October 1918. His military experience was limited; Germany surrendered in early November, and Cukor's duty ended after only two months. He left school shortly afterwards.
Cukor obtained a job as an assistant stage manager and bit player with a touring production of The Better 'Ole, a popular British musical based on Old Bill, a cartoon character created by Bruce Bairnsfather. In 1920, he became the stage manager for the Knickerbocker Players, a troupe that shuttled between Syracuse, New York and Rochester, New York, and the following year he was hired as general manager of the newly formed Lyceum Players, an upstate summer stock company. In 1925, he formed the C.F. and Z. Production Company with Walter Folmer and John Zwicki, which gave him his first opportunity to direct. Following their first season, he made his Broadway directorial debut with Antonia by Hungarian playwright Melchior Lengyel, then returned to Rochester, where C.F. and Z. evolved into the Cukor-Kondolf Stock Company, a troupe that included Louis Calhern, Ilka Chase, Phyllis Povah, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Elizabeth Patterson and Douglass Montgomery, all of whom worked with Cukor in later years in Hollywood. Lasting only one season with the company was Bette Davis. Cukor later recalled: "Her talent was apparent, but she did buck at direction. She had her own ideas, and though she only did bits and ingenue roles, she didn't hesitate to express them." For the next several decades, Davis claimed she was fired, and although Cukor never understood why she placed so much importance on an incident he considered so minor, he never worked with her again.
For the next few years, Cukor alternated between Rochester in the summer months and Broadway in the winter. His direction of a 1926 stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby by Owen Davis brought him to the attention of the New York critics. Writing in the Brooklyn Eagle, drama critic Arthur Pollock called it "an unusual piece of work by a director not nearly so well known as he should be." Cukor directed six more Broadway productions, then departed for Hollywood in 1929.
When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor immediately answered the call. In December 1928, Paramount Pictures signed him to a contract that reimbursed him for his train fare and initially paid him $600 per week with no screen credit during a six-month apprenticeship. He arrived in Hollywood in February 1929, and his first assignment was to coach the cast of River of Romance to speak with an acceptable Southern accent. In October, the studio lent him to Universal Pictures to conduct the screen tests and work as a dialogue director for All Quiet on the Western Front, released in 1930. That year, he co-directed three films at Paramount, and his weekly salary was increased to $1,500. He made his solo directorial debut with Tarnished Lady (1931) starring Tallulah Bankhead.
Cukor was then assigned to One Hour with You (1932), an operetta with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, when original director Ernst Lubitsch opted to concentrate on producing the film instead. At first the two men worked well together, but two weeks into filming Lubitsch began arriving on the set on a regular basis, and he soon began directing scenes with Cukor's consent. Upon the film's completion, Lubitsch approached Paramount general manager B.P. Schulberg and threatened to leave the studio if Cukor's name wasn't removed from the credits. When Schulberg asked him to cooperate, Cukor filed suit. He eventually settled for being billed as assistant director and then left Paramount to work with David O. Selznick at RKO Studios.
Cukor quickly earned a reputation as a director who could coax great performances from actresses and he became known as a "woman's director", a title he resented. Despite this reputation, during his career, he oversaw more performances honored with the Academy Award for Best Actor than any other director: James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940), Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947), and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964). One of Cukor's earlier ingenues was actress Katharine Hepburn, who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and whose looks and personality left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor directed her in several films, both successful, such as Little Women (1933) and Holiday (1938), and disastrous, such as Sylvia Scarlett (1935). Cukor and Hepburn became close friends off the set.
Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind by Selznick in 1936, even before the book was published. He spent the next two years involved with pre-production, including supervision of the numerous screen tests of actresses anxious to portray Scarlett O'Hara. Cukor favored Hepburn for the role, but Selznick, concerned about her reputation as "box office poison", would not consider her without a screen test, and the actress refused to film one. Of those who did, Cukor preferred Paulette Goddard, but her supposedly illicit relationship with Charlie Chaplin (they were, in fact, secretly married) concerned Selznick.
Between his Wind chores, the director assisted with other projects. He filmed the cave scene for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), and, following the firing of its original director Richard Thorpe, Cukor spent a week on the set of The Wizard of Oz (1939). Although he filmed no footage, he made crucial changes to the look of Dorothy by eliminating Judy Garland's blonde wig and adjusting her makeup and costume, encouraging her to act in a more natural manner. Additionally, Cukor softened the Scarecrow's makeup and gave Margaret Hamilton a different hairstyle for the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as altering her makeup and other facial features. Cukor also suggested that the studio cast Jack Haley, on loan from 20th Century Fox, as the Tin Man.
Cukor spent many hours coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland before the start of filming Wind, but Clark Gable resisted his efforts to get him to master a Southern accent. However, despite rumors about Gable being uncomfortable with Cukor on the set, nothing in the internal memos of David O. Selznick indicates or suggests that Clark Gable had anything to do with Cukor's dismissal from the film. Rather, they show Selznick's mounting dissatisfaction with Cukor's slow pace and quality of work. From a private letter from journalist Susan Myrick to Margaret Mitchell in February 1939: "George [Cukor] finally told me all about it. He hated [leaving the production] very much he said but he could not do otherwise. In effect he said he is an honest craftsman and he cannot do a job unless he knows it is a good job and he feels the present job is not right. For days, he told me he has looked at the rushes and felt he was failing...the things did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble...So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the [Sidney] Howard script back...he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture...and bull-headed David said 'OK get out!'"
Selznick had already been unhappy with Cukor ("a very expensive luxury") for not being more receptive to directing other Selznick assignments, even though Cukor had remained on salary since early 1937; and in a confidential memo written in September 1938, four months before principal photography began, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming. "I think the biggest black mark against our management to date is the Cukor situation and we can no longer be sentimental about it...We are a business concern and not patrons of the arts." Cukor was relieved of his duties, but he continued to work with Leigh and Olivia de Havilland off the set. Various rumors about the reasons behind his dismissal circulated throughout Hollywood. Selznick's friendship with Cukor had crumbled slightly when the director refused other assignments, including A Star Is Born (1937) and Intermezzo (1939). Given that Gable and Cukor had worked together before (on Manhattan Melodrama, 1934) and Gable had no objection to working with him then, and given Selznick's desperation to get Gable for Rhett Butler, if Gable had any objections to Cukor, certainly they would have been expressed before he signed his contract for the film. Yet, writer Gore Vidal, in his autobiography Point to Point Navigation, recounted that Gable demanded that Cukor be fired off Wind because, according to Vidal, the young Gable had been a male hustler and Cukor had been one of his johns. This has been confirmed by Hollywood biographer E.J. Fleming, who has recounted that, during a particularly difficult scene, Gable erupted publicly, screaming: "I can't go on with this picture. I won't be directed by a fairy. I have to work with a real man."
Cukor's dismissal from Wind freed him to direct The Women (1939), which has an all-female cast, followed by The Philadelphia Story (1940). He also directed Greta Garbo, another of his favorite actresses, in Two-Faced Woman (1941), her last film before she retired from the screen.
In 1942, at the age of 43, Cukor enlisted in the Signal Corps. Following basic training at Fort Monmouth, he was assigned to the old Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens (where he had directed three films in the early 1930s), although he was permitted to lodge at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. Working with Irwin Shaw, John Cheever and William Saroyan, among others, Cukor produced training and instructional films for army personnel. Because he lacked an officer's commission, he found it difficult to give orders and directions to his superiors. Despite his efforts to rise above the rank of private—he even called upon Frank Capra to intercede on his behalf—he never achieved officer's status or any commendations during his six months of service. In later years, Cukor suspected his homosexuality impeded him from receiving any advances or honors, although rumors to that effect could not be confirmed.
The remainder of the decade was a series of hits and misses for Cukor. Both Two-Faced Woman and Her Cardboard Lover (1942) were commercial failures. More successful were A Woman's Face (1941) with Joan Crawford and Gaslight (1944) about a woman suffering from suspicion with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. During this era, Cukor forged an alliance with screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, who had met in Cukor's home in 1939 and married three years later. Over the course of seven years, the trio collaborated on seven films, including A Double Life (1947) starring Ronald Colman, Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), The Marrying Kind (1952), and It Should Happen to You (1954), all featuring Judy Holliday, another Cukor favorite, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Born Yesterday.
In December 1952, Cukor was approached by Sid Luft, who proposed the director helm a musical remake of A Star Is Born (1937) with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role. Cukor had declined to direct the earlier film because it was too similar to his own What Price Hollywood? (1932), but the opportunity to direct his first Technicolor film and work with screenwriter Moss Hart and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted. Getting the updated A Star Is Born (1954) to the screen proved to be a challenge. Cukor wanted Cary Grant for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him, but Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, steadfastly refused to do it, and Cukor never forgave him. The director then suggested either Humphrey Bogart or Frank Sinatra tackle the part, but Jack L. Warner rejected both. Stewart Granger was the front runner for a period of time, but he backed out when he was unable to adjust to Cukor's habit of acting out scenes as a form of direction. James Mason eventually was contracted, and filming began on October 12, 1953. As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable Garland, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses. In March 1954, a rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it. When the last scene finally was filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe. The first preview the following month ran 210 minutes and, despite ecstatic feedback from the audience, Cukor and editor Folmar Blangsted trimmed it to 182 minutes for its New York premiere in October. The reviews were the best of Cukor's career, but Warner executives, concerned the running time would limit the number of daily showings, made drastic cuts without Cukor, who had departed for Pakistan to scout locations for the epic Bhowani Junction in 1954-1955. At its final running time of 154 minutes, the film had lost musical numbers and crucial dramatic scenes, and Cukor called it "very painful." He was not included in the film's six Oscar nominations.
Over the next 10 years, Cukor directed a handful of films with varying success. Les Girls (1957) won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Wild Is the Wind (also 1957) earned Oscar nominations for Anna Magnani and Anthony Quinn, but neither Heller in Pink Tights nor Let's Make Love (both 1960) were box-office hits. Another project during this period was the ill-fated Something's Got to Give, an updated remake of the comedy My Favorite Wife (1940). Cukor liked leading lady Marilyn Monroe but found it difficult to deal with her erratic work habits, frequent absences from the set, and the constant presence of Monroe's acting coach Paula Strasberg. It was reported at the time that after 32 days of shooting, the director had only 7½ minutes of usable film. Footage would be discovered in the 1990's that showed at least 37 minutes of total footage had survived. Then Monroe travelled to New York to appear at a birthday celebration for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, where she serenaded Kennedy. Studio documents released after Monroe's death confirmed that her appearance at the political fundraising event was approved by Fox executives. The production came to a halt when Cukor had filmed every scene not involving Monroe and the actress remained unavailable. 20th Century Fox executive Peter Levathes fired her and hired Lee Remick to replace her, prompting co-star Dean Martin to quit because his contract guaranteed he would be playing opposite Monroe. It was also reported at the time, that with the production already $2 million over budget and everyone back at the starting gate, the studio pulled the plug on the project. However, Monroe successfully renegotiated her contract from $100,000 to $500,000 with a bonus should the film be completed on time. Cukor was to be replaced by Jean Negulesco. There was limited press at the time about the project restarting and even less on Cukor being replaced. When Monroe was found dead in her home in the beginning of August, Cukor would give a high profile interview discussing Monroe's many reported problems.
Two years later, Cukor achieved one of his greatest successes with My Fair Lady (1964). Throughout filming, there were mounting tensions between the director and designer Cecil Beaton; Cukor was thrilled with leading lady Audrey Hepburn, but the crew was less enchanted with her diva-like demands. Although several reviews were critical of the film – Pauline Kael said it "staggers along" and Stanley Kauffmann thought Cukor's direction was like "a rich gravy poured over everything, not remotely as delicately rich as in the Asquith-Howard 1937 [sic] Pygmalion" — the film was a box-office hit which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and the Directors Guild of America Award after having been nominated for each several times.
Following My Fair Lady, Cukor became less active. He directed Maggie Smith in Travels with My Aunt (1972) and helmed the critical and commercial flop The Blue Bird (1976), the first joint Soviet-American production. He reunited twice with Katharine Hepburn for the television movies Love Among the Ruins (1975) and The Corn Is Green (1979). At the age of 82, Cukor directed his final film, Rich and Famous for MGM in 1981, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen.
In 1970, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
In 1976, Cukor was awarded the George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.
It was an open secret in Hollywood that Cukor was gay, at a time when society was against it, although he was discreet about his sexual orientation and "never carried it as a pin on his lapel," as producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz put it. He was a celebrated bon vivant whose luxurious home was the site of weekly Sunday afternoon parties attended by closeted celebrities and the attractive young men they met in bars and gyms and brought with them. At least once, in the midst of his reign at MGM, he was arrested on vice charges, but studio executives managed to get the charges dropped and all records of it expunged, and the incident was never publicized by the press. In the late 1950s, Cukor became involved with a considerably younger man named George Towers. He financed his education at the Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences and the University of Southern California, from which Towers graduated with a law degree in 1967. That fall Towers married a woman, and his relationship with Cukor evolved into one of father and son, and for the remainder of Cukor's life the two remained very close.
By the mid-1930s, Cukor was not only established as a prominent director, but also socially as an unofficial head of Hollywood's gay subculture. His home, redecorated in 1935 by gay actor-turned-interior designer William Haines with gardens designed by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council, was the scene of many gatherings for the industry's homosexuals. The close-knit group reputedly included Haines and his partner Jimmie Shields, writer W. Somerset Maugham, director James Vincent, screenwriter Rowland Leigh, costume designers Orry-Kelly and Robert Le Maire, and actors John Darrow, Anderson Lawler, Grady Sutton, Robert Seiter, and Tom Douglas. Frank Horn, secretary to Cary Grant, was also a frequent guest.
Cukor's friends were of paramount importance to him and he kept his home filled with their photographs. Regular attendees at his soirées included Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, actor Richard Cromwell, Stanley Holloway, Judy Garland, Gene Tierney, Noël Coward, Cole Porter, director James Whale, costume designer Edith Head, and Norma Shearer, especially after the death of her first husband Irving Thalberg. He often entertained literary figures like Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Hugh Walpole, Aldous Huxley and Ferenc Molnár.
Frances Goldwyn, second wife and widow of studio mogul Sam Goldwyn, long considered Cukor to be the love of her life, but their relationship remained platonic. According to biographer A. Scott Berg, Frances even arranged for Cukor's burial to be adjacent to her own plot at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
The PBS series American Masters produced a comprehensive documentary about his life and work titled On Cukor directed by Robert Trachtenberg in 2000.
Cukor died of a heart attack on January 24, 1983, and was interred in Grave D, Little Garden of Constancy, Garden of Memory (private), Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), California. Records in probate court indicated his net worth at the time of his death was $2,377,720.
In 1983, the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, considered by many to be his greatest picture, was restored to its original runtime of 181 minutes. The film was initially released at 181 minutes and received enormous critical and box office success. Finding that the length restricted the number of daily showings, the studio cut the movie to 154 minutes. Cukor believed this re-release "butchered" the gradual development of the Garland-Mason relationship.
In 2013, The Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a comprehensive weeks-long retrospective of his work titled "The Discreet Charm of George Cukor."
In 2019, Cukor's film Gaslight was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "George Dewey Cukor (/ˈkjuːkɔːr/ KEW-kor; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Our Betters (1933), and Little Women (1933). When Selznick moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1933, Cukor followed and directed Dinner at Eight (1933) and David Copperfield (1935) for Selznick, and Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Camille (1936) for Irving Thalberg.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "He was replaced as one of the directors of Gone with the Wind (1939), but he went on to direct The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964), which was his fifth time nominated. He continued to work into the early 1980s.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the younger child and only son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants Viktor, an assistant district attorney, and Helén Ilona Gross. His parents selected his middle name in honor of Spanish–American War hero George Dewey. The family was not particularly religious (pork was a staple on the dinner table), and when he started attending temple as a boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented. As a result, he was ambivalent about his faith and dismissive of old world traditions from childhood, and as an adult he embraced Anglophilia to remove himself even further from his roots.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "As a child, Cukor appeared in several amateur plays and took dance lessons, and at the age of seven he performed in a recital with David O. Selznick, who in later years became a mentor and friend. As a teenager, Cukor frequently was taken to the New York Hippodrome by his uncle. Infatuated with theatre, he often cut classes at DeWitt Clinton High School to attend afternoon matinees. During his senior year, he worked as a supernumerary with the Metropolitan Opera, earning 50¢ per appearance, and $1 if he was required to perform in blackface.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Following his graduation in 1917, Cukor was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in law. He halfheartedly enrolled in the City College of New York, where he entered the Students Army Training Corps in October 1918. His military experience was limited; Germany surrendered in early November, and Cukor's duty ended after only two months. He left school shortly afterwards.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Cukor obtained a job as an assistant stage manager and bit player with a touring production of The Better 'Ole, a popular British musical based on Old Bill, a cartoon character created by Bruce Bairnsfather. In 1920, he became the stage manager for the Knickerbocker Players, a troupe that shuttled between Syracuse, New York and Rochester, New York, and the following year he was hired as general manager of the newly formed Lyceum Players, an upstate summer stock company. In 1925, he formed the C.F. and Z. Production Company with Walter Folmer and John Zwicki, which gave him his first opportunity to direct. Following their first season, he made his Broadway directorial debut with Antonia by Hungarian playwright Melchior Lengyel, then returned to Rochester, where C.F. and Z. evolved into the Cukor-Kondolf Stock Company, a troupe that included Louis Calhern, Ilka Chase, Phyllis Povah, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Elizabeth Patterson and Douglass Montgomery, all of whom worked with Cukor in later years in Hollywood. Lasting only one season with the company was Bette Davis. Cukor later recalled: \"Her talent was apparent, but she did buck at direction. She had her own ideas, and though she only did bits and ingenue roles, she didn't hesitate to express them.\" For the next several decades, Davis claimed she was fired, and although Cukor never understood why she placed so much importance on an incident he considered so minor, he never worked with her again.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "For the next few years, Cukor alternated between Rochester in the summer months and Broadway in the winter. His direction of a 1926 stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby by Owen Davis brought him to the attention of the New York critics. Writing in the Brooklyn Eagle, drama critic Arthur Pollock called it \"an unusual piece of work by a director not nearly so well known as he should be.\" Cukor directed six more Broadway productions, then departed for Hollywood in 1929.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor immediately answered the call. In December 1928, Paramount Pictures signed him to a contract that reimbursed him for his train fare and initially paid him $600 per week with no screen credit during a six-month apprenticeship. He arrived in Hollywood in February 1929, and his first assignment was to coach the cast of River of Romance to speak with an acceptable Southern accent. In October, the studio lent him to Universal Pictures to conduct the screen tests and work as a dialogue director for All Quiet on the Western Front, released in 1930. That year, he co-directed three films at Paramount, and his weekly salary was increased to $1,500. He made his solo directorial debut with Tarnished Lady (1931) starring Tallulah Bankhead.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Cukor was then assigned to One Hour with You (1932), an operetta with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, when original director Ernst Lubitsch opted to concentrate on producing the film instead. At first the two men worked well together, but two weeks into filming Lubitsch began arriving on the set on a regular basis, and he soon began directing scenes with Cukor's consent. Upon the film's completion, Lubitsch approached Paramount general manager B.P. Schulberg and threatened to leave the studio if Cukor's name wasn't removed from the credits. When Schulberg asked him to cooperate, Cukor filed suit. He eventually settled for being billed as assistant director and then left Paramount to work with David O. Selznick at RKO Studios.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Cukor quickly earned a reputation as a director who could coax great performances from actresses and he became known as a \"woman's director\", a title he resented. Despite this reputation, during his career, he oversaw more performances honored with the Academy Award for Best Actor than any other director: James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940), Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947), and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964). One of Cukor's earlier ingenues was actress Katharine Hepburn, who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and whose looks and personality left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor directed her in several films, both successful, such as Little Women (1933) and Holiday (1938), and disastrous, such as Sylvia Scarlett (1935). Cukor and Hepburn became close friends off the set.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind by Selznick in 1936, even before the book was published. He spent the next two years involved with pre-production, including supervision of the numerous screen tests of actresses anxious to portray Scarlett O'Hara. Cukor favored Hepburn for the role, but Selznick, concerned about her reputation as \"box office poison\", would not consider her without a screen test, and the actress refused to film one. Of those who did, Cukor preferred Paulette Goddard, but her supposedly illicit relationship with Charlie Chaplin (they were, in fact, secretly married) concerned Selznick.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Between his Wind chores, the director assisted with other projects. He filmed the cave scene for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), and, following the firing of its original director Richard Thorpe, Cukor spent a week on the set of The Wizard of Oz (1939). Although he filmed no footage, he made crucial changes to the look of Dorothy by eliminating Judy Garland's blonde wig and adjusting her makeup and costume, encouraging her to act in a more natural manner. Additionally, Cukor softened the Scarecrow's makeup and gave Margaret Hamilton a different hairstyle for the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as altering her makeup and other facial features. Cukor also suggested that the studio cast Jack Haley, on loan from 20th Century Fox, as the Tin Man.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Cukor spent many hours coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland before the start of filming Wind, but Clark Gable resisted his efforts to get him to master a Southern accent. However, despite rumors about Gable being uncomfortable with Cukor on the set, nothing in the internal memos of David O. Selznick indicates or suggests that Clark Gable had anything to do with Cukor's dismissal from the film. Rather, they show Selznick's mounting dissatisfaction with Cukor's slow pace and quality of work. From a private letter from journalist Susan Myrick to Margaret Mitchell in February 1939: \"George [Cukor] finally told me all about it. He hated [leaving the production] very much he said but he could not do otherwise. In effect he said he is an honest craftsman and he cannot do a job unless he knows it is a good job and he feels the present job is not right. For days, he told me he has looked at the rushes and felt he was failing...the things did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble...So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the [Sidney] Howard script back...he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture...and bull-headed David said 'OK get out!'\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Selznick had already been unhappy with Cukor (\"a very expensive luxury\") for not being more receptive to directing other Selznick assignments, even though Cukor had remained on salary since early 1937; and in a confidential memo written in September 1938, four months before principal photography began, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming. \"I think the biggest black mark against our management to date is the Cukor situation and we can no longer be sentimental about it...We are a business concern and not patrons of the arts.\" Cukor was relieved of his duties, but he continued to work with Leigh and Olivia de Havilland off the set. Various rumors about the reasons behind his dismissal circulated throughout Hollywood. Selznick's friendship with Cukor had crumbled slightly when the director refused other assignments, including A Star Is Born (1937) and Intermezzo (1939). Given that Gable and Cukor had worked together before (on Manhattan Melodrama, 1934) and Gable had no objection to working with him then, and given Selznick's desperation to get Gable for Rhett Butler, if Gable had any objections to Cukor, certainly they would have been expressed before he signed his contract for the film. Yet, writer Gore Vidal, in his autobiography Point to Point Navigation, recounted that Gable demanded that Cukor be fired off Wind because, according to Vidal, the young Gable had been a male hustler and Cukor had been one of his johns. This has been confirmed by Hollywood biographer E.J. Fleming, who has recounted that, during a particularly difficult scene, Gable erupted publicly, screaming: \"I can't go on with this picture. I won't be directed by a fairy. I have to work with a real man.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Cukor's dismissal from Wind freed him to direct The Women (1939), which has an all-female cast, followed by The Philadelphia Story (1940). He also directed Greta Garbo, another of his favorite actresses, in Two-Faced Woman (1941), her last film before she retired from the screen.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In 1942, at the age of 43, Cukor enlisted in the Signal Corps. Following basic training at Fort Monmouth, he was assigned to the old Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens (where he had directed three films in the early 1930s), although he was permitted to lodge at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. Working with Irwin Shaw, John Cheever and William Saroyan, among others, Cukor produced training and instructional films for army personnel. Because he lacked an officer's commission, he found it difficult to give orders and directions to his superiors. Despite his efforts to rise above the rank of private—he even called upon Frank Capra to intercede on his behalf—he never achieved officer's status or any commendations during his six months of service. In later years, Cukor suspected his homosexuality impeded him from receiving any advances or honors, although rumors to that effect could not be confirmed.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The remainder of the decade was a series of hits and misses for Cukor. Both Two-Faced Woman and Her Cardboard Lover (1942) were commercial failures. More successful were A Woman's Face (1941) with Joan Crawford and Gaslight (1944) about a woman suffering from suspicion with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. During this era, Cukor forged an alliance with screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, who had met in Cukor's home in 1939 and married three years later. Over the course of seven years, the trio collaborated on seven films, including A Double Life (1947) starring Ronald Colman, Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), The Marrying Kind (1952), and It Should Happen to You (1954), all featuring Judy Holliday, another Cukor favorite, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Born Yesterday.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In December 1952, Cukor was approached by Sid Luft, who proposed the director helm a musical remake of A Star Is Born (1937) with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role. Cukor had declined to direct the earlier film because it was too similar to his own What Price Hollywood? (1932), but the opportunity to direct his first Technicolor film and work with screenwriter Moss Hart and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted. Getting the updated A Star Is Born (1954) to the screen proved to be a challenge. Cukor wanted Cary Grant for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him, but Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, steadfastly refused to do it, and Cukor never forgave him. The director then suggested either Humphrey Bogart or Frank Sinatra tackle the part, but Jack L. Warner rejected both. Stewart Granger was the front runner for a period of time, but he backed out when he was unable to adjust to Cukor's habit of acting out scenes as a form of direction. James Mason eventually was contracted, and filming began on October 12, 1953. As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable Garland, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses. In March 1954, a rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it. When the last scene finally was filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe. The first preview the following month ran 210 minutes and, despite ecstatic feedback from the audience, Cukor and editor Folmar Blangsted trimmed it to 182 minutes for its New York premiere in October. The reviews were the best of Cukor's career, but Warner executives, concerned the running time would limit the number of daily showings, made drastic cuts without Cukor, who had departed for Pakistan to scout locations for the epic Bhowani Junction in 1954-1955. At its final running time of 154 minutes, the film had lost musical numbers and crucial dramatic scenes, and Cukor called it \"very painful.\" He was not included in the film's six Oscar nominations.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Over the next 10 years, Cukor directed a handful of films with varying success. Les Girls (1957) won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Wild Is the Wind (also 1957) earned Oscar nominations for Anna Magnani and Anthony Quinn, but neither Heller in Pink Tights nor Let's Make Love (both 1960) were box-office hits. Another project during this period was the ill-fated Something's Got to Give, an updated remake of the comedy My Favorite Wife (1940). Cukor liked leading lady Marilyn Monroe but found it difficult to deal with her erratic work habits, frequent absences from the set, and the constant presence of Monroe's acting coach Paula Strasberg. It was reported at the time that after 32 days of shooting, the director had only 7½ minutes of usable film. Footage would be discovered in the 1990's that showed at least 37 minutes of total footage had survived. Then Monroe travelled to New York to appear at a birthday celebration for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, where she serenaded Kennedy. Studio documents released after Monroe's death confirmed that her appearance at the political fundraising event was approved by Fox executives. The production came to a halt when Cukor had filmed every scene not involving Monroe and the actress remained unavailable. 20th Century Fox executive Peter Levathes fired her and hired Lee Remick to replace her, prompting co-star Dean Martin to quit because his contract guaranteed he would be playing opposite Monroe. It was also reported at the time, that with the production already $2 million over budget and everyone back at the starting gate, the studio pulled the plug on the project. However, Monroe successfully renegotiated her contract from $100,000 to $500,000 with a bonus should the film be completed on time. Cukor was to be replaced by Jean Negulesco. There was limited press at the time about the project restarting and even less on Cukor being replaced. When Monroe was found dead in her home in the beginning of August, Cukor would give a high profile interview discussing Monroe's many reported problems.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Two years later, Cukor achieved one of his greatest successes with My Fair Lady (1964). Throughout filming, there were mounting tensions between the director and designer Cecil Beaton; Cukor was thrilled with leading lady Audrey Hepburn, but the crew was less enchanted with her diva-like demands. Although several reviews were critical of the film – Pauline Kael said it \"staggers along\" and Stanley Kauffmann thought Cukor's direction was like \"a rich gravy poured over everything, not remotely as delicately rich as in the Asquith-Howard 1937 [sic] Pygmalion\" — the film was a box-office hit which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and the Directors Guild of America Award after having been nominated for each several times.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Following My Fair Lady, Cukor became less active. He directed Maggie Smith in Travels with My Aunt (1972) and helmed the critical and commercial flop The Blue Bird (1976), the first joint Soviet-American production. He reunited twice with Katharine Hepburn for the television movies Love Among the Ruins (1975) and The Corn Is Green (1979). At the age of 82, Cukor directed his final film, Rich and Famous for MGM in 1981, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "In 1970, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In 1976, Cukor was awarded the George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "It was an open secret in Hollywood that Cukor was gay, at a time when society was against it, although he was discreet about his sexual orientation and \"never carried it as a pin on his lapel,\" as producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz put it. He was a celebrated bon vivant whose luxurious home was the site of weekly Sunday afternoon parties attended by closeted celebrities and the attractive young men they met in bars and gyms and brought with them. At least once, in the midst of his reign at MGM, he was arrested on vice charges, but studio executives managed to get the charges dropped and all records of it expunged, and the incident was never publicized by the press. In the late 1950s, Cukor became involved with a considerably younger man named George Towers. He financed his education at the Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences and the University of Southern California, from which Towers graduated with a law degree in 1967. That fall Towers married a woman, and his relationship with Cukor evolved into one of father and son, and for the remainder of Cukor's life the two remained very close.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "By the mid-1930s, Cukor was not only established as a prominent director, but also socially as an unofficial head of Hollywood's gay subculture. His home, redecorated in 1935 by gay actor-turned-interior designer William Haines with gardens designed by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council, was the scene of many gatherings for the industry's homosexuals. The close-knit group reputedly included Haines and his partner Jimmie Shields, writer W. Somerset Maugham, director James Vincent, screenwriter Rowland Leigh, costume designers Orry-Kelly and Robert Le Maire, and actors John Darrow, Anderson Lawler, Grady Sutton, Robert Seiter, and Tom Douglas. Frank Horn, secretary to Cary Grant, was also a frequent guest.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Cukor's friends were of paramount importance to him and he kept his home filled with their photographs. Regular attendees at his soirées included Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, actor Richard Cromwell, Stanley Holloway, Judy Garland, Gene Tierney, Noël Coward, Cole Porter, director James Whale, costume designer Edith Head, and Norma Shearer, especially after the death of her first husband Irving Thalberg. He often entertained literary figures like Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Hugh Walpole, Aldous Huxley and Ferenc Molnár.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Frances Goldwyn, second wife and widow of studio mogul Sam Goldwyn, long considered Cukor to be the love of her life, but their relationship remained platonic. According to biographer A. Scott Berg, Frances even arranged for Cukor's burial to be adjacent to her own plot at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The PBS series American Masters produced a comprehensive documentary about his life and work titled On Cukor directed by Robert Trachtenberg in 2000.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Cukor died of a heart attack on January 24, 1983, and was interred in Grave D, Little Garden of Constancy, Garden of Memory (private), Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), California. Records in probate court indicated his net worth at the time of his death was $2,377,720.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In 1983, the 1954 version of A Star Is Born, considered by many to be his greatest picture, was restored to its original runtime of 181 minutes. The film was initially released at 181 minutes and received enormous critical and box office success. Finding that the length restricted the number of daily showings, the studio cut the movie to 154 minutes. Cukor believed this re-release \"butchered\" the gradual development of the Garland-Mason relationship.",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In 2013, The Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a comprehensive weeks-long retrospective of his work titled \"The Discreet Charm of George Cukor.\"",
"title": "Death and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "In 2019, Cukor's film Gaslight was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being \"culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant\".",
"title": "Death and legacy"
}
]
| George Dewey Cukor was an American film director and producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Our Betters (1933), and Little Women (1933). When Selznick moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1933, Cukor followed and directed Dinner at Eight (1933) and David Copperfield (1935) for Selznick, and Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Camille (1936) for Irving Thalberg. He was replaced as one of the directors of Gone with the Wind (1939), but he went on to direct The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964), which was his fifth time nominated. He continued to work into the early 1980s. | 2001-10-23T20:25:58Z | 2023-12-29T00:22:49Z | [
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:IBDB name",
"Template:George Cukor",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Won",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Tcmdb name",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:Nom",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Find a Grave",
"Template:Navboxes",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Respell"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cukor |
12,772 | Gas mask | A gas mask is an item of personal protective equipment used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas masks are also respirators, though the word gas mask is often used to refer to military equipment (such as a field protective mask), the scope used in this article. The gas mask only protects the user from digesting, inhaling, and contact through the eyes (many agents affect through eye contact). Most combined gas mask filters will last around 8 hours in a biological or chemical situation. Filters against specific chemical agents can last up to 20 hours.
Airborne toxic materials may be gaseous (for example, chlorine or mustard gas), or particulates (such as biological agents). Many filters provide protection from both types.
The first gas masks mostly used circular lenses made of glass, mica or cellulose acetate to allow vision. Glass and mica were quite brittle and needed frequent replacement. The later Triplex lens style (a cellulose acetate lens sandwiched between glass ones) became more popular, and alongside plain cellulose acetate they became the standard into the 1930s. Panoramic lenses were not popular until the 1930s, but there are some examples of those being used even during the war (Austro-Hungarian 15M). Later, stronger polycarbonate came into use.
Some masks have one or two compact air filter containers screwed onto inlets, while others have a large air filtration container connected to the gas mask via a hose that is sometimes confused with an air-supplied respirator in which an alternate supply of fresh air (oxygen tanks) is delivered.
Absorption is the process of being drawn into a (usually larger) body or substrate, and adsorption is the process of deposition upon a surface. This can be used to remove both particulate and gaseous hazards. Although some form of reaction may take place, it is not necessary; the method may work by attractive charges. For example, if the target particles are positively charged, a negatively charged substrate may be used. Examples of substrates include activated carbon, and zeolites. This effect can be very simple and highly effective, for example using a damp cloth to cover the mouth and nose while escaping a fire. While this method can be effective at trapping particulates produced by combustion, it does not filter out harmful gases which may be toxic or which displace the oxygen required for survival.
Gas masks have a useful lifespan limited by the absorbent capacity of the filter. Filters cease to provide protection when saturated with hazardous chemicals, and degrade over time even if sealed. Most gas masks have sealing caps over the air intake and are stored in vacuum-sealed bags to prevent the filter from degrading due to exposure to humidity and pollutants in normal air. Unused gas mask filters from World War II may not protect the wearer at all, and could be harmful if worn due to long-term changes in the chemical composition of the filter.
Some World War II and Soviet Cold War gas masks contained chrysotile asbestos or crocidolite asbestos in their filters, not known to be harmful at the time. It is not reliably known for how long the materials were used in filters.
Typically, masks using 40 mm connections are a more recent design. Rubber degrades with time, so boxed unused "modern type" masks can be cracked and leak. The US C2 canister (black) contains hexavalent chromium; studies by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps found that the level in the filter was acceptable, but suggest caution when using, as it is a carcinogen.
The filter is selected according to the toxic compound. Each filter type protects against a particular hazard and is color-coded:
Particle filters are often included, because in many cases the hazardous materials are in the form of mist, which can be captured by the particle filter before entering the chemical adsorber. In Europe and jurisdictions with similar rules such as Russia and Australia, filter types are given suffix numbers to indicate their capacity. For non-particle hazards, the level "1" is assumed and a number "2" is used to indicate a better level. For particles (P), three levels are always given with the number. In the US, only the particle part is further classified by NIOSH air filtration ratings.
A filter type that can protect against multiple hazards is notated with the European symbols concatenated with each other. Examples include ABEK, ABEK-P3, and ABEK-HgP3. A2B2E2K2-P3 is the highest rating of filter available. An entirely different "multi/CBRN" filter class with an olive color is used in the US.
Filtration may be aided with an air pump to improve wearer comfort. Filtration of air is only possible if there is sufficient oxygen in the first place. Thus, when handling asphyxiants, or when ventilation is poor or the hazards are unknown, filtration is not possible and air must be supplied (with a SCBA system) from a pressurized bottle as in scuba diving.
A modern mask typically is constructed of an elastic polymer in various sizes. It is fitted with various adjustable straps which may be tightened to secure a good fit. Crucially, it is connected to a filter cartridge near the mouth either directly, or via a flexible hose. Some models contain drinking tubes which may be connected to a water bottle. Corrective lens inserts are also available for users who require them.
Masks are typically tested for fit before use. After a mask is fitted, it is often tested by various challenge agents. Isoamyl acetate, a synthetic banana flavourant, and camphor are often used as innocuous challenge agents. In the military, teargases such as CN, CS, and stannic chloride in a chamber may be used to give the users confidence in the efficacy of the mask.
The protection of a gas mask comes with some disadvantages. The wearer of a typical gas mask must exert extra effort to breathe, and some of the exhaled air is re-inhaled due to the dead space between the facepiece and the user's face. The exposure to carbon dioxide may exceed its OELs (0.5% by volume/9 grammes per cubic metre for an eight-hour shift; 1.4%/27 grammes per m for 15 minutes' exposure) by a factor of many times: for gas masks and elastomeric respirators, up to 2.6%); and in case of long-term use, headache, dermatitis and acne may appear. The UK HSE textbook recommends limiting the use of respirators without air supply (that is, not PAPR) to one hour.
This principle relies on substances harmful to humans being usually more reactive than air. This method of separation will use some form of generally reactive substance (for example an acid) coating or supported by some solid material. An example is synthetic resins. These can be created with different groups of atoms (usually called functional groups) that have different properties. Thus a resin can be tailored to a particular toxic group. When the reactive substance comes in contact with the resin, it will bond to it, removing it from the air stream. It may also exchange with a less harmful substance at this site.
Though it was crude, the hypo helmet was a stopgap measure for British troops in the trenches that offered at least some protection during a gas attack. As the months passed and poison gas was used more often, more sophisticated gas masks were developed and introduced. There are two main difficulties with gas mask design:
According to Popular Mechanics, "The common sponge was used in ancient Greece as a gas mask..."
The book of Ingenious Devices published in 850 by the Banū Mūsā brothers describes a gas mask which allowed the wearer to breathe safely in a toxic environment.
In 1785, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier invented a respirator.
Primitive respirator examples were used by miners and introduced by Alexander von Humboldt in 1799, when he worked as a mining engineer in Prussia. The forerunner to the modern gas mask was invented in 1847 by Lewis P. Haslett, a device that contained elements that allowed breathing through a nose and mouthpiece, inhalation of air through a bulb-shaped filter, and a vent to exhale air back into the atmosphere. First Facts states that a "gas mask resembling the modern type" was patented by Lewis Phectic Haslett of Louisville, Kentucky, who received a patent on June 12, 1849. U.S. patent #6,529 issued to Haslett, described the first "Inhaler or Lung Protector" that filtered dust from the air.
Early versions were constructed by the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse in 1854 and the physicist John Tyndall in the 1870s. Another early design was the "Safety Hood and Smoke Protector" invented by Garrett Morgan in 1912, and patented in 1914. It was a simple device consisting of a cotton hood with two hoses which hung down to the floor, allowing the wearer to breathe the safer air found there. In addition, moist sponges were inserted at the end of the hoses in order to better filter the air.
The First World War brought about the first need for mass-produced gas masks on both sides because of extensive use of chemical weapons. The German army successfully used poison gas for the first time against Allied troops at the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium on April 22, 1915. An immediate response was cotton wool wrapped in muslin, issued to the troops by May 1. This was followed by the Black Veil Respirator, invented by John Scott Haldane, which was a cotton pad soaked in an absorbent solution which was secured over the mouth using black cotton veiling.
Seeking to improve on the Black Veil respirator, Cluny MacPherson created a mask made of chemical-absorbing fabric which fitted over the entire head. A 50.5 cm × 48 cm (19.9 in × 18.9 in) canvas hood treated with chlorine-absorbing chemicals, and fitted with a transparent mica eyepiece. Macpherson presented his idea to the British War Office Anti-Gas Department on May 10, 1915; prototypes were developed soon after. The design was adopted by the British Army and introduced as the British Smoke Hood in June 1915; Macpherson was appointed to the War Office Committee for Protection against Poisonous Gases. More elaborate sorbent compounds were added later to further iterations of his helmet (PH helmet), to defeat other respiratory poison gases used such as phosgene, diphosgene and chloropicrin. In summer and autumn 1915, Edward Harrison, Bertram Lambert and John Sadd developed the Large Box Respirator. This canister gas mask had a tin can containing the absorbent materials by a hose and began to be issued in February 1916. A compact version, the Small Box Respirator, was made a universal issue from August 1916.
In the first gas masks of World War I, it was initially found that wood charcoal was a good absorbent of poison gases. Around 1918, it was found that charcoals made from the shells and seeds of various fruits and nuts such as coconuts, chestnuts, horse-chestnuts, and peach stones performed much better than wood charcoal. These waste materials were collected from the public in recycling programs to assist the war effort.
The first effective filtering activated charcoal gas mask in the world was invented in 1915 by Russian chemist Nikolay Zelinsky.
Also in World War I, since dogs were frequently used on the front lines, a special type of gas mask was developed that dogs were trained to wear. Other gas masks were developed during World War I and the time following for horses in the various mounted units that operated near the front lines. In America, thousands of gas masks were produced for American as well as Allied troops. Mine Safety Appliances was a chief producer. This mask was later used widely in industry.
The British Respirator, Anti-Gas (Light) was developed in 1943 by the British. It was made of plastic and rubber-like material that greatly reduced the weight and bulk compared to World War I gas masks, and fitted the user's face more snugly and comfortably. The main improvement was replacing the separate filter canister connected with a hose by an easily replaceable filter canister screwed on the side of the gas mask. Also, it had replaceable plastic lenses.
Gas mask development since has mirrored the development of chemical agents in warfare, filling the need to protect against ever more deadly threats, biological weapons, and radioactive dust in the nuclear era. However, for agents that cause harm through contact or penetration of the skin, such as blister agent or nerve agent, a gas mask alone is not sufficient protection, and full protective clothing must be worn in addition to protect from contact with the atmosphere. For reasons of civil defence and personal protection, individuals often buy gas masks since they believe that they protect against the harmful effects of an attack with nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) agents, which is only partially true, as gas masks protect only against respiratory absorption. Most military gas masks are designed to be capable of protecting against all NBC agents, but they can have filter canisters proof against those agents (heavier) or only against riot control agents and smoke (lighter and often used for training purposes). There are lightweight masks solely for protection against riot-control agents and not for NBC situations.
Although thorough training and the availability of gas masks and other protective equipment can nullify the casualty-causing effects of an attack by chemical agents, troops who are forced to operate in full protective gear are less efficient in completing tasks, tire easily, and may be affected psychologically by the threat of attack by those weapons. During the Cold War, it was seen as inevitable that there would be a constant NBC threat on the battlefield and so troops needed protection in which they could remain fully functional; thus, protective gear and especially gas masks have evolved to incorporate innovations in terms of increasing user comfort and compatibility with other equipment (from drinking devices to artificial respiration tubes, to communications systems etc.).
During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), Iraq developed its chemical weapons program with the help of European countries such as Germany and France and used them in a large scale against Iranians and Iraqi Kurds. Iran was unprepared for chemical warfare. In 1984, Iran received gas masks from the Republic of Korea and East Germany, but the Korean masks were not suited for the faces of non-East Asian people, the filter lasted for only 15 minutes, and the 5,000 masks bought from East Germany proved to be not gas masks but spray-painting goggles. As late as 1986, Iranian diplomats still travelled in Europe to buy active charcoal and models of filters to produce defensive gear domestically. In April 1988, Iran started domestic production of gas masks by the Iran Yasa factories. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A gas mask is an item of personal protective equipment used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas masks are also respirators, though the word gas mask is often used to refer to military equipment (such as a field protective mask), the scope used in this article. The gas mask only protects the user from digesting, inhaling, and contact through the eyes (many agents affect through eye contact). Most combined gas mask filters will last around 8 hours in a biological or chemical situation. Filters against specific chemical agents can last up to 20 hours.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Airborne toxic materials may be gaseous (for example, chlorine or mustard gas), or particulates (such as biological agents). Many filters provide protection from both types.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The first gas masks mostly used circular lenses made of glass, mica or cellulose acetate to allow vision. Glass and mica were quite brittle and needed frequent replacement. The later Triplex lens style (a cellulose acetate lens sandwiched between glass ones) became more popular, and alongside plain cellulose acetate they became the standard into the 1930s. Panoramic lenses were not popular until the 1930s, but there are some examples of those being used even during the war (Austro-Hungarian 15M). Later, stronger polycarbonate came into use.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Some masks have one or two compact air filter containers screwed onto inlets, while others have a large air filtration container connected to the gas mask via a hose that is sometimes confused with an air-supplied respirator in which an alternate supply of fresh air (oxygen tanks) is delivered.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Absorption is the process of being drawn into a (usually larger) body or substrate, and adsorption is the process of deposition upon a surface. This can be used to remove both particulate and gaseous hazards. Although some form of reaction may take place, it is not necessary; the method may work by attractive charges. For example, if the target particles are positively charged, a negatively charged substrate may be used. Examples of substrates include activated carbon, and zeolites. This effect can be very simple and highly effective, for example using a damp cloth to cover the mouth and nose while escaping a fire. While this method can be effective at trapping particulates produced by combustion, it does not filter out harmful gases which may be toxic or which displace the oxygen required for survival.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gas masks have a useful lifespan limited by the absorbent capacity of the filter. Filters cease to provide protection when saturated with hazardous chemicals, and degrade over time even if sealed. Most gas masks have sealing caps over the air intake and are stored in vacuum-sealed bags to prevent the filter from degrading due to exposure to humidity and pollutants in normal air. Unused gas mask filters from World War II may not protect the wearer at all, and could be harmful if worn due to long-term changes in the chemical composition of the filter.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Some World War II and Soviet Cold War gas masks contained chrysotile asbestos or crocidolite asbestos in their filters, not known to be harmful at the time. It is not reliably known for how long the materials were used in filters.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Typically, masks using 40 mm connections are a more recent design. Rubber degrades with time, so boxed unused \"modern type\" masks can be cracked and leak. The US C2 canister (black) contains hexavalent chromium; studies by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps found that the level in the filter was acceptable, but suggest caution when using, as it is a carcinogen.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The filter is selected according to the toxic compound. Each filter type protects against a particular hazard and is color-coded:",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Particle filters are often included, because in many cases the hazardous materials are in the form of mist, which can be captured by the particle filter before entering the chemical adsorber. In Europe and jurisdictions with similar rules such as Russia and Australia, filter types are given suffix numbers to indicate their capacity. For non-particle hazards, the level \"1\" is assumed and a number \"2\" is used to indicate a better level. For particles (P), three levels are always given with the number. In the US, only the particle part is further classified by NIOSH air filtration ratings.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A filter type that can protect against multiple hazards is notated with the European symbols concatenated with each other. Examples include ABEK, ABEK-P3, and ABEK-HgP3. A2B2E2K2-P3 is the highest rating of filter available. An entirely different \"multi/CBRN\" filter class with an olive color is used in the US.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Filtration may be aided with an air pump to improve wearer comfort. Filtration of air is only possible if there is sufficient oxygen in the first place. Thus, when handling asphyxiants, or when ventilation is poor or the hazards are unknown, filtration is not possible and air must be supplied (with a SCBA system) from a pressurized bottle as in scuba diving.",
"title": "Principles of construction"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "A modern mask typically is constructed of an elastic polymer in various sizes. It is fitted with various adjustable straps which may be tightened to secure a good fit. Crucially, it is connected to a filter cartridge near the mouth either directly, or via a flexible hose. Some models contain drinking tubes which may be connected to a water bottle. Corrective lens inserts are also available for users who require them.",
"title": "Use"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Masks are typically tested for fit before use. After a mask is fitted, it is often tested by various challenge agents. Isoamyl acetate, a synthetic banana flavourant, and camphor are often used as innocuous challenge agents. In the military, teargases such as CN, CS, and stannic chloride in a chamber may be used to give the users confidence in the efficacy of the mask.",
"title": "Use"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The protection of a gas mask comes with some disadvantages. The wearer of a typical gas mask must exert extra effort to breathe, and some of the exhaled air is re-inhaled due to the dead space between the facepiece and the user's face. The exposure to carbon dioxide may exceed its OELs (0.5% by volume/9 grammes per cubic metre for an eight-hour shift; 1.4%/27 grammes per m for 15 minutes' exposure) by a factor of many times: for gas masks and elastomeric respirators, up to 2.6%); and in case of long-term use, headache, dermatitis and acne may appear. The UK HSE textbook recommends limiting the use of respirators without air supply (that is, not PAPR) to one hour.",
"title": "Shortcomings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "This principle relies on substances harmful to humans being usually more reactive than air. This method of separation will use some form of generally reactive substance (for example an acid) coating or supported by some solid material. An example is synthetic resins. These can be created with different groups of atoms (usually called functional groups) that have different properties. Thus a resin can be tailored to a particular toxic group. When the reactive substance comes in contact with the resin, it will bond to it, removing it from the air stream. It may also exchange with a less harmful substance at this site.",
"title": "Reaction and exchange"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Though it was crude, the hypo helmet was a stopgap measure for British troops in the trenches that offered at least some protection during a gas attack. As the months passed and poison gas was used more often, more sophisticated gas masks were developed and introduced. There are two main difficulties with gas mask design:",
"title": "Reaction and exchange"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "According to Popular Mechanics, \"The common sponge was used in ancient Greece as a gas mask...\"",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The book of Ingenious Devices published in 850 by the Banū Mūsā brothers describes a gas mask which allowed the wearer to breathe safely in a toxic environment.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In 1785, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier invented a respirator.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Primitive respirator examples were used by miners and introduced by Alexander von Humboldt in 1799, when he worked as a mining engineer in Prussia. The forerunner to the modern gas mask was invented in 1847 by Lewis P. Haslett, a device that contained elements that allowed breathing through a nose and mouthpiece, inhalation of air through a bulb-shaped filter, and a vent to exhale air back into the atmosphere. First Facts states that a \"gas mask resembling the modern type\" was patented by Lewis Phectic Haslett of Louisville, Kentucky, who received a patent on June 12, 1849. U.S. patent #6,529 issued to Haslett, described the first \"Inhaler or Lung Protector\" that filtered dust from the air.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Early versions were constructed by the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse in 1854 and the physicist John Tyndall in the 1870s. Another early design was the \"Safety Hood and Smoke Protector\" invented by Garrett Morgan in 1912, and patented in 1914. It was a simple device consisting of a cotton hood with two hoses which hung down to the floor, allowing the wearer to breathe the safer air found there. In addition, moist sponges were inserted at the end of the hoses in order to better filter the air.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The First World War brought about the first need for mass-produced gas masks on both sides because of extensive use of chemical weapons. The German army successfully used poison gas for the first time against Allied troops at the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium on April 22, 1915. An immediate response was cotton wool wrapped in muslin, issued to the troops by May 1. This was followed by the Black Veil Respirator, invented by John Scott Haldane, which was a cotton pad soaked in an absorbent solution which was secured over the mouth using black cotton veiling.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Seeking to improve on the Black Veil respirator, Cluny MacPherson created a mask made of chemical-absorbing fabric which fitted over the entire head. A 50.5 cm × 48 cm (19.9 in × 18.9 in) canvas hood treated with chlorine-absorbing chemicals, and fitted with a transparent mica eyepiece. Macpherson presented his idea to the British War Office Anti-Gas Department on May 10, 1915; prototypes were developed soon after. The design was adopted by the British Army and introduced as the British Smoke Hood in June 1915; Macpherson was appointed to the War Office Committee for Protection against Poisonous Gases. More elaborate sorbent compounds were added later to further iterations of his helmet (PH helmet), to defeat other respiratory poison gases used such as phosgene, diphosgene and chloropicrin. In summer and autumn 1915, Edward Harrison, Bertram Lambert and John Sadd developed the Large Box Respirator. This canister gas mask had a tin can containing the absorbent materials by a hose and began to be issued in February 1916. A compact version, the Small Box Respirator, was made a universal issue from August 1916.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In the first gas masks of World War I, it was initially found that wood charcoal was a good absorbent of poison gases. Around 1918, it was found that charcoals made from the shells and seeds of various fruits and nuts such as coconuts, chestnuts, horse-chestnuts, and peach stones performed much better than wood charcoal. These waste materials were collected from the public in recycling programs to assist the war effort.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The first effective filtering activated charcoal gas mask in the world was invented in 1915 by Russian chemist Nikolay Zelinsky.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Also in World War I, since dogs were frequently used on the front lines, a special type of gas mask was developed that dogs were trained to wear. Other gas masks were developed during World War I and the time following for horses in the various mounted units that operated near the front lines. In America, thousands of gas masks were produced for American as well as Allied troops. Mine Safety Appliances was a chief producer. This mask was later used widely in industry.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The British Respirator, Anti-Gas (Light) was developed in 1943 by the British. It was made of plastic and rubber-like material that greatly reduced the weight and bulk compared to World War I gas masks, and fitted the user's face more snugly and comfortably. The main improvement was replacing the separate filter canister connected with a hose by an easily replaceable filter canister screwed on the side of the gas mask. Also, it had replaceable plastic lenses.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Gas mask development since has mirrored the development of chemical agents in warfare, filling the need to protect against ever more deadly threats, biological weapons, and radioactive dust in the nuclear era. However, for agents that cause harm through contact or penetration of the skin, such as blister agent or nerve agent, a gas mask alone is not sufficient protection, and full protective clothing must be worn in addition to protect from contact with the atmosphere. For reasons of civil defence and personal protection, individuals often buy gas masks since they believe that they protect against the harmful effects of an attack with nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) agents, which is only partially true, as gas masks protect only against respiratory absorption. Most military gas masks are designed to be capable of protecting against all NBC agents, but they can have filter canisters proof against those agents (heavier) or only against riot control agents and smoke (lighter and often used for training purposes). There are lightweight masks solely for protection against riot-control agents and not for NBC situations.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Although thorough training and the availability of gas masks and other protective equipment can nullify the casualty-causing effects of an attack by chemical agents, troops who are forced to operate in full protective gear are less efficient in completing tasks, tire easily, and may be affected psychologically by the threat of attack by those weapons. During the Cold War, it was seen as inevitable that there would be a constant NBC threat on the battlefield and so troops needed protection in which they could remain fully functional; thus, protective gear and especially gas masks have evolved to incorporate innovations in terms of increasing user comfort and compatibility with other equipment (from drinking devices to artificial respiration tubes, to communications systems etc.).",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), Iraq developed its chemical weapons program with the help of European countries such as Germany and France and used them in a large scale against Iranians and Iraqi Kurds. Iran was unprepared for chemical warfare. In 1984, Iran received gas masks from the Republic of Korea and East Germany, but the Korean masks were not suited for the faces of non-East Asian people, the filter lasted for only 15 minutes, and the 5,000 masks bought from East Germany proved to be not gas masks but spray-painting goggles. As late as 1986, Iranian diplomats still travelled in Europe to buy active charcoal and models of filters to produce defensive gear domestically. In April 1988, Iran started domestic production of gas masks by the Iran Yasa factories.",
"title": "History and development"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "",
"title": "History and development"
}
]
| A gas mask is an item of personal protective equipment used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas masks are also respirators, though the word gas mask is often used to refer to military equipment, the scope used in this article. The gas mask only protects the user from digesting, inhaling, and contact through the eyes. Most combined gas mask filters will last around 8 hours in a biological or chemical situation. Filters against specific chemical agents can last up to 20 hours. Airborne toxic materials may be gaseous, or particulates. Many filters provide protection from both types. The first gas masks mostly used circular lenses made of glass, mica or cellulose acetate to allow vision. Glass and mica were quite brittle and needed frequent replacement. The later Triplex lens style became more popular, and alongside plain cellulose acetate they became the standard into the 1930s. Panoramic lenses were not popular until the 1930s, but there are some examples of those being used even during the war. Later, stronger polycarbonate came into use. Some masks have one or two compact air filter containers screwed onto inlets, while others have a large air filtration container connected to the gas mask via a hose that is sometimes confused with an air-supplied respirator in which an alternate supply of fresh air is delivered. | 2001-10-26T10:59:51Z | 2023-12-10T06:09:05Z | [
"Template:When",
"Template:Cvt",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Gas masks",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Clarify",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Breathing apparatus",
"Template:N/A",
"Template:Unreferenced section",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Cite patent",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:About",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Clear",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Cite web"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mask |
12,775 | George Frideric Handel | George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (/ˈhændəl/; baptised Georg Friedrich Händel, German: [ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhɛndl̩] ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.
Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737, he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively, and addressed the middle class and made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742), he never composed an Italian opera again. His orchestral Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every British coronation since 1727. Almost blind, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man, and was given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Handel composed more than forty opere serie over a period of more than thirty years. Since the late 1960s, interest in Handel's music has grown. The musicologist Winton Dean wrote that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." His music was admired by Classical-era composers, especially Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Handel was born in 1685 (the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti) in Halle (Saale), Duchy of Magdeburg (then part of Brandenburg-Prussia). His parents were Georg Händel, aged 63, and Dorothea Taust. His father was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
Halle was a relatively prosperous city, home of a salt-mining industry and centre of trade (and member of the Hanseatic League). The Margrave of Brandenburg became the administrator of the archiepiscopal territories of Mainz, including Magdeburg when they converted, and by the early 17th century held his court in Halle, which attracted renowned musicians. Even the smaller churches all had "able organists and fair choirs", and humanities and the letters thrived (Shakespeare was performed in the theatres early in the 17th century). The Thirty Years' War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. However, since the middle of the war the city had been under the administration of the Duke of Saxony, and soon after the end of the war he would bring musicians trained in Dresden to his court in Weissenfels.
The arts and music, however, flourished only among the higher strata (not only in Halle but throughout Germany), of which Handel's family was not a part. Georg Händel (senior) was born at the beginning of the war and was apprenticed to a barber in Halle at the age of 14 after his father died. When he was 20, he married the widow of the official barber-surgeon of a suburb of Halle, inheriting his practice. With this, Georg determinedly began the process of becoming self-made; by dint of his "conservative, steady, thrifty, unadventurous" lifestyle, he guided the five children he had with Anna who reached adulthood into the medical profession (except his youngest daughter, who married a government official). Anna died in 1682. Within a year Georg married again, this time to the daughter of a Lutheran minister, Pastor Georg Taust of the Church of St. Bartholomew in Giebichenstein, who himself came from a long line of Lutheran pastors. George Frideric was the second child of this marriage; the first son was stillborn. Two younger sisters arrived afterwards: Dorthea Sophia, born on 6 October 1687, and Johanna Christiana, born on 10 January 1690.
Early in his life Handel is reported to have attended the Gymnasium in Halle, where the headmaster, Johann Praetorius [de], was reputed to be an ardent musician. Whether Handel remained there, and if he did for how long, is unknown, but many biographers suggest that he was withdrawn from school by his father, based on the characterization of him by Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring. Mainwaring is the source for almost all information (little as it is) of Handel's childhood, and much of that information came from J.C. Smith, Jr., Handel's confidant and copyist. Whether it came from Smith or elsewhere, Mainwaring frequently relates misinformation. It is from Mainwaring that the portrait comes of Handel's father as implacably opposed to any musical education. Mainwaring writes that Georg Händel was "alarmed" at Handel's very early propensity for music, "took every measure to oppose it", including forbidding any musical instrument in the house and preventing Handel from going to any house where they might be found. This did nothing to dampen young Handel's inclination; in fact, it did the reverse. Mainwaring tells the story of Handel's secret attic spinet: Handel "found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep". Although both John Hawkins and Charles Burney credited this tale, Schoelcher found it nearly "incredible" and a feat of "poetic imagination" and Lang considers it one of the unproven "romantic stories" that surrounded Handel's childhood. But Handel had to have had some experience with the keyboard to have made the impression in Weissenfels that resulted in his receiving formal musical training.
Sometime between the ages of seven and nine, Handel accompanied his father to Weissenfels, where he came under the notice of one whom Handel thereafter always regarded throughout life as his benefactor, Duke Johann Adolf I. Somehow Handel made his way to the court organ in the palace chapel of the Holy Trinity, where he surprised everyone with his playing. Overhearing this performance and noting the youth of the performer caused the Duke, whose suggestions were not to be disregarded, to recommend to Georg Händel that Handel be given musical instruction. Handel's father engaged the organist at the Halle parish church, the young Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, to instruct Handel. Zachow would be the only teacher that Handel ever had. Because of his church employment, Zachow was an organist "of the old school", reveling in fugues, canons, and counterpoint. But he was also familiar with developments in music across Europe and his own compositions "embraced the new concerted, dramatic style". When Zachow discovered the talent of Handel, he introduced him "to a vast collection of German and Italian music, which he possessed, sacred and profane, vocal and instrumental compositions of different schools, different styles, and of every master". Many traits considered "Handelian" can be traced back to Zachow's music. At the same time Handel continued practice on the harpsichord, and learned violin and organ, but according to Burney his special affection was for the hautbois (oboe). Schoelcher speculates that his youthful devotion to the instrument explains the large number of pieces he composed for oboe.
With respect to instruction in composition, in addition to having Handel apply himself to traditional fugue and cantus firmus work, Zachow, recognising Handel's precocious talents, systematically introduced Handel to the variety of styles and masterworks contained in his extensive library. He did this by requiring Handel to copy selected scores. "I used to write like the devil in those days", Handel recalled much later. Much of this copying was entered into a notebook that Handel maintained for the rest of his life. Although it has since disappeared, the notebook has been sufficiently described to understand what pieces Zachow wished Handel to study. Among the chief composers represented in this exercise book were Johann Krieger, an "old master" in the fugue and prominent organ composer, Johann Caspar Kerll, a representative of the "southern style" after his teacher Girolamo Frescobaldi and imitated later by Handel, Johann Jakob Froberger, an "internationalist" also closely studied by Buxtehude and Bach, and Georg Muffat, whose amalgam of French and Italian styles and his synthesis of musical forms influenced Handel.
Mainwaring writes that during this time Zachow had begun to have Handel assume some of his church duties. Zachow, Mainwaring asserts, was "often" absent, "from his love of company, and a cheerful glass", and Handel, therefore, performed on organ frequently. What is more, according to Mainwaring, Handel began composing, at the age of nine, church services for voice and instruments "and from that time actually did compose a service every week for three years successively." Mainwaring ends this chapter of Handel's life by concluding that three or four years had been enough to allow Handel to surpass Zachow, and Handel had become "impatient for another situation"; "Berlin was the place agreed upon." Carelessness with dates or sequences (and possibly imaginative interpretation by Mainwaring) makes this period confused.
Handel's father died on 11 February 1697. It was German custom for friends and family to compose funeral odes for a substantial burgher like Georg, and young Handel discharged his duty with a poem dated 18 February and signed with his name and (in deference to his father's wishes) "dedicated to the liberal arts." At the time Handel was studying either at Halle's Lutheran Gymnasium or the Latin School.
Mainwaring has Handel travelling to Berlin the next year, 1698. The problem with Mainwaring as an authority for this date, however, is that he tells of how Handel's father communicated with the "king" during Handel's stay, declining the Court's offer to send Handel to Italy on a stipend and that his father died "after his return from Berlin." But since Georg Händel died in 1697, either the date of the trip or Mainwaring's statements about Handel's father must be in error. Early biographers solved the problem by making the year of the trip 1696, then noting that at the age of 11 Handel would need a guardian, so they have Handel's father or a friend of the family accompany him, all the while puzzling over why the elder Handel, who wanted Handel to become a lawyer, would spend the sum to lead his son further into the temptation of music as a career. Schoelcher for example has Handel travelling to Berlin at 11, meeting both Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti in Berlin and then returning at the direction of his father. But Ariosti was not in Berlin before the death of Handel's father, and Handel could not have met Bononcini in Berlin before 1702. Modern biographers either accept the year as 1698, since most reliable older authorities agree with it, and discount what Mainwaring says about what took place during the trip or assume that Mainwaring conflated two or more visits to Berlin, as he did with Handel's later trips to Venice.
Perhaps to fulfil a promise to his father or simply because he saw himself as "dedicated to the liberal arts", on 10 February 1702 Handel matriculated at the University of Halle. That university had only recently been founded. In 1694, the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick III (later Prussian King Frederick I) created the school, largely to provide a lecture forum for the jurist Christian Thomasius who had been expelled from Leipzig for his liberal views. Handel did not enrol in the faculty of law, although he almost certainly attended lectures. Thomasius was an intellectual and academic crusader, who was the first German academic to lecture in German and also denounced witch trials. Lang believes that Thomasius instilled in Handel a "respect for the dignity and freedom of man's mind and the solemn majesty of the law", principles that would have drawn him to and kept him in England for half a century. Handel also there encountered theologian and professor of Oriental languages August Hermann Francke, who was particularly solicitous of children, especially orphans. The orphanage he founded became a model for Germany, and undoubtedly influenced Handel's own charitable impulse, when he assigned the rights of Messiah to London's Foundling Hospital.
Shortly after commencing his university education, Handel (though Lutheran) on 13 March 1702 accepted the position of organist at the Calvinist Cathedral in Halle, the Domkirche, replacing J. C. Leporin, for whom he had acted as assistant. The position, which was a one-year probationary appointment, showed the foundation he had received from Zachow, for a church organist and cantor was a highly prestigious office. From it he received 5 thalers a year and lodgings in the run-down castle of Moritzburg.
Around this same time, Handel made the acquaintance of Telemann. Four years Handel's senior, Telemann was studying law at Leipzig and was assisting cantor Johann Kuhnau (Bach's predecessor at the Thomaskirche there). Telemann recalled forty years later in an autobiography for Mattheson's Grundlage: "The writing of the excellent Johann Kuhnau served as a model for me in fugue and counterpoint; but in fashioning melodic movements and examining them Handel and I were constantly occupied, frequently visiting each other as well as writing letters."
Although Mainwaring records that Handel wrote weekly when assistant to Zachow and as probationary organist at Domkirche part of his duty was to provide suitable music, no sacred compositions from his Halle period can now be identified. Mattheson, however, summarised his opinion of Handel's church cantatas written in Halle: "Handel in those days set very, very long arias and sheerly unending cantatas which, while not possessing the proper knack or correct taste, were perfect so far as harmony is concerned."
Early chamber works do exist, but it is difficult to date any of them to Handel's time in Halle. Many historians until recently followed Chrysander and designated the six trio sonatas for two oboes and basso continuo as his first known composition, supposedly written in 1696 (when Handel was 11). Lang doubts the dating based on a handwritten date of a copy (1700) and stylistic considerations. Lang writes that the works "show thorough acquaintance with the distilled sonata style of the Corelli school" and are notable for "the formal security and the cleanness of the texture." Hogwood considers all of the oboe trio sonatas spurious and even suggests that some parts cannot be performed on oboe. That authentic manuscript sources do not exist and that Handel never recycled any material from these works makes their authenticity doubtful. Other early chamber works were printed in Amsterdam in 1724 as opus 1, but it is impossible to tell which are early works in their original form, rather than later re-workings by Handel, a frequent practice of his.
Handel's probationary appointment to Domkirche expired in March 1703. By July Handel was in Hamburg. Since he left no explanation for the move biographers have offered their own speculation. Donald Burrows believes that the answer can be found by untangling Mainwaring's confused chronology of the trip to Berlin. Burrows dates this trip to 1702 or 1703 (after his father's death) and concluded that since Handel (through a "friend and relation" at the Berlin court) turned down Frederick's offer to subsidise his musical education in Italy (with the implicit understanding that he would become a court musician on his return), Handel was no longer able to expect preferment (whether as a musician, lawyer or otherwise) within Brandenburg-Prussia. Since he was attracted to secular, dramatic music (by meeting the Italians Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti and through the influence of Telemann), Hamburg, a free city with an established opera company, was the logical choice. The question remains, however, why Handel rejected the King's offer, given that Italy was the centre of opera. Lang suggests that influenced by the teachings of Thomasius, Handel's character was such that he was unable to make himself subservient to anyone, even a king. Lang sees Handel as someone who could not accept class distinctions that required him to regard himself as a social inferior. "What Handel craved was personal freedom to raise himself out of his provincial milieu to a life of culture." Burrows notes that, like his father, Handel was able to accept royal (and aristocratic) favours without considering himself a court servant; and so, given the embarrassed financial condition of his mother, Handel set off for Hamburg to obtain experience while supporting himself.
In 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt. There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. Handel's first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705. He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.
According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici. (Other sources say Handel was invited by Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–04 in Hamburg.) Ferdinando, who had a keen interest in opera, was trying to make Florence Italy's musical capital by attracting the leading talents of his day. In Italy, Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of duchess Aurora Sanseverino (whom Mainwaring called "Donna Laura") one of the most influential patrons from the Kingdom of Naples, and cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La resurrezione and Il trionfo del tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707. Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style, applauded for Il caro Sassone ("the dear Saxon" – referring to Handel's German origins).
In June 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, the Elector of Hanover, but left at the end of the year. It is likely he was also invited by Charles Montagu the former ambassador in Venice to visit England. He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works. This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.
Handel went back to Halle twice, to attend the wedding of his sister and the baptism of her daughter, but decided to settle permanently in England in 1712. In the summer of 1713, he lived at Mr. Mathew Andrews' estate in Barn Elms, Surrey. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.
One of his most important patrons was the 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, a young and extremely wealthy member of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family. While living in the mansion of Lord Burlington, Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a "magic" opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.
The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination and he composed no operas for five years. In July 1717, Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the River Thames for King George I and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between Handel and the king, supposedly annoyed by the composer's abandonment of his Hanover post.
In 1717, Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the Chandos Anthems. Romain Rolland wrote that these anthems (or Psalms) stood in relation to Handel's oratorios, much the same way that the Italian cantatas stood to his operas: "splendid sketches of the more monumental works." Another work, which he wrote for The 1st Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime, it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote that "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".
In 1719, the Duke of Chandos became one of the composer's important patrons and a primary subscriber to his new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, though his patronage declined after Chandos lost large sums of money in the South Sea Bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in the South Sea Company in 1716, when its share prices were low and sold them before the "bubble" burst in 1720. In 1720, Handel invested in the slave-trading Royal African Company (RAC), following in the steps of his patron (the Duke of Chandos was one of the leading investors in the RAC). As noted by music historian David Hunter, 32 per cent of the subscribers and investors in the Royal Academy of Music, or their close family members, held investments in the RAC as well.
In May 1719, The 1st Duke of Newcastle, the Lord Chamberlain, ordered Handel to look for new singers. Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged members of the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis. By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life. This house, where he rehearsed, copied music, and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum. During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived, was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.
In 1727, Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the Coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since. The words to Zadok the Priest are taken from the King James Bible. In 1728, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which made fun of the type of Italian opera Handel had popularised in London, premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time. After nine years the Royal Academy of Music ceased to function but Handel soon started a new company.
The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now His Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there. In 1729, Handel became joint manager of the theatre with John James Heidegger.
Handel travelled to Italy to engage new singers and also composed seven more operas, among them the comic masterpiece Partenope and the "magic" opera Orlando. After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolph Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel composed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne, Princess Royal.
Despite the problems the Opera of the Nobility was causing him at the time, Handel's neighbour in Brook Street, Mary Delany, reported on a party she invited Handel to at her house on 12 April 1734 where he was in good spirits:
I had Lady Rich and her daughter, Lady Cath. Hanmer and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Percival, Sir John Stanley and my brother, Mrs. Donellan, Strada [star soprano of Handel's operas] and Mr. Coot. Lord Shaftesbury begged of Mr. Percival to bring him, and being a profess'd friend of Mr. Handel (who was here also) was admitted; I never was so well entertained at an opera! Mr. Handel was in the best humour in the world, and played lessons and accompanied Strada and all the ladies that sang from seven o'clock till eleven. I gave them tea and coffee, and about half an hour after nine had a salver brought in of chocolate, mulled white wine, and biscuits. Everybody was easy and seemed pleased.
In 1733, the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs." The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsicore. In 1735, he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time, Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias. Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act. Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.
Early 1737 he had produced Arminio and Giustino, completed Berenice, revived Partenope, and continued with Il Parnasso in Festa, Alexander's Feast, and the revised The Triumph of Time and Truth which premiered on 23 March. In April Handel suffered a mild stroke, or rheumatic palsy, resulting in temporary paralysis in his right hand and arm. After brief signs of a recovery, he had a relapse in May, with an accompanying deterioration in his mental capacities. He had strong competition from John Frederick Lampe; The Dragon of Wantley was first performed at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket in London on 16 May 1737. It was a parody of the Italian opera seria.
In Autumn 1737 the fatigued Handel reluctantly followed the advice of his physicians and went to take the cure in the spa towns of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Aix-la-Chapelle (Burtscheid) in September. All the symptoms of his "disorder" vanished by November. On Christmas Eve Handel finished the score of Faramondo, but its composition was interrupted by that of the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. On Boxing Day he began the composition of Serse, the only comic opera that Handel ever wrote and worked with Elisabeth Duparc.
A harp and organ concerto (HWV 294) and Alexander's Feast were published in 1738 by John Walsh. He composed music for a musical clock with a pipe organ built by Charles Clay; it was bought by Gerrit Braamcamp and was in 2016 acquired by the Museum Speelklok in Utrecht. Deidamia, his last opera, a co-production with the Earl of Holderness, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.
Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure. Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again. Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the coronation anthems and Athaliah, his third English Oratorio. In these three oratorios Handel laid the foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios. Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.
It is evident how much he learned from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus. Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists with English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas. Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the singers appeared in their own clothes.
In 1736, Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life. The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy". Saul and Israel in Egypt, both from 1739, head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo aria became the exception and not the rule. Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works, Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background. L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.
During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin, capital of the Kingdom of Ireland, to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals. His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating. Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.
In 1747, Handel wrote his oratorio Alexander Balus. This work was produced at Covent Garden Theatre in London, on 23 March 1748, and to the aria Hark! hark! He strikes the golden lyre, Handel wrote the accompaniment for mandolin, harp, violin, viola, and violoncello. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon, was first performed on 17 March 1749 at the Covent Garden Theatre. Solomon contains a short and lively instrumental passage for two oboes and strings in act 3, known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba".
The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly important in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.
In 1749, Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance. In 1750, he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital, a children's home in London. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death. His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.
In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands. In 1751, one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This did not improve his eyesight and possibly made it worse. He was completely blind by 1752. He died in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at the age of 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey. More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.
Handel never married and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna, but four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.
Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760. The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).
Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 25 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, odes and serenatas, solo and trio sonatas, 18 concerti grossi, and 12 organ concertos. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music. The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague holds Mozart's copy of Messiah, complete with handwritten annotations. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ concertos Op. 4 and Op. 7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 Concerti grossi; the latter incorporates an earlier organ concerto, The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his 16 keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.
The first published catalogue of Handel's works appeared as an appendix to Mainwaring's Memoirs. Between 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however, it was far from complete. Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (founded by Sir George Macfarren).
The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft ("Handel Society") edition was published between 1858 and 1902 – mainly due to the efforts of Friedrich Chrysander. For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th-century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson, are incomplete.
The continuing Hallische Händel-Ausgabe edition was first inaugurated in 1955 in the Halle region in Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany. It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor, reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985, a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition. The reunification of Germany in 1990 removed communication problems, and the volumes issued have since shown a significant improvement in standards.
Between 1978 and 1986 the German academic Bernd Baselt catalogued Handel's works in his Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis publication. The catalogue has achieved wide acceptance and is used as the modern numbering system, with each of Handel's works designated an "HWV" number – for example, Messiah is catalogued as "HWV 56".
Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw–Hellier Collection, and the abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm". With his English oratorios, such as Messiah and Solomon, the coronation anthems, and other works including Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, Handel became a national icon in Britain, and featured in the BBC series The Birth of British Music: Handel – The Conquering Hero.
After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, "Ombra mai fu". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated German versions of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions. The centenary of his death, in 1859, was celebrated by a performance of Messiah at The Crystal Palace, involving 2,765 singers and 460 instrumentalists, who played for an audience of about 10,000 people.
Recent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes fully staged as operas. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.
Handel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since. Johann Sebastian Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet Handel while he was visiting Halle. (Handel was born in the same year as Bach and Domenico Scarlatti.) Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt." To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb." Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means."
Since 1831, when William Crotch raised the issue in his Substance of Several Lectures on Music, scholars have extensively studied Handel's "borrowing" of music from other composers. Summarising the field in 2005, Richard Taruskin wrote that Handel "seems to have been the champion of all parodists, adapting both his own works and those of other composers in unparalleled numbers and with unparalleled exactitude." Among the composers whose music has been shown to have been re-used by Handel are Alessandro Stradella, Gottlieb Muffat, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti Giacomo Carissimi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Heinrich Graun, Leonardo Vinci, Jacobus Gallus, Francesco Antonio Urio, Reinhard Keiser, Francesco Gasparini, Giovanni Bononcini, William Boyce, Henry Lawes, Michael Wise, Agostino Steffani, Franz Johann Habermann, and numerous others.
In an essay published in 1985, John H. Roberts demonstrated that Handel's borrowings were unusually frequent even for his own era, enough to have been criticised by contemporaries (notably Johann Mattheson); Roberts suggested several reasons for Handel's practice, including Handel's attempts to make certain works sound more up-to-date and more radically, his "basic lack of facility in inventing original ideas" – though Roberts took care to argue that this does not "diminish Handel's stature", which should be "judged not by his methods, still less by his motives in employing them, but solely by the effects he achieves."
After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797, Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on "See the conqu’ring hero comes" from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. In 1822, Beethoven composed the overture The Consecration of the House, which also bears the influence of Handel. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord.
In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes; for example, his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's 'The Harmonious Blacksmith' . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.
In the Lutheran Calendar of Saints Handel and Bach share the date 28 July with Heinrich Schütz, and Handel and Bach are commemorated in the calendar of saints prepared by the Order of Saint Luke for the use of the United Methodist Church. The Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) commemorates him on 20 April.
In 1942, Handel was the subject of the British biographical film The Great Mr. Handel directed by Norman Walker and starring Wilfrid Lawson. It was made at Denham Studios by the Rank Organisation, and shot in Technicolor. He is also the central character in the television films God Rot Tunbridge Wells! (1985) and Handel's Last Chance (1996) and the stage play All the Angels (2015). Handel was portrayed by Jeroen Krabbé as the antagonist in the film Farinelli (1994). | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (/ˈhændəl/; baptised Georg Friedrich Händel, German: [ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhɛndl̩] ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the \"high baroque\" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737, he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively, and addressed the middle class and made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742), he never composed an Italian opera again. His orchestral Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every British coronation since 1727. Almost blind, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man, and was given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Handel composed more than forty opere serie over a period of more than thirty years. Since the late 1960s, interest in Handel's music has grown. The musicologist Winton Dean wrote that \"Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order.\" His music was admired by Classical-era composers, especially Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Handel was born in 1685 (the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti) in Halle (Saale), Duchy of Magdeburg (then part of Brandenburg-Prussia). His parents were Georg Händel, aged 63, and Dorothea Taust. His father was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Halle was a relatively prosperous city, home of a salt-mining industry and centre of trade (and member of the Hanseatic League). The Margrave of Brandenburg became the administrator of the archiepiscopal territories of Mainz, including Magdeburg when they converted, and by the early 17th century held his court in Halle, which attracted renowned musicians. Even the smaller churches all had \"able organists and fair choirs\", and humanities and the letters thrived (Shakespeare was performed in the theatres early in the 17th century). The Thirty Years' War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. However, since the middle of the war the city had been under the administration of the Duke of Saxony, and soon after the end of the war he would bring musicians trained in Dresden to his court in Weissenfels.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The arts and music, however, flourished only among the higher strata (not only in Halle but throughout Germany), of which Handel's family was not a part. Georg Händel (senior) was born at the beginning of the war and was apprenticed to a barber in Halle at the age of 14 after his father died. When he was 20, he married the widow of the official barber-surgeon of a suburb of Halle, inheriting his practice. With this, Georg determinedly began the process of becoming self-made; by dint of his \"conservative, steady, thrifty, unadventurous\" lifestyle, he guided the five children he had with Anna who reached adulthood into the medical profession (except his youngest daughter, who married a government official). Anna died in 1682. Within a year Georg married again, this time to the daughter of a Lutheran minister, Pastor Georg Taust of the Church of St. Bartholomew in Giebichenstein, who himself came from a long line of Lutheran pastors. George Frideric was the second child of this marriage; the first son was stillborn. Two younger sisters arrived afterwards: Dorthea Sophia, born on 6 October 1687, and Johanna Christiana, born on 10 January 1690.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Early in his life Handel is reported to have attended the Gymnasium in Halle, where the headmaster, Johann Praetorius [de], was reputed to be an ardent musician. Whether Handel remained there, and if he did for how long, is unknown, but many biographers suggest that he was withdrawn from school by his father, based on the characterization of him by Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring. Mainwaring is the source for almost all information (little as it is) of Handel's childhood, and much of that information came from J.C. Smith, Jr., Handel's confidant and copyist. Whether it came from Smith or elsewhere, Mainwaring frequently relates misinformation. It is from Mainwaring that the portrait comes of Handel's father as implacably opposed to any musical education. Mainwaring writes that Georg Händel was \"alarmed\" at Handel's very early propensity for music, \"took every measure to oppose it\", including forbidding any musical instrument in the house and preventing Handel from going to any house where they might be found. This did nothing to dampen young Handel's inclination; in fact, it did the reverse. Mainwaring tells the story of Handel's secret attic spinet: Handel \"found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep\". Although both John Hawkins and Charles Burney credited this tale, Schoelcher found it nearly \"incredible\" and a feat of \"poetic imagination\" and Lang considers it one of the unproven \"romantic stories\" that surrounded Handel's childhood. But Handel had to have had some experience with the keyboard to have made the impression in Weissenfels that resulted in his receiving formal musical training.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Sometime between the ages of seven and nine, Handel accompanied his father to Weissenfels, where he came under the notice of one whom Handel thereafter always regarded throughout life as his benefactor, Duke Johann Adolf I. Somehow Handel made his way to the court organ in the palace chapel of the Holy Trinity, where he surprised everyone with his playing. Overhearing this performance and noting the youth of the performer caused the Duke, whose suggestions were not to be disregarded, to recommend to Georg Händel that Handel be given musical instruction. Handel's father engaged the organist at the Halle parish church, the young Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, to instruct Handel. Zachow would be the only teacher that Handel ever had. Because of his church employment, Zachow was an organist \"of the old school\", reveling in fugues, canons, and counterpoint. But he was also familiar with developments in music across Europe and his own compositions \"embraced the new concerted, dramatic style\". When Zachow discovered the talent of Handel, he introduced him \"to a vast collection of German and Italian music, which he possessed, sacred and profane, vocal and instrumental compositions of different schools, different styles, and of every master\". Many traits considered \"Handelian\" can be traced back to Zachow's music. At the same time Handel continued practice on the harpsichord, and learned violin and organ, but according to Burney his special affection was for the hautbois (oboe). Schoelcher speculates that his youthful devotion to the instrument explains the large number of pieces he composed for oboe.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "With respect to instruction in composition, in addition to having Handel apply himself to traditional fugue and cantus firmus work, Zachow, recognising Handel's precocious talents, systematically introduced Handel to the variety of styles and masterworks contained in his extensive library. He did this by requiring Handel to copy selected scores. \"I used to write like the devil in those days\", Handel recalled much later. Much of this copying was entered into a notebook that Handel maintained for the rest of his life. Although it has since disappeared, the notebook has been sufficiently described to understand what pieces Zachow wished Handel to study. Among the chief composers represented in this exercise book were Johann Krieger, an \"old master\" in the fugue and prominent organ composer, Johann Caspar Kerll, a representative of the \"southern style\" after his teacher Girolamo Frescobaldi and imitated later by Handel, Johann Jakob Froberger, an \"internationalist\" also closely studied by Buxtehude and Bach, and Georg Muffat, whose amalgam of French and Italian styles and his synthesis of musical forms influenced Handel.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Mainwaring writes that during this time Zachow had begun to have Handel assume some of his church duties. Zachow, Mainwaring asserts, was \"often\" absent, \"from his love of company, and a cheerful glass\", and Handel, therefore, performed on organ frequently. What is more, according to Mainwaring, Handel began composing, at the age of nine, church services for voice and instruments \"and from that time actually did compose a service every week for three years successively.\" Mainwaring ends this chapter of Handel's life by concluding that three or four years had been enough to allow Handel to surpass Zachow, and Handel had become \"impatient for another situation\"; \"Berlin was the place agreed upon.\" Carelessness with dates or sequences (and possibly imaginative interpretation by Mainwaring) makes this period confused.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Handel's father died on 11 February 1697. It was German custom for friends and family to compose funeral odes for a substantial burgher like Georg, and young Handel discharged his duty with a poem dated 18 February and signed with his name and (in deference to his father's wishes) \"dedicated to the liberal arts.\" At the time Handel was studying either at Halle's Lutheran Gymnasium or the Latin School.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Mainwaring has Handel travelling to Berlin the next year, 1698. The problem with Mainwaring as an authority for this date, however, is that he tells of how Handel's father communicated with the \"king\" during Handel's stay, declining the Court's offer to send Handel to Italy on a stipend and that his father died \"after his return from Berlin.\" But since Georg Händel died in 1697, either the date of the trip or Mainwaring's statements about Handel's father must be in error. Early biographers solved the problem by making the year of the trip 1696, then noting that at the age of 11 Handel would need a guardian, so they have Handel's father or a friend of the family accompany him, all the while puzzling over why the elder Handel, who wanted Handel to become a lawyer, would spend the sum to lead his son further into the temptation of music as a career. Schoelcher for example has Handel travelling to Berlin at 11, meeting both Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti in Berlin and then returning at the direction of his father. But Ariosti was not in Berlin before the death of Handel's father, and Handel could not have met Bononcini in Berlin before 1702. Modern biographers either accept the year as 1698, since most reliable older authorities agree with it, and discount what Mainwaring says about what took place during the trip or assume that Mainwaring conflated two or more visits to Berlin, as he did with Handel's later trips to Venice.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Perhaps to fulfil a promise to his father or simply because he saw himself as \"dedicated to the liberal arts\", on 10 February 1702 Handel matriculated at the University of Halle. That university had only recently been founded. In 1694, the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick III (later Prussian King Frederick I) created the school, largely to provide a lecture forum for the jurist Christian Thomasius who had been expelled from Leipzig for his liberal views. Handel did not enrol in the faculty of law, although he almost certainly attended lectures. Thomasius was an intellectual and academic crusader, who was the first German academic to lecture in German and also denounced witch trials. Lang believes that Thomasius instilled in Handel a \"respect for the dignity and freedom of man's mind and the solemn majesty of the law\", principles that would have drawn him to and kept him in England for half a century. Handel also there encountered theologian and professor of Oriental languages August Hermann Francke, who was particularly solicitous of children, especially orphans. The orphanage he founded became a model for Germany, and undoubtedly influenced Handel's own charitable impulse, when he assigned the rights of Messiah to London's Foundling Hospital.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Shortly after commencing his university education, Handel (though Lutheran) on 13 March 1702 accepted the position of organist at the Calvinist Cathedral in Halle, the Domkirche, replacing J. C. Leporin, for whom he had acted as assistant. The position, which was a one-year probationary appointment, showed the foundation he had received from Zachow, for a church organist and cantor was a highly prestigious office. From it he received 5 thalers a year and lodgings in the run-down castle of Moritzburg.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Around this same time, Handel made the acquaintance of Telemann. Four years Handel's senior, Telemann was studying law at Leipzig and was assisting cantor Johann Kuhnau (Bach's predecessor at the Thomaskirche there). Telemann recalled forty years later in an autobiography for Mattheson's Grundlage: \"The writing of the excellent Johann Kuhnau served as a model for me in fugue and counterpoint; but in fashioning melodic movements and examining them Handel and I were constantly occupied, frequently visiting each other as well as writing letters.\"",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Although Mainwaring records that Handel wrote weekly when assistant to Zachow and as probationary organist at Domkirche part of his duty was to provide suitable music, no sacred compositions from his Halle period can now be identified. Mattheson, however, summarised his opinion of Handel's church cantatas written in Halle: \"Handel in those days set very, very long arias and sheerly unending cantatas which, while not possessing the proper knack or correct taste, were perfect so far as harmony is concerned.\"",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Early chamber works do exist, but it is difficult to date any of them to Handel's time in Halle. Many historians until recently followed Chrysander and designated the six trio sonatas for two oboes and basso continuo as his first known composition, supposedly written in 1696 (when Handel was 11). Lang doubts the dating based on a handwritten date of a copy (1700) and stylistic considerations. Lang writes that the works \"show thorough acquaintance with the distilled sonata style of the Corelli school\" and are notable for \"the formal security and the cleanness of the texture.\" Hogwood considers all of the oboe trio sonatas spurious and even suggests that some parts cannot be performed on oboe. That authentic manuscript sources do not exist and that Handel never recycled any material from these works makes their authenticity doubtful. Other early chamber works were printed in Amsterdam in 1724 as opus 1, but it is impossible to tell which are early works in their original form, rather than later re-workings by Handel, a frequent practice of his.",
"title": "Early years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Handel's probationary appointment to Domkirche expired in March 1703. By July Handel was in Hamburg. Since he left no explanation for the move biographers have offered their own speculation. Donald Burrows believes that the answer can be found by untangling Mainwaring's confused chronology of the trip to Berlin. Burrows dates this trip to 1702 or 1703 (after his father's death) and concluded that since Handel (through a \"friend and relation\" at the Berlin court) turned down Frederick's offer to subsidise his musical education in Italy (with the implicit understanding that he would become a court musician on his return), Handel was no longer able to expect preferment (whether as a musician, lawyer or otherwise) within Brandenburg-Prussia. Since he was attracted to secular, dramatic music (by meeting the Italians Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti and through the influence of Telemann), Hamburg, a free city with an established opera company, was the logical choice. The question remains, however, why Handel rejected the King's offer, given that Italy was the centre of opera. Lang suggests that influenced by the teachings of Thomasius, Handel's character was such that he was unable to make himself subservient to anyone, even a king. Lang sees Handel as someone who could not accept class distinctions that required him to regard himself as a social inferior. \"What Handel craved was personal freedom to raise himself out of his provincial milieu to a life of culture.\" Burrows notes that, like his father, Handel was able to accept royal (and aristocratic) favours without considering himself a court servant; and so, given the embarrassed financial condition of his mother, Handel set off for Hamburg to obtain experience while supporting himself.",
"title": "From Hamburg to Italy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt. There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. Handel's first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705. He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.",
"title": "From Hamburg to Italy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici. (Other sources say Handel was invited by Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–04 in Hamburg.) Ferdinando, who had a keen interest in opera, was trying to make Florence Italy's musical capital by attracting the leading talents of his day. In Italy, Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of duchess Aurora Sanseverino (whom Mainwaring called \"Donna Laura\") one of the most influential patrons from the Kingdom of Naples, and cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La resurrezione and Il trionfo del tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707. Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style, applauded for Il caro Sassone (\"the dear Saxon\" – referring to Handel's German origins).",
"title": "From Hamburg to Italy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In June 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, the Elector of Hanover, but left at the end of the year. It is likely he was also invited by Charles Montagu the former ambassador in Venice to visit England. He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works. This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Handel went back to Halle twice, to attend the wedding of his sister and the baptism of her daughter, but decided to settle permanently in England in 1712. In the summer of 1713, he lived at Mr. Mathew Andrews' estate in Barn Elms, Surrey. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "One of his most important patrons was the 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, a young and extremely wealthy member of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family. While living in the mansion of Lord Burlington, Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a \"magic\" opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination and he composed no operas for five years. In July 1717, Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the River Thames for King George I and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between Handel and the king, supposedly annoyed by the composer's abandonment of his Hanover post.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 1717, Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the Chandos Anthems. Romain Rolland wrote that these anthems (or Psalms) stood in relation to Handel's oratorios, much the same way that the Italian cantatas stood to his operas: \"splendid sketches of the more monumental works.\" Another work, which he wrote for The 1st Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime, it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote that \"the music catches breath and disturbs the memory\".",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "In 1719, the Duke of Chandos became one of the composer's important patrons and a primary subscriber to his new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, though his patronage declined after Chandos lost large sums of money in the South Sea Bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in the South Sea Company in 1716, when its share prices were low and sold them before the \"bubble\" burst in 1720. In 1720, Handel invested in the slave-trading Royal African Company (RAC), following in the steps of his patron (the Duke of Chandos was one of the leading investors in the RAC). As noted by music historian David Hunter, 32 per cent of the subscribers and investors in the Royal Academy of Music, or their close family members, held investments in the RAC as well.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In May 1719, The 1st Duke of Newcastle, the Lord Chamberlain, ordered Handel to look for new singers. Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged members of the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis. By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life. This house, where he rehearsed, copied music, and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum. During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived, was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "In 1727, Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the Coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since. The words to Zadok the Priest are taken from the King James Bible. In 1728, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which made fun of the type of Italian opera Handel had popularised in London, premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time. After nine years the Royal Academy of Music ceased to function but Handel soon started a new company.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now His Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there. In 1729, Handel became joint manager of the theatre with John James Heidegger.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Handel travelled to Italy to engage new singers and also composed seven more operas, among them the comic masterpiece Partenope and the \"magic\" opera Orlando. After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolph Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel composed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne, Princess Royal.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Despite the problems the Opera of the Nobility was causing him at the time, Handel's neighbour in Brook Street, Mary Delany, reported on a party she invited Handel to at her house on 12 April 1734 where he was in good spirits:",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "I had Lady Rich and her daughter, Lady Cath. Hanmer and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Percival, Sir John Stanley and my brother, Mrs. Donellan, Strada [star soprano of Handel's operas] and Mr. Coot. Lord Shaftesbury begged of Mr. Percival to bring him, and being a profess'd friend of Mr. Handel (who was here also) was admitted; I never was so well entertained at an opera! Mr. Handel was in the best humour in the world, and played lessons and accompanied Strada and all the ladies that sang from seven o'clock till eleven. I gave them tea and coffee, and about half an hour after nine had a salver brought in of chocolate, mulled white wine, and biscuits. Everybody was easy and seemed pleased.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "In 1733, the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: \"Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs.\" The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsicore. In 1735, he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time, Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias. Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act. Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Early 1737 he had produced Arminio and Giustino, completed Berenice, revived Partenope, and continued with Il Parnasso in Festa, Alexander's Feast, and the revised The Triumph of Time and Truth which premiered on 23 March. In April Handel suffered a mild stroke, or rheumatic palsy, resulting in temporary paralysis in his right hand and arm. After brief signs of a recovery, he had a relapse in May, with an accompanying deterioration in his mental capacities. He had strong competition from John Frederick Lampe; The Dragon of Wantley was first performed at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket in London on 16 May 1737. It was a parody of the Italian opera seria.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "In Autumn 1737 the fatigued Handel reluctantly followed the advice of his physicians and went to take the cure in the spa towns of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Aix-la-Chapelle (Burtscheid) in September. All the symptoms of his \"disorder\" vanished by November. On Christmas Eve Handel finished the score of Faramondo, but its composition was interrupted by that of the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. On Boxing Day he began the composition of Serse, the only comic opera that Handel ever wrote and worked with Elisabeth Duparc.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "A harp and organ concerto (HWV 294) and Alexander's Feast were published in 1738 by John Walsh. He composed music for a musical clock with a pipe organ built by Charles Clay; it was bought by Gerrit Braamcamp and was in 2016 acquired by the Museum Speelklok in Utrecht. Deidamia, his last opera, a co-production with the Earl of Holderness, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure. Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again. Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the coronation anthems and Athaliah, his third English Oratorio. In these three oratorios Handel laid the foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios. Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "It is evident how much he learned from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus. Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists with English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas. Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the singers appeared in their own clothes.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In 1736, Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life. The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure \"...it will be most excessive noisy\". Saul and Israel in Egypt, both from 1739, head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo aria became the exception and not the rule. Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works, Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background. L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin, capital of the Kingdom of Ireland, to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals. His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating. Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In 1747, Handel wrote his oratorio Alexander Balus. This work was produced at Covent Garden Theatre in London, on 23 March 1748, and to the aria Hark! hark! He strikes the golden lyre, Handel wrote the accompaniment for mandolin, harp, violin, viola, and violoncello. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon, was first performed on 17 March 1749 at the Covent Garden Theatre. Solomon contains a short and lively instrumental passage for two oboes and strings in act 3, known as \"The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba\".",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly important in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.",
"title": "In London"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "In 1749, Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance. In 1750, he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital, a children's home in London. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death. His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.",
"title": "Later years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands. In 1751, one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This did not improve his eyesight and possibly made it worse. He was completely blind by 1752. He died in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at the age of 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey. More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.",
"title": "Later years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Handel never married and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna, but four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.",
"title": "Later years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760. The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).",
"title": "Later years"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 25 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, odes and serenatas, solo and trio sonatas, 18 concerti grossi, and 12 organ concertos. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its \"Hallelujah\" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music. The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague holds Mozart's copy of Messiah, complete with handwritten annotations. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ concertos Op. 4 and Op. 7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 Concerti grossi; the latter incorporates an earlier organ concerto, The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his 16 keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "The first published catalogue of Handel's works appeared as an appendix to Mainwaring's Memoirs. Between 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however, it was far from complete. Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (founded by Sir George Macfarren).",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft (\"Handel Society\") edition was published between 1858 and 1902 – mainly due to the efforts of Friedrich Chrysander. For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th-century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson, are incomplete.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "The continuing Hallische Händel-Ausgabe edition was first inaugurated in 1955 in the Halle region in Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany. It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor, reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985, a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition. The reunification of Germany in 1990 removed communication problems, and the volumes issued have since shown a significant improvement in standards.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Between 1978 and 1986 the German academic Bernd Baselt catalogued Handel's works in his Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis publication. The catalogue has achieved wide acceptance and is used as the modern numbering system, with each of Handel's works designated an \"HWV\" number – for example, Messiah is catalogued as \"HWV 56\".",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw–Hellier Collection, and the abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century \"who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm\". With his English oratorios, such as Messiah and Solomon, the coronation anthems, and other works including Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, Handel became a national icon in Britain, and featured in the BBC series The Birth of British Music: Handel – The Conquering Hero.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, \"Ombra mai fu\". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated German versions of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions. The centenary of his death, in 1859, was celebrated by a performance of Messiah at The Crystal Palace, involving 2,765 singers and 460 instrumentalists, who played for an audience of about 10,000 people.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Recent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes fully staged as operas. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Handel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since. Johann Sebastian Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet Handel while he was visiting Halle. (Handel was born in the same year as Bach and Domenico Scarlatti.) Mozart is reputed to have said of him, \"Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt.\" To Beethoven he was \"the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb.\" Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, \"Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Since 1831, when William Crotch raised the issue in his Substance of Several Lectures on Music, scholars have extensively studied Handel's \"borrowing\" of music from other composers. Summarising the field in 2005, Richard Taruskin wrote that Handel \"seems to have been the champion of all parodists, adapting both his own works and those of other composers in unparalleled numbers and with unparalleled exactitude.\" Among the composers whose music has been shown to have been re-used by Handel are Alessandro Stradella, Gottlieb Muffat, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti Giacomo Carissimi, Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Heinrich Graun, Leonardo Vinci, Jacobus Gallus, Francesco Antonio Urio, Reinhard Keiser, Francesco Gasparini, Giovanni Bononcini, William Boyce, Henry Lawes, Michael Wise, Agostino Steffani, Franz Johann Habermann, and numerous others.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In an essay published in 1985, John H. Roberts demonstrated that Handel's borrowings were unusually frequent even for his own era, enough to have been criticised by contemporaries (notably Johann Mattheson); Roberts suggested several reasons for Handel's practice, including Handel's attempts to make certain works sound more up-to-date and more radically, his \"basic lack of facility in inventing original ideas\" – though Roberts took care to argue that this does not \"diminish Handel's stature\", which should be \"judged not by his methods, still less by his motives in employing them, but solely by the effects he achieves.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, \"The Age of Bach and Handel\", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797, Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on \"See the conqu’ring hero comes\" from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. In 1822, Beethoven composed the overture The Consecration of the House, which also bears the influence of Handel. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes; for example, his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's 'The Harmonious Blacksmith' . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In the Lutheran Calendar of Saints Handel and Bach share the date 28 July with Heinrich Schütz, and Handel and Bach are commemorated in the calendar of saints prepared by the Order of Saint Luke for the use of the United Methodist Church. The Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) commemorates him on 20 April.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "In 1942, Handel was the subject of the British biographical film The Great Mr. Handel directed by Norman Walker and starring Wilfrid Lawson. It was made at Denham Studios by the Rank Organisation, and shot in Technicolor. He is also the central character in the television films God Rot Tunbridge Wells! (1985) and Handel's Last Chance (1996) and the stage play All the Angels (2015). Handel was portrayed by Jeroen Krabbé as the antagonist in the film Farinelli (1994).",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737, he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively, and addressed the middle class and made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742), he never composed an Italian opera again. His orchestral Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every British coronation since 1727. Almost blind, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man, and was given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey. Handel composed more than forty opere serie over a period of more than thirty years. Since the late 1960s, interest in Handel's music has grown. The musicologist Winton Dean wrote that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." His music was admired by Classical-era composers, especially Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. | 2001-11-14T10:33:24Z | 2023-12-20T05:21:52Z | [
"Template:Gutenberg author",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Pp-semi-sock",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Harvnb",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Internet Archive author",
"Template:Messiah (Handel)",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:IPA-de",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Baroque music",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Subject bar",
"Template:Library resources box",
"Template:George Frideric Handel",
"Template:Ill",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:BBC composer page",
"Template:ChoralWiki",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Cite ODNB",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Librivox author",
"Template:IMSLP"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel |
12,776 | Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina | Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe.
Primarily known for his masses and motets, which number over 105 and 250 respectively, Palestrina had a long-lasting influence on the development of church and secular music in Europe, especially on the development of counterpoint. According to Grove Music Online, Palestrina's "success in reconciling the functional and aesthetic aims of Catholic church music in the post-Tridentine period earned him an enduring reputation as the ideal Catholic composer, as well as giving his style (or, more precisely, later generations' selective view of it) an iconic stature as a model of perfect achievement."
Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States, to Neapolitan parents, Santo and Palma Pierluigi, in 1525, possibly on 3 February. His mother died on 16 January 1536, when Palestrina was 10. Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he was listed as a chorister at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the papal basilicas of the Diocese of Rome, which allowed him to learn literature and music. In 1540, he moved to Rome, where he studied in the school of the Huguenot Claude Goudimel. He also studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent most of his career in the city.
Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable fame or skill in polyphony. Orlando di Lasso, who accompanied Palestrina in his early years, also played an important role in the formation of his style as an adviser.
From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was the organist of the Cathedral of St. Agapito, the principal church of his native city. In 1551 Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) appointed Palestrina maestro di cappella or musical director of the Cappella Giulia, (Julian Chapel, in the sense of choir), the choir of the chapter of canons at St. Peter's Basilica. Palestrina dedicated to Julius III his first published compositions (1554), a book of Masses. It was the first book of Masses by a native composer, since in the Italian states of Palestrina's day, most composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, or Spain. In fact the book was modelled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.
In 1555, Pope Paul IV ordered that all papal choristers should be clerical. As Palestrina married early in life and had four children, he was unable to continue in the chapel as a layman.
During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome, notably St. John Lateran (1555–1560, a post previously held by Lassus), and Santa Maria Maggiore (1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his sons, and his wife, Lucrezia Gori, in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to a wealthy widow, Virginia Dormoli. This finally gave him financial independence (he was not paid well as choirmaster) and was able to compose prolifically until his death.
He died in Rome of pleurisy on 2 February 1594. It is said that Palestrina died only one day before his 69th birthday. As was usual, Palestrina was buried on the same day he died, in a plain coffin with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral. Palestrina's funeral was held at St. Peter's, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica. His tomb was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful.
Italian composers Giovanni Maria Nanino and Gregorio Allegri, both of them disciples of his school, continued his works.
Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 105 masses, 68 offertories, at least 140 madrigals and more than 300 motets. In addition, there are at least 72 hymns, 35 magnificats, 11 litanies, and four or five sets of lamentations. The Gloria melody from Palestrina's Magnificat Tertii Toni (1591) is widely used today in the resurrection hymn tune, Victory (The Strife Is O'er).
His attitude toward madrigals was somewhat enigmatic: whereas in the preface to his collection of Canticum canticorum (Song of Songs) motets (1584) he renounced the setting of profane texts, only two years later he was back in print with Book II of his secular madrigals (some of these being among the finest compositions in the medium). He published just two collections of madrigals with profane texts, one in 1555 and another in 1586. The other two collections were spiritual madrigals, a genre beloved by the proponents of the Counter-Reformation.
Palestrina's masses show how his compositional style developed over time. His Missa sine nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to Johann Sebastian Bach, who studied and performed it while writing the Mass in B minor. Most of Palestrina's masses appeared in thirteen volumes printed between 1554 and 1601, the last seven published after his death.
One of his most important works, the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass) has been historically associated with erroneous information involving the Council of Trent. According to this tale (which forms the basis of Hans Pfitzner's opera Palestrina), it was composed in order to persuade the Council of Trent that a draconian ban on the polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music (as opposed, that is, to a more directly intelligible homophonic treatment) was unnecessary. However, more recent scholarship shows that this mass was in fact composed before the cardinals convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as 10 years before). Historical data indicates that the Council of Trent, as an official body, never actually banned any church music and failed to make any ruling or official statement on the subject. These stories originated from the unofficial points-of-view of some Council attendees who discussed their ideas with those not privy to the Council's deliberations. Those opinions and rumors have, over centuries, been transmuted into fictional accounts, put into print, and often incorrectly taught as historical fact. While Palestrina's compositional motivations are not known, he may have been quite conscious of the need for intelligible text; however, this was not to conform with any doctrine of the Counter-Reformation, because no such doctrine exists. His characteristic style remained consistent from the 1560s until the end of his life. Roche's hypothesis that Palestrina's seemingly dispassionate approach to expressive or emotive texts could have resulted from his having to produce many to order, or from a deliberate decision that any intensity of expression was unbecoming in church music, reflects modern expectations about expressive freedom and underestimates the extent to which the mood of Palestrina's settings is adapted to the liturgical occasions for which the texts were set, rather than the line-by-line meaning of the text, and depends on the distinctive characters of the church modes and variations in vocal grouping for expressive effect. Performing editions and recordings of Palestrina have tended to favour his works in the more familiar modes and standard (SATB) voicings, under-representing the expressive variety of his settings.
There are two comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: a 33-volume edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, in Leipzig Germany between 1862 and 1894 edited by Franz Xaver Haberl, and a 34-volume edition published in the mid twentieth century, by Fratelli Scalera, in Rome, Italy edited by R. Casimiri and others.
One of the hallmarks of Palestrina's music is that dissonances are typically relegated to the "weak" beats in a measure. This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony which is now considered to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as Europe's leading composer (along with Orlande de Lassus and Victoria) in the wake of Josquin des Prez (d. 1521).
The "Palestrina style" taught in college courses covering Renaissance counterpoint is often based on the codification by the 18th-century composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux, published as Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus, 1725). Citing Palestrina as his model, Fux divided counterpoint into five species (hence the term "species counterpoint"), designed as exercises for the student, which deployed progressively more elaborate rhythmic combinations of voices while adhering to strict harmonic and melodic requirements. The method was widely adopted and was the main basis of contrapuntal training in the 19th century, but Fux had introduced a number of simplifications to the Palestrina style, notably the obligatory use of a cantus firmus in semibreves, which were corrected by later authors such as Knud Jeppesen and R. O. Morris. Palestrina's music conforms in many ways to Fux's rules, particularly in the fifth species but does not fit his pedagogical format.
The main insight, that the "pure" style of polyphony achieved by Palestrina followed an invariable set of stylistic and combinational requirements, was justified. Fux's manual was endorsed by his contemporary J.S. Bach, who himself arranged two of Palestrina's masses for performance.
According to Fux, Palestrina had established and followed these basic guidelines:
Fux omits to mention the manner in which the musical phrasing of Palestrina followed the syntax of the sentences he was setting to music, something not always observed by earlier composers. Also to be noticed in Palestrina is a great deal of tone painting. Elementary examples of this are descending musical motion with Latin words like descendit (descends) or of a static musical or cadential moment with the words de coelis (from heaven).
Palestrina was extremely famous in his day, and if anything, his reputation and influence increased after his death. J.S. Bach studied and hand-copied Palestrina's first book of Masses, and in 1742 wrote his own adaptation of the Kyrie and Gloria of the Missa sine nomine. Felix Mendelssohn placed him in the pantheon of the greatest musicians, writing, "I always get upset when some praise only Beethoven, others only Palestrina and still others only Mozart or Bach. All four of them, I say, or none at all.".
Conservative music of the Roman school continued to be written in Palestrina's style (which in the 17th century came to be known as the prima pratica) by such students of his as Giovanni Maria Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano, and Gregorio Allegri. As late as the 1750s, Palestrina's style was still the reference for composers working in the motet form, as can be seen by Francesco Barsanti's Sei Antifones 'in the style of Palestrina' (c. 1750; published by [Peter] Welcker, c. 1762).
Much research on Palestrina was done in the 19th century by Giuseppe Baini, who published a monograph in 1828 which made Palestrina famous again and reinforced the already existing legend that he was the "Saviour of Church Music" during the reforms of the Council of Trent.
20th and 21st century scholarship by and large retains the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer whose music represents a summit of technical perfection. Contemporary analysis highlighted the modern qualities in the compositions of Palestrina such as research of color and sonority, use of sonic grouping in large-scale setting, interest in vertical as well as horizontal organization, studied attention to text setting. These unique characteristics, together with effortless delivery and an indefinable "otherness", constitute to this day the attraction of Palestrina's work.
The Cagliari music conservatory in Cagliari, Italy is named in his honor.
In 2009 a film about the composer was produced by German television ZDF/Arte. Title: Palestrina - Prince of Music, directed by Georg Brintrup. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Primarily known for his masses and motets, which number over 105 and 250 respectively, Palestrina had a long-lasting influence on the development of church and secular music in Europe, especially on the development of counterpoint. According to Grove Music Online, Palestrina's \"success in reconciling the functional and aesthetic aims of Catholic church music in the post-Tridentine period earned him an enduring reputation as the ideal Catholic composer, as well as giving his style (or, more precisely, later generations' selective view of it) an iconic stature as a model of perfect achievement.\"",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina, near Rome, then part of the Papal States, to Neapolitan parents, Santo and Palma Pierluigi, in 1525, possibly on 3 February. His mother died on 16 January 1536, when Palestrina was 10. Documents suggest that he first visited Rome in 1537, when he was listed as a chorister at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the papal basilicas of the Diocese of Rome, which allowed him to learn literature and music. In 1540, he moved to Rome, where he studied in the school of the Huguenot Claude Goudimel. He also studied with Robin Mallapert and Firmin Lebel. He spent most of his career in the city.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. Italy itself had yet to produce anyone of comparable fame or skill in polyphony. Orlando di Lasso, who accompanied Palestrina in his early years, also played an important role in the formation of his style as an adviser.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "From 1544 to 1551, Palestrina was the organist of the Cathedral of St. Agapito, the principal church of his native city. In 1551 Pope Julius III (previously the Bishop of Palestrina) appointed Palestrina maestro di cappella or musical director of the Cappella Giulia, (Julian Chapel, in the sense of choir), the choir of the chapter of canons at St. Peter's Basilica. Palestrina dedicated to Julius III his first published compositions (1554), a book of Masses. It was the first book of Masses by a native composer, since in the Italian states of Palestrina's day, most composers of sacred music were from the Low Countries, France, or Spain. In fact the book was modelled on one by Cristóbal de Morales: the woodcut in the front is almost an exact copy of the one from the book by the Spanish composer.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1555, Pope Paul IV ordered that all papal choristers should be clerical. As Palestrina married early in life and had four children, he was unable to continue in the chapel as a layman.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome, notably St. John Lateran (1555–1560, a post previously held by Lassus), and Santa Maria Maggiore (1561–1566). In 1571 he returned to the Julian Chapel and remained at St Peter's for the rest of his life. The decade of the 1570s was difficult for him personally: he lost his brother, two of his sons, and his wife, Lucrezia Gori, in three separate outbreaks of the plague (1572, 1575, and 1580, respectively). He seems to have considered becoming a priest at this time, but instead he remarried, this time to a wealthy widow, Virginia Dormoli. This finally gave him financial independence (he was not paid well as choirmaster) and was able to compose prolifically until his death.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "He died in Rome of pleurisy on 2 February 1594. It is said that Palestrina died only one day before his 69th birthday. As was usual, Palestrina was buried on the same day he died, in a plain coffin with a lead plate on which was inscribed Libera me Domine. A five-part psalm for three choirs was sung at the funeral. Palestrina's funeral was held at St. Peter's, and he was buried beneath the floor of the basilica. His tomb was later covered by new construction and attempts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Italian composers Giovanni Maria Nanino and Gregorio Allegri, both of them disciples of his school, continued his works.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Palestrina left hundreds of compositions, including 105 masses, 68 offertories, at least 140 madrigals and more than 300 motets. In addition, there are at least 72 hymns, 35 magnificats, 11 litanies, and four or five sets of lamentations. The Gloria melody from Palestrina's Magnificat Tertii Toni (1591) is widely used today in the resurrection hymn tune, Victory (The Strife Is O'er).",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "His attitude toward madrigals was somewhat enigmatic: whereas in the preface to his collection of Canticum canticorum (Song of Songs) motets (1584) he renounced the setting of profane texts, only two years later he was back in print with Book II of his secular madrigals (some of these being among the finest compositions in the medium). He published just two collections of madrigals with profane texts, one in 1555 and another in 1586. The other two collections were spiritual madrigals, a genre beloved by the proponents of the Counter-Reformation.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Palestrina's masses show how his compositional style developed over time. His Missa sine nomine seems to have been particularly attractive to Johann Sebastian Bach, who studied and performed it while writing the Mass in B minor. Most of Palestrina's masses appeared in thirteen volumes printed between 1554 and 1601, the last seven published after his death.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "One of his most important works, the Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass) has been historically associated with erroneous information involving the Council of Trent. According to this tale (which forms the basis of Hans Pfitzner's opera Palestrina), it was composed in order to persuade the Council of Trent that a draconian ban on the polyphonic treatment of text in sacred music (as opposed, that is, to a more directly intelligible homophonic treatment) was unnecessary. However, more recent scholarship shows that this mass was in fact composed before the cardinals convened to discuss the ban (possibly as much as 10 years before). Historical data indicates that the Council of Trent, as an official body, never actually banned any church music and failed to make any ruling or official statement on the subject. These stories originated from the unofficial points-of-view of some Council attendees who discussed their ideas with those not privy to the Council's deliberations. Those opinions and rumors have, over centuries, been transmuted into fictional accounts, put into print, and often incorrectly taught as historical fact. While Palestrina's compositional motivations are not known, he may have been quite conscious of the need for intelligible text; however, this was not to conform with any doctrine of the Counter-Reformation, because no such doctrine exists. His characteristic style remained consistent from the 1560s until the end of his life. Roche's hypothesis that Palestrina's seemingly dispassionate approach to expressive or emotive texts could have resulted from his having to produce many to order, or from a deliberate decision that any intensity of expression was unbecoming in church music, reflects modern expectations about expressive freedom and underestimates the extent to which the mood of Palestrina's settings is adapted to the liturgical occasions for which the texts were set, rather than the line-by-line meaning of the text, and depends on the distinctive characters of the church modes and variations in vocal grouping for expressive effect. Performing editions and recordings of Palestrina have tended to favour his works in the more familiar modes and standard (SATB) voicings, under-representing the expressive variety of his settings.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "There are two comprehensive editions of Palestrina's works: a 33-volume edition published by Breitkopf and Härtel, in Leipzig Germany between 1862 and 1894 edited by Franz Xaver Haberl, and a 34-volume edition published in the mid twentieth century, by Fratelli Scalera, in Rome, Italy edited by R. Casimiri and others.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "One of the hallmarks of Palestrina's music is that dissonances are typically relegated to the \"weak\" beats in a measure. This produced a smoother and more consonant type of polyphony which is now considered to be definitive of late Renaissance music, given Palestrina's position as Europe's leading composer (along with Orlande de Lassus and Victoria) in the wake of Josquin des Prez (d. 1521).",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The \"Palestrina style\" taught in college courses covering Renaissance counterpoint is often based on the codification by the 18th-century composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux, published as Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus, 1725). Citing Palestrina as his model, Fux divided counterpoint into five species (hence the term \"species counterpoint\"), designed as exercises for the student, which deployed progressively more elaborate rhythmic combinations of voices while adhering to strict harmonic and melodic requirements. The method was widely adopted and was the main basis of contrapuntal training in the 19th century, but Fux had introduced a number of simplifications to the Palestrina style, notably the obligatory use of a cantus firmus in semibreves, which were corrected by later authors such as Knud Jeppesen and R. O. Morris. Palestrina's music conforms in many ways to Fux's rules, particularly in the fifth species but does not fit his pedagogical format.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The main insight, that the \"pure\" style of polyphony achieved by Palestrina followed an invariable set of stylistic and combinational requirements, was justified. Fux's manual was endorsed by his contemporary J.S. Bach, who himself arranged two of Palestrina's masses for performance.",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "According to Fux, Palestrina had established and followed these basic guidelines:",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Fux omits to mention the manner in which the musical phrasing of Palestrina followed the syntax of the sentences he was setting to music, something not always observed by earlier composers. Also to be noticed in Palestrina is a great deal of tone painting. Elementary examples of this are descending musical motion with Latin words like descendit (descends) or of a static musical or cadential moment with the words de coelis (from heaven).",
"title": "Music"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Palestrina was extremely famous in his day, and if anything, his reputation and influence increased after his death. J.S. Bach studied and hand-copied Palestrina's first book of Masses, and in 1742 wrote his own adaptation of the Kyrie and Gloria of the Missa sine nomine. Felix Mendelssohn placed him in the pantheon of the greatest musicians, writing, \"I always get upset when some praise only Beethoven, others only Palestrina and still others only Mozart or Bach. All four of them, I say, or none at all.\".",
"title": "Reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Conservative music of the Roman school continued to be written in Palestrina's style (which in the 17th century came to be known as the prima pratica) by such students of his as Giovanni Maria Nanino, Ruggiero Giovanelli, Arcangelo Crivelli, Teofilo Gargari, Francesco Soriano, and Gregorio Allegri. As late as the 1750s, Palestrina's style was still the reference for composers working in the motet form, as can be seen by Francesco Barsanti's Sei Antifones 'in the style of Palestrina' (c. 1750; published by [Peter] Welcker, c. 1762).",
"title": "Reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Much research on Palestrina was done in the 19th century by Giuseppe Baini, who published a monograph in 1828 which made Palestrina famous again and reinforced the already existing legend that he was the \"Saviour of Church Music\" during the reforms of the Council of Trent.",
"title": "Reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "20th and 21st century scholarship by and large retains the view that Palestrina was a strong and refined composer whose music represents a summit of technical perfection. Contemporary analysis highlighted the modern qualities in the compositions of Palestrina such as research of color and sonority, use of sonic grouping in large-scale setting, interest in vertical as well as horizontal organization, studied attention to text setting. These unique characteristics, together with effortless delivery and an indefinable \"otherness\", constitute to this day the attraction of Palestrina's work.",
"title": "Reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The Cagliari music conservatory in Cagliari, Italy is named in his honor.",
"title": "Reputation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In 2009 a film about the composer was produced by German television ZDF/Arte. Title: Palestrina - Prince of Music, directed by Georg Brintrup.",
"title": "Reputation"
}
]
| Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe. Primarily known for his masses and motets, which number over 105 and 250 respectively, Palestrina had a long-lasting influence on the development of church and secular music in Europe, especially on the development of counterpoint. According to Grove Music Online, Palestrina's "success in reconciling the functional and aesthetic aims of Catholic church music in the post-Tridentine period earned him an enduring reputation as the ideal Catholic composer, as well as giving his style an iconic stature as a model of perfect achievement." | 2001-11-17T09:13:29Z | 2023-11-16T18:06:56Z | [
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Wikisource",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Renaissance music sidebar",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina",
"Template:Renaissance music",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Listen",
"Template:IMSLP",
"Template:Grove Music subscription",
"Template:YouTube",
"Template:Roman School",
"Template:ChoralWiki",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Subscription required"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pierluigi_da_Palestrina |
12,778 | Group velocity | The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.
For example, if a stone is thrown into the middle of a very still pond, a circular pattern of waves with a quiescent center appears in the water, also known as a capillary wave. The expanding ring of waves is the wave group or wave packet, within which one can discern individual waves that travel faster than the group as a whole. The amplitudes of the individual waves grow as they emerge from the trailing edge of the group and diminish as they approach the leading edge of the group.
The idea of a group velocity distinct from a wave's phase velocity was first proposed by W.R. Hamilton in 1839, and the first full treatment was by Rayleigh in his "Theory of Sound" in 1877.
The group velocity vg is defined by the equation:
where ω is the wave's angular frequency (usually expressed in radians per second), and k is the angular wavenumber (usually expressed in radians per meter). The phase velocity is: vp = ω/k.
The function ω(k), which gives ω as a function of k, is known as the dispersion relation.
One derivation of the formula for group velocity is as follows.
Consider a wave packet as a function of position x and time t: α(x,t).
Let A(k) be its Fourier transform at time t = 0,
By the superposition principle, the wavepacket at any time t is
where ω is implicitly a function of k.
Assume that the wave packet α is almost monochromatic, so that A(k) is sharply peaked around a central wavenumber k0.
Then, linearization gives
where
(see next section for discussion of this step). Then, after some algebra,
There are two factors in this expression. The first factor, e i ( k 0 x − ω 0 t ) {\displaystyle e^{i\left(k_{0}x-\omega _{0}t\right)}} , describes a perfect monochromatic wave with wavevector k0, with peaks and troughs moving at the phase velocity ω 0 / k 0 {\displaystyle \omega _{0}/k_{0}} within the envelope of the wavepacket.
The other factor,
gives the envelope of the wavepacket. This envelope function depends on position and time only through the combination ( x − ω 0 ′ t ) {\displaystyle (x-\omega '_{0}t)} .
Therefore, the envelope of the wavepacket travels at velocity
which explains the group velocity formula.
For light, the refractive index n, vacuum wavelength λ0, and wavelength in the medium λ, are related by
with vp = ω/k the phase velocity.
The group velocity, therefore, can be calculated by any of the following formulas,
Part of the previous derivation is the Taylor series approximation that:
If the wavepacket has a relatively large frequency spread, or if the dispersion ω(k) has sharp variations (such as due to a resonance), or if the packet travels over very long distances, this assumption is not valid, and higher-order terms in the Taylor expansion become important.
As a result, the envelope of the wave packet not only moves, but also distorts, in a manner that can be described by the material's group velocity dispersion. Loosely speaking, different frequency-components of the wavepacket travel at different speeds, with the faster components moving towards the front of the wavepacket and the slower moving towards the back. Eventually, the wave packet gets stretched out. This is an important effect in the propagation of signals through optical fibers and in the design of high-power, short-pulse lasers.
The group velocity of a collection of waves is defined as
When multiple sinusoidal waves are propagating together, the resultant superposition of the waves can result in an "envelope" wave as well as a "carrier" wave that lies inside the envelope. This commonly appears in wireless communication when modulation (a change in amplitude and/or phase) is employed to send data. To gain some intuition for this definition, we consider a superposition of (cosine) waves f(x, t) with their respective angular frequencies and wavevectors.
So, we have a product of two waves: an envelope wave formed by f1 and a carrier wave formed by f2 . We call the velocity of the envelope wave the group velocity. We see that the phase velocity of f1 is
In the context of electromagnetics and optics, the frequency is some function ω(k) of the wave number, so in general, the phase velocity and the group velocity depend on specific medium and frequency. The ratio between the speed of light c and the phase velocity vp is known as the refractive index, n = c / vp = ck / ω.
In this way, we can obtain another form for group velocity for electromagnetics. Writing n = n(ω), a quick way to derive this form is to observe
We can then rearrange the above to obtain
For waves traveling through three dimensions, such as light waves, sound waves, and matter waves, the formulas for phase and group velocity are generalized in a straightforward way:
where
means the gradient of the angular frequency ω as a function of the wave vector k {\displaystyle \mathbf {k} } , and k ^ {\displaystyle {\hat {\mathbf {k} }}} is the unit vector in direction k.
If the waves are propagating through an anisotropic (i.e., not rotationally symmetric) medium, for example a crystal, then the phase velocity vector and group velocity vector may point in different directions.
The group velocity is often thought of as the velocity at which energy or information is conveyed along a wave. In most cases this is accurate, and the group velocity can be thought of as the signal velocity of the waveform. However, if the wave is travelling through an absorptive or gainful medium, this does not always hold. In these cases the group velocity may not be a well-defined quantity, or may not be a meaningful quantity.
In his text “Wave Propagation in Periodic Structures”, Brillouin argued that in a not purely dissipative medium ("if absorption also occurs") the group velocity ceases to have a clear physical meaning. An example concerning the transmission of electromagnetic waves through an atomic gas is given by Loudon. Another example is mechanical waves in the solar photosphere: The waves are damped (by radiative heat flow from the peaks to the troughs), and related to that, the energy velocity is often substantially lower than the waves' group velocity.
Despite this ambiguity, a common way to extend the concept of group velocity to complex media is to consider spatially damped plane wave solutions inside the medium, which are characterized by a complex-valued wavevector. Then, the imaginary part of the wavevector is arbitrarily discarded and the usual formula for group velocity is applied to the real part of wavevector, i.e.,
Or, equivalently, in terms of the real part of complex refractive index, n = n + iκ, one has
It can be shown that this generalization of group velocity continues to be related to the apparent speed of the peak of a wavepacket. The above definition is not universal, however: alternatively one may consider the time damping of standing waves (real k, complex ω), or, allow group velocity to be a complex-valued quantity. Different considerations yield distinct velocities, yet all definitions agree for the case of a lossless, gainless medium.
The above generalization of group velocity for complex media can behave strangely, and the example of anomalous dispersion serves as a good illustration. At the edges of a region of anomalous dispersion, v g {\displaystyle v_{\rm {g}}} becomes infinite (surpassing even the speed of light in vacuum), and v g {\displaystyle v_{\rm {g}}} may easily become negative (its sign opposes Rek) inside the band of anomalous dispersion.
Since the 1980s, various experiments have verified that it is possible for the group velocity (as defined above) of laser light pulses sent through lossy materials, or gainful materials, to significantly exceed the speed of light in vacuum c. The peaks of wavepackets were also seen to move faster than c.
In all these cases, however, there is no possibility that signals could be carried faster than the speed of light in vacuum, since the high value of vg does not help to speed up the true motion of the sharp wavefront that would occur at the start of any real signal. Essentially the seemingly superluminal transmission is an artifact of the narrow band approximation used above to define group velocity and happens because of resonance phenomena in the intervening medium. In a wide band analysis it is seen that the apparently paradoxical speed of propagation of the signal envelope is actually the result of local interference of a wider band of frequencies over many cycles, all of which propagate perfectly causally and at phase velocity. The result is akin to the fact that shadows can travel faster than light, even if the light causing them always propagates at light speed; since the phenomenon being measured is only loosely connected with causality, it does not necessarily respect the rules of causal propagation, even if it under normal circumstances does so and leads to a common intuition. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "For example, if a stone is thrown into the middle of a very still pond, a circular pattern of waves with a quiescent center appears in the water, also known as a capillary wave. The expanding ring of waves is the wave group or wave packet, within which one can discern individual waves that travel faster than the group as a whole. The amplitudes of the individual waves grow as they emerge from the trailing edge of the group and diminish as they approach the leading edge of the group.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The idea of a group velocity distinct from a wave's phase velocity was first proposed by W.R. Hamilton in 1839, and the first full treatment was by Rayleigh in his \"Theory of Sound\" in 1877.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The group velocity vg is defined by the equation:",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "where ω is the wave's angular frequency (usually expressed in radians per second), and k is the angular wavenumber (usually expressed in radians per meter). The phase velocity is: vp = ω/k.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The function ω(k), which gives ω as a function of k, is known as the dispersion relation.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "One derivation of the formula for group velocity is as follows.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Consider a wave packet as a function of position x and time t: α(x,t).",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Let A(k) be its Fourier transform at time t = 0,",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "By the superposition principle, the wavepacket at any time t is",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "where ω is implicitly a function of k.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Assume that the wave packet α is almost monochromatic, so that A(k) is sharply peaked around a central wavenumber k0.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Then, linearization gives",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "where",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "(see next section for discussion of this step). Then, after some algebra,",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "There are two factors in this expression. The first factor, e i ( k 0 x − ω 0 t ) {\\displaystyle e^{i\\left(k_{0}x-\\omega _{0}t\\right)}} , describes a perfect monochromatic wave with wavevector k0, with peaks and troughs moving at the phase velocity ω 0 / k 0 {\\displaystyle \\omega _{0}/k_{0}} within the envelope of the wavepacket.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "The other factor,",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "gives the envelope of the wavepacket. This envelope function depends on position and time only through the combination ( x − ω 0 ′ t ) {\\displaystyle (x-\\omega '_{0}t)} .",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Therefore, the envelope of the wavepacket travels at velocity",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "which explains the group velocity formula.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "For light, the refractive index n, vacuum wavelength λ0, and wavelength in the medium λ, are related by",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "with vp = ω/k the phase velocity.",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "The group velocity, therefore, can be calculated by any of the following formulas,",
"title": "Definition and interpretation"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Part of the previous derivation is the Taylor series approximation that:",
"title": "Dispersion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "If the wavepacket has a relatively large frequency spread, or if the dispersion ω(k) has sharp variations (such as due to a resonance), or if the packet travels over very long distances, this assumption is not valid, and higher-order terms in the Taylor expansion become important.",
"title": "Dispersion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "As a result, the envelope of the wave packet not only moves, but also distorts, in a manner that can be described by the material's group velocity dispersion. Loosely speaking, different frequency-components of the wavepacket travel at different speeds, with the faster components moving towards the front of the wavepacket and the slower moving towards the back. Eventually, the wave packet gets stretched out. This is an important effect in the propagation of signals through optical fibers and in the design of high-power, short-pulse lasers.",
"title": "Dispersion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "The group velocity of a collection of waves is defined as",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "When multiple sinusoidal waves are propagating together, the resultant superposition of the waves can result in an \"envelope\" wave as well as a \"carrier\" wave that lies inside the envelope. This commonly appears in wireless communication when modulation (a change in amplitude and/or phase) is employed to send data. To gain some intuition for this definition, we consider a superposition of (cosine) waves f(x, t) with their respective angular frequencies and wavevectors.",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "So, we have a product of two waves: an envelope wave formed by f1 and a carrier wave formed by f2 . We call the velocity of the envelope wave the group velocity. We see that the phase velocity of f1 is",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In the context of electromagnetics and optics, the frequency is some function ω(k) of the wave number, so in general, the phase velocity and the group velocity depend on specific medium and frequency. The ratio between the speed of light c and the phase velocity vp is known as the refractive index, n = c / vp = ck / ω.",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "In this way, we can obtain another form for group velocity for electromagnetics. Writing n = n(ω), a quick way to derive this form is to observe",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "We can then rearrange the above to obtain",
"title": "Relation to phase velocity, refractive index and transmission speed"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "For waves traveling through three dimensions, such as light waves, sound waves, and matter waves, the formulas for phase and group velocity are generalized in a straightforward way:",
"title": "In three dimensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "where",
"title": "In three dimensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "means the gradient of the angular frequency ω as a function of the wave vector k {\\displaystyle \\mathbf {k} } , and k ^ {\\displaystyle {\\hat {\\mathbf {k} }}} is the unit vector in direction k.",
"title": "In three dimensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "If the waves are propagating through an anisotropic (i.e., not rotationally symmetric) medium, for example a crystal, then the phase velocity vector and group velocity vector may point in different directions.",
"title": "In three dimensions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The group velocity is often thought of as the velocity at which energy or information is conveyed along a wave. In most cases this is accurate, and the group velocity can be thought of as the signal velocity of the waveform. However, if the wave is travelling through an absorptive or gainful medium, this does not always hold. In these cases the group velocity may not be a well-defined quantity, or may not be a meaningful quantity.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "In his text “Wave Propagation in Periodic Structures”, Brillouin argued that in a not purely dissipative medium (\"if absorption also occurs\") the group velocity ceases to have a clear physical meaning. An example concerning the transmission of electromagnetic waves through an atomic gas is given by Loudon. Another example is mechanical waves in the solar photosphere: The waves are damped (by radiative heat flow from the peaks to the troughs), and related to that, the energy velocity is often substantially lower than the waves' group velocity.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Despite this ambiguity, a common way to extend the concept of group velocity to complex media is to consider spatially damped plane wave solutions inside the medium, which are characterized by a complex-valued wavevector. Then, the imaginary part of the wavevector is arbitrarily discarded and the usual formula for group velocity is applied to the real part of wavevector, i.e.,",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Or, equivalently, in terms of the real part of complex refractive index, n = n + iκ, one has",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "It can be shown that this generalization of group velocity continues to be related to the apparent speed of the peak of a wavepacket. The above definition is not universal, however: alternatively one may consider the time damping of standing waves (real k, complex ω), or, allow group velocity to be a complex-valued quantity. Different considerations yield distinct velocities, yet all definitions agree for the case of a lossless, gainless medium.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "The above generalization of group velocity for complex media can behave strangely, and the example of anomalous dispersion serves as a good illustration. At the edges of a region of anomalous dispersion, v g {\\displaystyle v_{\\rm {g}}} becomes infinite (surpassing even the speed of light in vacuum), and v g {\\displaystyle v_{\\rm {g}}} may easily become negative (its sign opposes Rek) inside the band of anomalous dispersion.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Since the 1980s, various experiments have verified that it is possible for the group velocity (as defined above) of laser light pulses sent through lossy materials, or gainful materials, to significantly exceed the speed of light in vacuum c. The peaks of wavepackets were also seen to move faster than c.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "In all these cases, however, there is no possibility that signals could be carried faster than the speed of light in vacuum, since the high value of vg does not help to speed up the true motion of the sharp wavefront that would occur at the start of any real signal. Essentially the seemingly superluminal transmission is an artifact of the narrow band approximation used above to define group velocity and happens because of resonance phenomena in the intervening medium. In a wide band analysis it is seen that the apparently paradoxical speed of propagation of the signal envelope is actually the result of local interference of a wider band of frequencies over many cycles, all of which propagate perfectly causally and at phase velocity. The result is akin to the fact that shadows can travel faster than light, even if the light causing them always propagates at light speed; since the phenomenon being measured is only loosely connected with causality, it does not necessarily respect the rules of causal propagation, even if it under normal circumstances does so and leads to a common intuition.",
"title": "In lossy or gainful media"
}
]
| The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space. For example, if a stone is thrown into the middle of a very still pond, a circular pattern of waves with a quiescent center appears in the water, also known as a capillary wave. The expanding ring of waves is the wave group or wave packet, within which one can discern individual waves that travel faster than the group as a whole. The amplitudes of the individual waves grow as they emerge from the trailing edge of the group and diminish as they approach the leading edge of the group. | 2001-10-27T13:21:22Z | 2023-12-24T16:00:45Z | [
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Harvtxt",
"Template:Paragraph",
"Template:Math",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Mvar",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Colorbox",
"Template:Legend-line",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Excerpt",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Velocities of Waves"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_velocity |
12,781 | Group action | In mathematics, a group action of a group on a set is a collection of transformations from the set to itself, such that the collection of transformations under function composition is compatible with, or commutes with multiplication in the group. Similarly, a group action on a mathematical structure is a group homomorphism of the group into the automorphism group of the structure. It is said that the group acts on the set or structure.
If a group acts on a structure, it will usually also act on objects built from that structure. For example, the group of Euclidean isometries acts on Euclidean space and also on the figures drawn in it. For example, it acts on the set of all triangles. Similarly, the group of symmetries of a polyhedron acts on the vertices, the edges, and the faces of the polyhedron.
A group action on a vector space is called a representation of the group. In the case of a finite-dimensional vector space, it allows one to identify many groups with subgroups of GL(n, K), the group of the invertible matrices of dimension n over a field K.
The symmetric group Sn acts on any set with n elements by permuting the elements of the set. Although the group of all permutations of a set depends formally on the set, the concept of group action allows one to consider a single group for studying the permutations of all sets with the same cardinality.
If G is a group with identity element e, and X is a set, then a (left) group action α of G on X is a function
that satisfies the following two axioms:
for all g and h in G and all x in X.
The group G is then said to act on X (from the left). A set X together with an action of G is called a (left) G-set.
It can be notationally convenient to curry the action α {\displaystyle \alpha } , so that, instead, one has a collection of transformations α g : X → X {\displaystyle \alpha _{g}:X\to X} , with one transformation α g {\displaystyle \alpha _{g}} for each group element g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} . The identity and compatibility relations then read
and
with ∘ {\displaystyle \circ } being function composition. The second axiom then states that the function composition is compatible with the group multiplication; they form a commutative diagram. This axiom can be shortened even further, and written as α g ∘ α h = α g h {\displaystyle \alpha _{g}\circ \alpha _{h}=\alpha _{gh}} .
With the above understanding, it is very common to avoid writing α {\displaystyle \alpha } entirely, and to replace it with either a dot, or with nothing at all. Thus, α(g, x) can be shortened to g ⋅ x or gx, especially when the action is clear from context. The axioms are then
From these two axioms, it follows that for any fixed g in G, the function from X to itself which maps x to g ⋅ x is a bijection, with inverse bijection the corresponding map for g. Therefore, one may equivalently define a group action of G on X as a group homomorphism from G into the symmetric group Sym(X) of all bijections from X to itself.
Likewise, a right group action of G on X is a function
that satisfies the analogous axioms:
(with α(x, g) often shortened to xg or x ⋅ g when the action being considered is clear from context)
for all g and h in G and all x in X.
The difference between left and right actions is in the order in which a product gh acts on x. For a left action, h acts first, followed by g second. For a right action, g acts first, followed by h second. Because of the formula (gh) = hg, a left action can be constructed from a right action by composing with the inverse operation of the group. Also, a right action of a group G on X can be considered as a left action of its opposite group G on X.
Thus, for establishing general properties of group actions, it suffices to consider only left actions. However, there are cases where this is not possible. For example, the multiplication of a group induces both a left action and a right action on the group itself—multiplication on the left and on the right, respectively.
Let G {\displaystyle G} be a group acting on a set X {\displaystyle X} . The action is called faithful or effective if g ⋅ x = x {\displaystyle g\cdot x=x} for all x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} implies that g = e G {\displaystyle g=e_{G}} . Equivalently, the morphism from G {\displaystyle G} to the group of bijections of X {\displaystyle X} corresponding to the action is injective.
The action is called free (or semiregular or fixed-point free) if the statement that g ⋅ x = x {\displaystyle g\cdot x=x} for some x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} already implies that g = e G {\displaystyle g=e_{G}} . In other words, no non-trivial element of G {\displaystyle G} fixes a point of X {\displaystyle X} . This is a much stronger property than faithfulness.
For example, the action of any group on itself by left multiplication is free. This observation implies Cayley's theorem that any group can be embedded in a symmetric group (which is infinite when the group is). A finite group may act faithfully on a set of size much smaller than its cardinality (however such an action cannot be free). For instance the abelian 2-group ( Z / 2 Z ) n {\displaystyle (\mathbb {Z} /2\mathbb {Z} )^{n}} (of cardinality 2 n {\displaystyle 2^{n}} ) acts faithfully on a set of size 2 n {\displaystyle 2n} . This is not always the case, for example the cyclic group Z / 2 n Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} /2^{n}\mathbb {Z} } cannot act faithfully on a set of size less than 2 n {\displaystyle 2^{n}} .
In general the smallest set on which a faithful action can be defined can vary greatly for groups of the same size. For example, three groups of size 120 are the symmetric group S 5 {\displaystyle S_{5}} , the icosahedral group A 5 × Z / 2 Z {\displaystyle A_{5}\times \mathbb {Z} /2\mathbb {Z} } and the cyclic group Z / 120 Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} /120\mathbb {Z} } . The smallest sets on which faithful actions can be defined for these groups are of size 5, 7, and 16 respectively.
The action of G {\displaystyle G} on X {\displaystyle X} is called transitive if for any two points x , y ∈ X {\displaystyle x,y\in X} there exists a g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} so that g ⋅ x = y {\displaystyle g\cdot x=y} .
The action is simply transitive (or sharply transitive, or regular) if it is both transitive and free. This means that given x , y ∈ X {\displaystyle x,y\in X} the element g {\displaystyle g} in the definition of transitivity is unique. If X {\displaystyle X} is acted upon simply transitively by a group G {\displaystyle G} then it is called a principal homogeneous space for G {\displaystyle G} or a G {\displaystyle G} -torsor.
For an integer n ≥ 1 {\displaystyle n\geq 1} , the action is n {\displaystyle n} -transitive if X {\displaystyle X} has at least n {\displaystyle n} elements, and for any pair of n {\displaystyle n} -tuples ( x 1 , … , x n ) , ( y 1 , … , y n ) ∈ X n {\displaystyle (x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n}),(y_{1},\ldots ,y_{n})\in X^{n}} with pairwise distinct entries (that is x i ≠ x j {\displaystyle x_{i}\not =x_{j}} , y i ≠ y j {\displaystyle y_{i}\not =y_{j}} when i ≠ j {\displaystyle i\not =j} ) there exists a g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} such that g ⋅ x i = y i {\displaystyle g\cdot x_{i}=y_{i}} for i = 1 , … , n {\displaystyle i=1,\ldots ,n} . In other words the action on the subset of X n {\displaystyle X^{n}} of tuples without repeated entries is transitive. For n = 2 , 3 {\displaystyle n=2,3} this is often called double, respectively triple, transitivity. The class of 2-transitive groups (that is, subgroups of a finite symmetric group whose action is 2-transitive) and more generally multiply transitive groups is well-studied in finite group theory.
An action is sharply n {\displaystyle n} -transitive when the action on tuples without repeated entries in X n {\displaystyle X^{n}} is sharply transitive.
The action of the symmetric group of X {\displaystyle X} is transitive, in fact n {\displaystyle n} -transitive for any n {\displaystyle n} up to the cardinality of X {\displaystyle X} . If X {\displaystyle X} has cardinality n , {\displaystyle n,} the action of the alternating group is ( n − 2 ) {\displaystyle (n-2)} -transitive but not ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} -transitive.
The action of the general linear group of a vector space V {\displaystyle V} on the set V ∖ { 0 } {\displaystyle V\setminus \{0\}} of non-zero vectors is transitive, but not 2-transitive (similarly for the action of the special linear group if the dimension of v {\displaystyle v} is at least 2). The action of the orthogonal group of a Euclidean space is not transitive on nonzero vectors but it is on the unit sphere.
The action of G {\displaystyle G} on X {\displaystyle X} is called primitive if there is no partition of X {\displaystyle X} preserved by all elements of G {\displaystyle G} apart from the trivial partitions (the partition in a single piece and its dual, the partition into singletons).
Assume that X {\displaystyle X} is a topological space and the action of G {\displaystyle G} is by homeomorphisms.
The action is wandering if every x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} has a neighbourhood U {\displaystyle U} such that there are only finitely many g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} with g ⋅ U ∩ U ≠ ∅ {\displaystyle g\cdot U\cap U\not =\emptyset } .
More generally, a point x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} is called a point of discontinuity for the action of G {\displaystyle G} if there is an open subset U ∋ x {\displaystyle U\ni x} such that there are only finitely many g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} with g ⋅ U ∩ U ≠ ∅ {\displaystyle g\cdot U\cap U\not =\emptyset } . The domain of discontinuity of the action is the set of all points of discontinuity. Equivalently it is the largest G {\displaystyle G} -stable open subset Ω ⊂ X {\displaystyle \Omega \subset X} such that the action of G {\displaystyle G} on Ω {\displaystyle \Omega } is wandering. In a dynamical context this is also called a wandering set.
The action is properly discontinuous if for every compact subset K ⊂ X {\displaystyle K\subset X} there are finitely many g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} such that g ⋅ K ∩ K ≠ ∅ {\displaystyle g\cdot K\cap K\not =\emptyset } . This is strictly stronger than wandering; for instance the action of Z {\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} } on R 2 ∖ { ( 0 , 0 ) } {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{2}\setminus \{(0,0)\}} given by n ⋅ ( x , y ) = ( 2 n x , 2 − n y ) {\displaystyle n\cdot (x,y)=(2^{n}x,2^{-n}y)} is wandering and free but not properly discontinuous.
The action by deck transformations of the fundamental group of a locally simply connected space on an covering space is wandering and free. Such actions can be characterized by the following property: every x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} has a neighbourhood U {\displaystyle U} such that g ⋅ U ∩ U = ∅ {\displaystyle g\cdot U\cap U=\emptyset } for every g ∈ G ∖ { e G } {\displaystyle g\in G\setminus \{e_{G}\}} . Actions with this property are sometimes called freely discontinuous, and the largest subset on which the action is freely discontinuous is then called the free regular set.
An action of a group G {\displaystyle G} on a locally compact space X {\displaystyle X} is called cocompact if there exists a compact subset A ⊂ X {\displaystyle A\subset X} such that X = G ⋅ A {\displaystyle X=G\cdot A} . For a properly discontinuous action, cocompactness is equivalent to compactness of the quotient space G ∖ X {\displaystyle G\backslash X} .
Now assume G {\displaystyle G} is a topological group and X {\displaystyle X} a topological space on which it acts by homeomorphisms. The action is said to be continuous if the map G × X → X {\displaystyle G\times X\to X} is continuous for the product topology.
The action is said to be proper if the map G × X → X × X {\displaystyle G\times X\to X\times X} defined by ( g , x ) ↦ ( x , g ⋅ x ) {\displaystyle (g,x)\mapsto (x,g\cdot x)} is proper. This means that given compact sets K , K ′ {\displaystyle K,K'} the set of g ∈ G {\displaystyle g\in G} such that g ⋅ K ∩ K ′ ≠ ∅ {\displaystyle g\cdot K\cap K'\not =\emptyset } is compact. In particular, this is equivalent to proper discontinuity when G {\displaystyle G} is a discrete group.
It is said to be locally free if there exists a neighbourhood U {\displaystyle U} of e G {\displaystyle e_{G}} such that g ⋅ x ≠ x {\displaystyle g\cdot x\not =x} for all x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} and g ∈ U ∖ { e G } {\displaystyle g\in U\setminus \{e_{G}\}} .
The action is said to be strongly continuous if the orbital map g ↦ g ⋅ x {\displaystyle g\mapsto g\cdot x} is continuous for every x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} . Contrary to what the name suggests, this is a weaker property than continuity of the action.
If G {\displaystyle G} is a Lie group and X {\displaystyle X} a differentiable manifold, then the subspace of smooth points for the action is the set of points x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} such that the map g ↦ g ⋅ x {\displaystyle g\mapsto g\cdot x} is smooth. There is a well-developed theory of Lie group actions, i.e. action which are smooth on the whole space.
If g {\displaystyle g} acts by linear transformations on a module over a commutative ring, the action is said to be irreducible if there are no proper nonzero g {\displaystyle g} -invariant submodules. It is said to be semisimple if it decomposes as a direct sum of irreducible actions.
Consider a group G {\displaystyle G} acting on a set X {\displaystyle X} . The orbit of an element x {\displaystyle x} in X {\displaystyle X} is the set of elements in X {\displaystyle X} to which x {\displaystyle x} can be moved by the elements of G {\displaystyle G} . The orbit of x {\displaystyle x} is denoted by G ⋅ x {\displaystyle G\cdot x} :
The defining properties of a group guarantee that the set of orbits of (points x {\displaystyle x} in) X {\displaystyle X} under the action of G {\displaystyle G} form a partition of X {\displaystyle X} . The associated equivalence relation is defined by saying x ∼ y {\displaystyle x\sim y} if and only if there exists a g {\displaystyle g} in G {\displaystyle G} with g ⋅ x = y . {\displaystyle g\cdot x=y.} The orbits are then the equivalence classes under this relation; two elements x {\displaystyle x} and y {\displaystyle y} are equivalent if and only if their orbits are the same, that is, G ⋅ x = G ⋅ y . {\displaystyle G\cdot x=G\cdot y.}
The group action is transitive if and only if it has exactly one orbit, that is, if there exists x {\displaystyle x} in X {\displaystyle X} with G ⋅ x = X . {\displaystyle G\cdot x=X.} This is the case if and only if G ⋅ x = X {\displaystyle G\cdot x=X} for all x {\displaystyle x} in X {\displaystyle X} (given that X {\displaystyle X} is non-empty).
The set of all orbits of X {\displaystyle X} under the action of G {\displaystyle G} is written as X / G {\displaystyle X/G} (or, less frequently, as G ∖ X {\displaystyle G\backslash X} ), and is called the quotient of the action. In geometric situations it may be called the orbit space, while in algebraic situations it may be called the space of coinvariants, and written X G , {\displaystyle X_{G},} by contrast with the invariants (fixed points), denoted X G {\displaystyle X^{G}} : the coinvariants are a quotient while the invariants are a subset. The coinvariant terminology and notation are used particularly in group cohomology and group homology, which use the same superscript/subscript convention.
If Y is a subset of X, then G ⋅ Y {\displaystyle G\cdot Y} denotes the set { g ⋅ y : g ∈ G and y ∈ Y } . {\displaystyle \{g\cdot y:g\in G{\text{ and }}y\in Y\}.} The subset Y is said to be invariant under G if G ⋅ Y = Y {\displaystyle G\cdot Y=Y} (which is equivalent to G ⋅ Y ⊆ Y {\displaystyle G\cdot Y\subseteq Y} ). In that case, G also operates on Y by restricting the action to Y. The subset Y is called fixed under G if g ⋅ y = y {\displaystyle g\cdot y=y} for all g in G and all y in Y. Every subset that is fixed under G is also invariant under G, but not conversely.
Every orbit is an invariant subset of X on which G acts transitively. Conversely, any invariant subset of X is a union of orbits. The action of G on X is transitive if and only if all elements are equivalent, meaning that there is only one orbit.
A G-invariant element of X is x ∈ X {\displaystyle x\in X} such that g ⋅ x = x {\displaystyle g\cdot x=x} for all g ∈ G . {\displaystyle g\in G.} The set of all such x is denoted X G {\displaystyle X^{G}} and called the G-invariants of X. When X is a G-module, X is the zeroth cohomology group of G with coefficients in X, and the higher cohomology groups are the derived functors of the functor of G-invariants.
Given g in G and x in X with g ⋅ x = x , {\displaystyle g\cdot x=x,} it is said that "x is a fixed point of g" or that "g fixes x". For every x in X, the stabilizer subgroup of G with respect to x (also called the isotropy group or little group) is the set of all elements in G that fix x:
This is a subgroup of G, though typically not a normal one. The action of G on X is free if and only if all stabilizers are trivial. The kernel N of the homomorphism with the symmetric group, G → Sym ( X ) , {\displaystyle G\to \operatorname {Sym} (X),} is given by the intersection of the stabilizers Gx for all x in X. If N is trivial, the action is said to be faithful (or effective).
Let x and y be two elements in X, and let g {\displaystyle g} be a group element such that y = g ⋅ x . {\displaystyle y=g\cdot x.} Then the two stabilizer groups G x {\displaystyle G_{x}} and G y {\displaystyle G_{y}} are related by G y = g G x g − 1 . {\displaystyle G_{y}=gG_{x}g^{-1}.} Proof: by definition, h ∈ G y {\displaystyle h\in G_{y}} if and only if h ⋅ ( g ⋅ x ) = g ⋅ x . {\displaystyle h\cdot (g\cdot x)=g\cdot x.} Applying g − 1 {\displaystyle g^{-1}} to both sides of this equality yields ( g − 1 h g ) ⋅ x = x ; {\displaystyle \left(g^{-1}hg\right)\cdot x=x;} that is, g − 1 h g ∈ G x . {\displaystyle g^{-1}hg\in G_{x}.} An opposite inclusion follows similarly by taking h ∈ G x {\displaystyle h\in G_{x}} and supposing x = g − 1 ⋅ y . {\displaystyle x=g^{-1}\cdot y.}
The above says that the stabilizers of elements in the same orbit are conjugate to each other. Thus, to each orbit, we can associate a conjugacy class of a subgroup of G (that is, the set of all conjugates of the subgroup). Let ( H ) {\displaystyle (H)} denote the conjugacy class of H. Then the orbit O has type ( H ) {\displaystyle (H)} if the stabilizer G x {\displaystyle G_{x}} of some/any x in O belongs to ( H ) {\displaystyle (H)} . A maximal orbit type is often called a principal orbit type.
Orbits and stabilizers are closely related. For a fixed x in X, consider the map f : G → X {\displaystyle f:G\to X} given by g ↦ g ⋅ x . {\displaystyle g\mapsto g\cdot x.} By definition the image f ( G ) {\displaystyle f(G)} of this map is the orbit G ⋅ x . {\displaystyle G\cdot x.} The condition for two elements to have the same image is
In other words, f ( g ) = f ( h ) {\displaystyle f(g)=f(h)} if and only if g {\displaystyle g} and h {\displaystyle h} lie in the same coset for the stabilizer subgroup G x . {\displaystyle G_{x}.} Thus, the fiber f − 1 ( { y } ) {\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{y\})} of f over any y in G·x is contained in such a coset, and every such coset also occurs as a fiber. Therefore f induces a bijection between the set G / G x {\displaystyle G/G_{x}} of cosets for the stabilizer subgroup and the orbit G ⋅ x , {\displaystyle G\cdot x,} which sends g G x ↦ g ⋅ x {\displaystyle gG_{x}\mapsto g\cdot x} . This result is known as the orbit-stabilizer theorem.
If G is finite then the orbit-stabilizer theorem, together with Lagrange's theorem, gives
in other words the length of the orbit of x times the order of its stabilizer is the order of the group. In particular that implies that the orbit length is a divisor of the group order.
This result is especially useful since it can be employed for counting arguments (typically in situations where X is finite as well).
A result closely related to the orbit-stabilizer theorem is Burnside's lemma:
where X is the set of points fixed by g. This result is mainly of use when G and X are finite, when it can be interpreted as follows: the number of orbits is equal to the average number of points fixed per group element.
Fixing a group G, the set of formal differences of finite G-sets forms a ring called the Burnside ring of G, where addition corresponds to disjoint union, and multiplication to Cartesian product.
The notion of group action can be encoded by the action groupoid G ′ = G ⋉ X {\displaystyle G'=G\ltimes X} associated to the group action. The stabilizers of the action are the vertex groups of the groupoid and the orbits of the action are its components.
If X and Y are two G-sets, a morphism from X to Y is a function f : X → Y such that f(g⋅x) = g⋅f(x) for all g in G and all x in X. Morphisms of G-sets are also called equivariant maps or G-maps.
The composition of two morphisms is again a morphism. If a morphism f is bijective, then its inverse is also a morphism. In this case f is called an isomorphism, and the two G-sets X and Y are called isomorphic; for all practical purposes, isomorphic G-sets are indistinguishable.
Some example isomorphisms:
With this notion of morphism, the collection of all G-sets forms a category; this category is a Grothendieck topos (in fact, assuming a classical metalogic, this topos will even be Boolean).
We can also consider actions of monoids on sets, by using the same two axioms as above. This does not define bijective maps and equivalence relations however. See semigroup action.
Instead of actions on sets, we can define actions of groups and monoids on objects of an arbitrary category: start with an object X of some category, and then define an action on X as a monoid homomorphism into the monoid of endomorphisms of X. If X has an underlying set, then all definitions and facts stated above can be carried over. For example, if we take the category of vector spaces, we obtain group representations in this fashion.
We can view a group G as a category with a single object in which every morphism is invertible. A (left) group action is then nothing but a (covariant) functor from G to the category of sets, and a group representation is a functor from G to the category of vector spaces. A morphism between G-sets is then a natural transformation between the group action functors. In analogy, an action of a groupoid is a functor from the groupoid to the category of sets or to some other category.
In addition to continuous actions of topological groups on topological spaces, one also often considers smooth actions of Lie groups on smooth manifolds, regular actions of algebraic groups on algebraic varieties, and actions of group schemes on schemes. All of these are examples of group objects acting on objects of their respective category. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "In mathematics, a group action of a group on a set is a collection of transformations from the set to itself, such that the collection of transformations under function composition is compatible with, or commutes with multiplication in the group. Similarly, a group action on a mathematical structure is a group homomorphism of the group into the automorphism group of the structure. It is said that the group acts on the set or structure.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "If a group acts on a structure, it will usually also act on objects built from that structure. For example, the group of Euclidean isometries acts on Euclidean space and also on the figures drawn in it. For example, it acts on the set of all triangles. Similarly, the group of symmetries of a polyhedron acts on the vertices, the edges, and the faces of the polyhedron.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "A group action on a vector space is called a representation of the group. In the case of a finite-dimensional vector space, it allows one to identify many groups with subgroups of GL(n, K), the group of the invertible matrices of dimension n over a field K.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The symmetric group Sn acts on any set with n elements by permuting the elements of the set. Although the group of all permutations of a set depends formally on the set, the concept of group action allows one to consider a single group for studying the permutations of all sets with the same cardinality.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "If G is a group with identity element e, and X is a set, then a (left) group action α of G on X is a function",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "that satisfies the following two axioms:",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "for all g and h in G and all x in X.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The group G is then said to act on X (from the left). A set X together with an action of G is called a (left) G-set.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "It can be notationally convenient to curry the action α {\\displaystyle \\alpha } , so that, instead, one has a collection of transformations α g : X → X {\\displaystyle \\alpha _{g}:X\\to X} , with one transformation α g {\\displaystyle \\alpha _{g}} for each group element g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} . The identity and compatibility relations then read",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "and",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "with ∘ {\\displaystyle \\circ } being function composition. The second axiom then states that the function composition is compatible with the group multiplication; they form a commutative diagram. This axiom can be shortened even further, and written as α g ∘ α h = α g h {\\displaystyle \\alpha _{g}\\circ \\alpha _{h}=\\alpha _{gh}} .",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "With the above understanding, it is very common to avoid writing α {\\displaystyle \\alpha } entirely, and to replace it with either a dot, or with nothing at all. Thus, α(g, x) can be shortened to g ⋅ x or gx, especially when the action is clear from context. The axioms are then",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "From these two axioms, it follows that for any fixed g in G, the function from X to itself which maps x to g ⋅ x is a bijection, with inverse bijection the corresponding map for g. Therefore, one may equivalently define a group action of G on X as a group homomorphism from G into the symmetric group Sym(X) of all bijections from X to itself.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Likewise, a right group action of G on X is a function",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "that satisfies the analogous axioms:",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "(with α(x, g) often shortened to xg or x ⋅ g when the action being considered is clear from context)",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "for all g and h in G and all x in X.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The difference between left and right actions is in the order in which a product gh acts on x. For a left action, h acts first, followed by g second. For a right action, g acts first, followed by h second. Because of the formula (gh) = hg, a left action can be constructed from a right action by composing with the inverse operation of the group. Also, a right action of a group G on X can be considered as a left action of its opposite group G on X.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Thus, for establishing general properties of group actions, it suffices to consider only left actions. However, there are cases where this is not possible. For example, the multiplication of a group induces both a left action and a right action on the group itself—multiplication on the left and on the right, respectively.",
"title": "Definition"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Let G {\\displaystyle G} be a group acting on a set X {\\displaystyle X} . The action is called faithful or effective if g ⋅ x = x {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=x} for all x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} implies that g = e G {\\displaystyle g=e_{G}} . Equivalently, the morphism from G {\\displaystyle G} to the group of bijections of X {\\displaystyle X} corresponding to the action is injective.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The action is called free (or semiregular or fixed-point free) if the statement that g ⋅ x = x {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=x} for some x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} already implies that g = e G {\\displaystyle g=e_{G}} . In other words, no non-trivial element of G {\\displaystyle G} fixes a point of X {\\displaystyle X} . This is a much stronger property than faithfulness.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "For example, the action of any group on itself by left multiplication is free. This observation implies Cayley's theorem that any group can be embedded in a symmetric group (which is infinite when the group is). A finite group may act faithfully on a set of size much smaller than its cardinality (however such an action cannot be free). For instance the abelian 2-group ( Z / 2 Z ) n {\\displaystyle (\\mathbb {Z} /2\\mathbb {Z} )^{n}} (of cardinality 2 n {\\displaystyle 2^{n}} ) acts faithfully on a set of size 2 n {\\displaystyle 2n} . This is not always the case, for example the cyclic group Z / 2 n Z {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Z} /2^{n}\\mathbb {Z} } cannot act faithfully on a set of size less than 2 n {\\displaystyle 2^{n}} .",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In general the smallest set on which a faithful action can be defined can vary greatly for groups of the same size. For example, three groups of size 120 are the symmetric group S 5 {\\displaystyle S_{5}} , the icosahedral group A 5 × Z / 2 Z {\\displaystyle A_{5}\\times \\mathbb {Z} /2\\mathbb {Z} } and the cyclic group Z / 120 Z {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Z} /120\\mathbb {Z} } . The smallest sets on which faithful actions can be defined for these groups are of size 5, 7, and 16 respectively.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "The action of G {\\displaystyle G} on X {\\displaystyle X} is called transitive if for any two points x , y ∈ X {\\displaystyle x,y\\in X} there exists a g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} so that g ⋅ x = y {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=y} .",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The action is simply transitive (or sharply transitive, or regular) if it is both transitive and free. This means that given x , y ∈ X {\\displaystyle x,y\\in X} the element g {\\displaystyle g} in the definition of transitivity is unique. If X {\\displaystyle X} is acted upon simply transitively by a group G {\\displaystyle G} then it is called a principal homogeneous space for G {\\displaystyle G} or a G {\\displaystyle G} -torsor.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "For an integer n ≥ 1 {\\displaystyle n\\geq 1} , the action is n {\\displaystyle n} -transitive if X {\\displaystyle X} has at least n {\\displaystyle n} elements, and for any pair of n {\\displaystyle n} -tuples ( x 1 , … , x n ) , ( y 1 , … , y n ) ∈ X n {\\displaystyle (x_{1},\\ldots ,x_{n}),(y_{1},\\ldots ,y_{n})\\in X^{n}} with pairwise distinct entries (that is x i ≠ x j {\\displaystyle x_{i}\\not =x_{j}} , y i ≠ y j {\\displaystyle y_{i}\\not =y_{j}} when i ≠ j {\\displaystyle i\\not =j} ) there exists a g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} such that g ⋅ x i = y i {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x_{i}=y_{i}} for i = 1 , … , n {\\displaystyle i=1,\\ldots ,n} . In other words the action on the subset of X n {\\displaystyle X^{n}} of tuples without repeated entries is transitive. For n = 2 , 3 {\\displaystyle n=2,3} this is often called double, respectively triple, transitivity. The class of 2-transitive groups (that is, subgroups of a finite symmetric group whose action is 2-transitive) and more generally multiply transitive groups is well-studied in finite group theory.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "An action is sharply n {\\displaystyle n} -transitive when the action on tuples without repeated entries in X n {\\displaystyle X^{n}} is sharply transitive.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The action of the symmetric group of X {\\displaystyle X} is transitive, in fact n {\\displaystyle n} -transitive for any n {\\displaystyle n} up to the cardinality of X {\\displaystyle X} . If X {\\displaystyle X} has cardinality n , {\\displaystyle n,} the action of the alternating group is ( n − 2 ) {\\displaystyle (n-2)} -transitive but not ( n − 1 ) {\\displaystyle (n-1)} -transitive.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "The action of the general linear group of a vector space V {\\displaystyle V} on the set V ∖ { 0 } {\\displaystyle V\\setminus \\{0\\}} of non-zero vectors is transitive, but not 2-transitive (similarly for the action of the special linear group if the dimension of v {\\displaystyle v} is at least 2). The action of the orthogonal group of a Euclidean space is not transitive on nonzero vectors but it is on the unit sphere.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "The action of G {\\displaystyle G} on X {\\displaystyle X} is called primitive if there is no partition of X {\\displaystyle X} preserved by all elements of G {\\displaystyle G} apart from the trivial partitions (the partition in a single piece and its dual, the partition into singletons).",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Assume that X {\\displaystyle X} is a topological space and the action of G {\\displaystyle G} is by homeomorphisms.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The action is wandering if every x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} has a neighbourhood U {\\displaystyle U} such that there are only finitely many g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} with g ⋅ U ∩ U ≠ ∅ {\\displaystyle g\\cdot U\\cap U\\not =\\emptyset } .",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "More generally, a point x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} is called a point of discontinuity for the action of G {\\displaystyle G} if there is an open subset U ∋ x {\\displaystyle U\\ni x} such that there are only finitely many g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} with g ⋅ U ∩ U ≠ ∅ {\\displaystyle g\\cdot U\\cap U\\not =\\emptyset } . The domain of discontinuity of the action is the set of all points of discontinuity. Equivalently it is the largest G {\\displaystyle G} -stable open subset Ω ⊂ X {\\displaystyle \\Omega \\subset X} such that the action of G {\\displaystyle G} on Ω {\\displaystyle \\Omega } is wandering. In a dynamical context this is also called a wandering set.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The action is properly discontinuous if for every compact subset K ⊂ X {\\displaystyle K\\subset X} there are finitely many g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} such that g ⋅ K ∩ K ≠ ∅ {\\displaystyle g\\cdot K\\cap K\\not =\\emptyset } . This is strictly stronger than wandering; for instance the action of Z {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {Z} } on R 2 ∖ { ( 0 , 0 ) } {\\displaystyle \\mathbb {R} ^{2}\\setminus \\{(0,0)\\}} given by n ⋅ ( x , y ) = ( 2 n x , 2 − n y ) {\\displaystyle n\\cdot (x,y)=(2^{n}x,2^{-n}y)} is wandering and free but not properly discontinuous.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The action by deck transformations of the fundamental group of a locally simply connected space on an covering space is wandering and free. Such actions can be characterized by the following property: every x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} has a neighbourhood U {\\displaystyle U} such that g ⋅ U ∩ U = ∅ {\\displaystyle g\\cdot U\\cap U=\\emptyset } for every g ∈ G ∖ { e G } {\\displaystyle g\\in G\\setminus \\{e_{G}\\}} . Actions with this property are sometimes called freely discontinuous, and the largest subset on which the action is freely discontinuous is then called the free regular set.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "An action of a group G {\\displaystyle G} on a locally compact space X {\\displaystyle X} is called cocompact if there exists a compact subset A ⊂ X {\\displaystyle A\\subset X} such that X = G ⋅ A {\\displaystyle X=G\\cdot A} . For a properly discontinuous action, cocompactness is equivalent to compactness of the quotient space G ∖ X {\\displaystyle G\\backslash X} .",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Now assume G {\\displaystyle G} is a topological group and X {\\displaystyle X} a topological space on which it acts by homeomorphisms. The action is said to be continuous if the map G × X → X {\\displaystyle G\\times X\\to X} is continuous for the product topology.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The action is said to be proper if the map G × X → X × X {\\displaystyle G\\times X\\to X\\times X} defined by ( g , x ) ↦ ( x , g ⋅ x ) {\\displaystyle (g,x)\\mapsto (x,g\\cdot x)} is proper. This means that given compact sets K , K ′ {\\displaystyle K,K'} the set of g ∈ G {\\displaystyle g\\in G} such that g ⋅ K ∩ K ′ ≠ ∅ {\\displaystyle g\\cdot K\\cap K'\\not =\\emptyset } is compact. In particular, this is equivalent to proper discontinuity when G {\\displaystyle G} is a discrete group.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "It is said to be locally free if there exists a neighbourhood U {\\displaystyle U} of e G {\\displaystyle e_{G}} such that g ⋅ x ≠ x {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x\\not =x} for all x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} and g ∈ U ∖ { e G } {\\displaystyle g\\in U\\setminus \\{e_{G}\\}} .",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The action is said to be strongly continuous if the orbital map g ↦ g ⋅ x {\\displaystyle g\\mapsto g\\cdot x} is continuous for every x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} . Contrary to what the name suggests, this is a weaker property than continuity of the action.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "If G {\\displaystyle G} is a Lie group and X {\\displaystyle X} a differentiable manifold, then the subspace of smooth points for the action is the set of points x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} such that the map g ↦ g ⋅ x {\\displaystyle g\\mapsto g\\cdot x} is smooth. There is a well-developed theory of Lie group actions, i.e. action which are smooth on the whole space.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "If g {\\displaystyle g} acts by linear transformations on a module over a commutative ring, the action is said to be irreducible if there are no proper nonzero g {\\displaystyle g} -invariant submodules. It is said to be semisimple if it decomposes as a direct sum of irreducible actions.",
"title": "Notable properties of actions"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Consider a group G {\\displaystyle G} acting on a set X {\\displaystyle X} . The orbit of an element x {\\displaystyle x} in X {\\displaystyle X} is the set of elements in X {\\displaystyle X} to which x {\\displaystyle x} can be moved by the elements of G {\\displaystyle G} . The orbit of x {\\displaystyle x} is denoted by G ⋅ x {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x} :",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The defining properties of a group guarantee that the set of orbits of (points x {\\displaystyle x} in) X {\\displaystyle X} under the action of G {\\displaystyle G} form a partition of X {\\displaystyle X} . The associated equivalence relation is defined by saying x ∼ y {\\displaystyle x\\sim y} if and only if there exists a g {\\displaystyle g} in G {\\displaystyle G} with g ⋅ x = y . {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=y.} The orbits are then the equivalence classes under this relation; two elements x {\\displaystyle x} and y {\\displaystyle y} are equivalent if and only if their orbits are the same, that is, G ⋅ x = G ⋅ y . {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x=G\\cdot y.}",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "The group action is transitive if and only if it has exactly one orbit, that is, if there exists x {\\displaystyle x} in X {\\displaystyle X} with G ⋅ x = X . {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x=X.} This is the case if and only if G ⋅ x = X {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x=X} for all x {\\displaystyle x} in X {\\displaystyle X} (given that X {\\displaystyle X} is non-empty).",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The set of all orbits of X {\\displaystyle X} under the action of G {\\displaystyle G} is written as X / G {\\displaystyle X/G} (or, less frequently, as G ∖ X {\\displaystyle G\\backslash X} ), and is called the quotient of the action. In geometric situations it may be called the orbit space, while in algebraic situations it may be called the space of coinvariants, and written X G , {\\displaystyle X_{G},} by contrast with the invariants (fixed points), denoted X G {\\displaystyle X^{G}} : the coinvariants are a quotient while the invariants are a subset. The coinvariant terminology and notation are used particularly in group cohomology and group homology, which use the same superscript/subscript convention.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "If Y is a subset of X, then G ⋅ Y {\\displaystyle G\\cdot Y} denotes the set { g ⋅ y : g ∈ G and y ∈ Y } . {\\displaystyle \\{g\\cdot y:g\\in G{\\text{ and }}y\\in Y\\}.} The subset Y is said to be invariant under G if G ⋅ Y = Y {\\displaystyle G\\cdot Y=Y} (which is equivalent to G ⋅ Y ⊆ Y {\\displaystyle G\\cdot Y\\subseteq Y} ). In that case, G also operates on Y by restricting the action to Y. The subset Y is called fixed under G if g ⋅ y = y {\\displaystyle g\\cdot y=y} for all g in G and all y in Y. Every subset that is fixed under G is also invariant under G, but not conversely.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Every orbit is an invariant subset of X on which G acts transitively. Conversely, any invariant subset of X is a union of orbits. The action of G on X is transitive if and only if all elements are equivalent, meaning that there is only one orbit.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "A G-invariant element of X is x ∈ X {\\displaystyle x\\in X} such that g ⋅ x = x {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=x} for all g ∈ G . {\\displaystyle g\\in G.} The set of all such x is denoted X G {\\displaystyle X^{G}} and called the G-invariants of X. When X is a G-module, X is the zeroth cohomology group of G with coefficients in X, and the higher cohomology groups are the derived functors of the functor of G-invariants.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Given g in G and x in X with g ⋅ x = x , {\\displaystyle g\\cdot x=x,} it is said that \"x is a fixed point of g\" or that \"g fixes x\". For every x in X, the stabilizer subgroup of G with respect to x (also called the isotropy group or little group) is the set of all elements in G that fix x:",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "This is a subgroup of G, though typically not a normal one. The action of G on X is free if and only if all stabilizers are trivial. The kernel N of the homomorphism with the symmetric group, G → Sym ( X ) , {\\displaystyle G\\to \\operatorname {Sym} (X),} is given by the intersection of the stabilizers Gx for all x in X. If N is trivial, the action is said to be faithful (or effective).",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Let x and y be two elements in X, and let g {\\displaystyle g} be a group element such that y = g ⋅ x . {\\displaystyle y=g\\cdot x.} Then the two stabilizer groups G x {\\displaystyle G_{x}} and G y {\\displaystyle G_{y}} are related by G y = g G x g − 1 . {\\displaystyle G_{y}=gG_{x}g^{-1}.} Proof: by definition, h ∈ G y {\\displaystyle h\\in G_{y}} if and only if h ⋅ ( g ⋅ x ) = g ⋅ x . {\\displaystyle h\\cdot (g\\cdot x)=g\\cdot x.} Applying g − 1 {\\displaystyle g^{-1}} to both sides of this equality yields ( g − 1 h g ) ⋅ x = x ; {\\displaystyle \\left(g^{-1}hg\\right)\\cdot x=x;} that is, g − 1 h g ∈ G x . {\\displaystyle g^{-1}hg\\in G_{x}.} An opposite inclusion follows similarly by taking h ∈ G x {\\displaystyle h\\in G_{x}} and supposing x = g − 1 ⋅ y . {\\displaystyle x=g^{-1}\\cdot y.}",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "The above says that the stabilizers of elements in the same orbit are conjugate to each other. Thus, to each orbit, we can associate a conjugacy class of a subgroup of G (that is, the set of all conjugates of the subgroup). Let ( H ) {\\displaystyle (H)} denote the conjugacy class of H. Then the orbit O has type ( H ) {\\displaystyle (H)} if the stabilizer G x {\\displaystyle G_{x}} of some/any x in O belongs to ( H ) {\\displaystyle (H)} . A maximal orbit type is often called a principal orbit type.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Orbits and stabilizers are closely related. For a fixed x in X, consider the map f : G → X {\\displaystyle f:G\\to X} given by g ↦ g ⋅ x . {\\displaystyle g\\mapsto g\\cdot x.} By definition the image f ( G ) {\\displaystyle f(G)} of this map is the orbit G ⋅ x . {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x.} The condition for two elements to have the same image is",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "In other words, f ( g ) = f ( h ) {\\displaystyle f(g)=f(h)} if and only if g {\\displaystyle g} and h {\\displaystyle h} lie in the same coset for the stabilizer subgroup G x . {\\displaystyle G_{x}.} Thus, the fiber f − 1 ( { y } ) {\\displaystyle f^{-1}(\\{y\\})} of f over any y in G·x is contained in such a coset, and every such coset also occurs as a fiber. Therefore f induces a bijection between the set G / G x {\\displaystyle G/G_{x}} of cosets for the stabilizer subgroup and the orbit G ⋅ x , {\\displaystyle G\\cdot x,} which sends g G x ↦ g ⋅ x {\\displaystyle gG_{x}\\mapsto g\\cdot x} . This result is known as the orbit-stabilizer theorem.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "If G is finite then the orbit-stabilizer theorem, together with Lagrange's theorem, gives",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "in other words the length of the orbit of x times the order of its stabilizer is the order of the group. In particular that implies that the orbit length is a divisor of the group order.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "This result is especially useful since it can be employed for counting arguments (typically in situations where X is finite as well).",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "A result closely related to the orbit-stabilizer theorem is Burnside's lemma:",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "where X is the set of points fixed by g. This result is mainly of use when G and X are finite, when it can be interpreted as follows: the number of orbits is equal to the average number of points fixed per group element.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Fixing a group G, the set of formal differences of finite G-sets forms a ring called the Burnside ring of G, where addition corresponds to disjoint union, and multiplication to Cartesian product.",
"title": " Orbits and stabilizers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "The notion of group action can be encoded by the action groupoid G ′ = G ⋉ X {\\displaystyle G'=G\\ltimes X} associated to the group action. The stabilizers of the action are the vertex groups of the groupoid and the orbits of the action are its components.",
"title": "Group actions and groupoids"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "If X and Y are two G-sets, a morphism from X to Y is a function f : X → Y such that f(g⋅x) = g⋅f(x) for all g in G and all x in X. Morphisms of G-sets are also called equivariant maps or G-maps.",
"title": "Morphisms and isomorphisms between G-sets"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "The composition of two morphisms is again a morphism. If a morphism f is bijective, then its inverse is also a morphism. In this case f is called an isomorphism, and the two G-sets X and Y are called isomorphic; for all practical purposes, isomorphic G-sets are indistinguishable.",
"title": "Morphisms and isomorphisms between G-sets"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Some example isomorphisms:",
"title": "Morphisms and isomorphisms between G-sets"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "With this notion of morphism, the collection of all G-sets forms a category; this category is a Grothendieck topos (in fact, assuming a classical metalogic, this topos will even be Boolean).",
"title": "Morphisms and isomorphisms between G-sets"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "We can also consider actions of monoids on sets, by using the same two axioms as above. This does not define bijective maps and equivalence relations however. See semigroup action.",
"title": "Variants and generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Instead of actions on sets, we can define actions of groups and monoids on objects of an arbitrary category: start with an object X of some category, and then define an action on X as a monoid homomorphism into the monoid of endomorphisms of X. If X has an underlying set, then all definitions and facts stated above can be carried over. For example, if we take the category of vector spaces, we obtain group representations in this fashion.",
"title": "Variants and generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "We can view a group G as a category with a single object in which every morphism is invertible. A (left) group action is then nothing but a (covariant) functor from G to the category of sets, and a group representation is a functor from G to the category of vector spaces. A morphism between G-sets is then a natural transformation between the group action functors. In analogy, an action of a groupoid is a functor from the groupoid to the category of sets or to some other category.",
"title": "Variants and generalizations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "In addition to continuous actions of topological groups on topological spaces, one also often considers smooth actions of Lie groups on smooth manifolds, regular actions of algebraic groups on algebraic varieties, and actions of group schemes on schemes. All of these are examples of group objects acting on objects of their respective category.",
"title": "Variants and generalizations"
}
]
| In mathematics, a group action of a group on a set is a collection of transformations from the set to itself, such that the collection of transformations under function composition is compatible with, or commutes with multiplication in the group. Similarly, a group action on a mathematical structure is a group homomorphism of the group into the automorphism group of the structure. It is said that the group acts on the set or structure. If a group acts on a structure, it will usually also act on objects built from that structure. For example, the group of Euclidean isometries acts on Euclidean space and also on the figures drawn in it. For example, it acts on the set of all triangles. Similarly, the group of symmetries of a polyhedron acts on the vertices, the edges, and the faces of the polyhedron. A group action on a vector space is called a representation of the group. In the case of a finite-dimensional vector space, it allows one to identify many groups with subgroups of GL(n, K), the group of the invertible matrices of dimension n over a field K. The symmetric group Sn acts on any set with n elements by permuting the elements of the set. Although the group of all permutations of a set depends formally on the set, the concept of group action allows one to consider a single group for studying the permutations of all sets with the same cardinality. | 2001-11-02T15:49:34Z | 2023-12-12T12:23:15Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Mvar",
"Template:Visible anchor",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Dubious",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:About",
"Template:Group theory sidebar",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Em",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Springer",
"Template:Main",
"Template:CN",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Math",
"Template:MathWorld"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action |
12,783 | Gzip | gzip is a file format and a software application used for file compression and decompression. The program was created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler as a free software replacement for the compress program used in early Unix systems, and intended for use by GNU (from where the "g" of gzip is derived). Version 0.1 was first publicly released on 31 October 1992, and version 1.0 followed in February 1993.
The decompression of the gzip format can be implemented as a streaming algorithm, an important feature for Web protocols, data interchange and ETL (in standard pipes) applications.
gzip is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of LZ77 and Huffman coding. DEFLATE was intended as a replacement for LZW and other patent-encumbered data compression algorithms which, at the time, limited the usability of compress and other popular archivers.
"gzip" is often also used to refer to the gzip file format, which is:
Although its file format also allows for multiple such streams to be concatenated (gzipped files are simply decompressed concatenated as if they were originally one file), gzip is normally used to compress just single files. Compressed archives are typically created by assembling collections of files into a single tar archive (also called tarball), and then compressing that archive with gzip. The final compressed file usually has the extension .tar.gz or .tgz.
gzip is not to be confused with the ZIP archive format, which also uses DEFLATE. The ZIP format can hold collections of files without an external archiver, but is less compact than compressed tarballs holding the same data, because it compresses files individually and cannot take advantage of redundancy between files (solid compression).
Various implementations of the program have been written. The most commonly known is the GNU Project's implementation using Lempel-Ziv coding (LZ77). OpenBSD's version of gzip is actually the compress program, to which support for the gzip format was added in OpenBSD 3.4. The 'g' in this specific version stands for gratis. FreeBSD, DragonFly BSD and NetBSD use a BSD-licensed implementation instead of the GNU version; it is actually a command-line interface for zlib intended to be compatible with the GNU implementations' options. These implementations originally come from NetBSD, and support decompression of bzip2 and the Unix pack format.
An alternative compression program achieving 3-8% better compression is Zopfli. It achieves gzip-compatible compression using more exhaustive algorithms, at the expense of compression time required. It does not affect decompression time.
pigz, written by Mark Adler, is compatible with gzip and speeds up compression by using all available CPU cores and threads.
Data in blocks prior to the first damaged part of the archive is usually fully readable. Data from blocks not demolished by damage that are located afterward may be recoverable through difficult workarounds.
The tar utility included in most Linux distributions can extract .tar.gz files by passing the z option, e.g., tar -zxf file.tar.gz, where -z instructs decompression, -x means extraction, and -f specifies the name of the compressed archive file to extract from. Optionally, -v (verbose) lists files as they are being extracted.
zlib is an abstraction of the DEFLATE algorithm in library form which includes support both for the gzip file format and a lightweight data stream format in its API. The zlib stream format, DEFLATE, and the gzip file format were standardized respectively as RFC 1950, RFC 1951, and RFC 1952.
The gzip format is used in HTTP compression, a technique used to speed up the sending of HTML and other content on the World Wide Web. It is one of the three standard formats for HTTP compression as specified in RFC 2616. This RFC also specifies a zlib format (called "DEFLATE"), which is equal to the gzip format except that gzip adds eleven bytes of overhead in the form of headers and trailers. Still, the gzip format is sometimes recommended over zlib because Internet Explorer does not implement the standard correctly and cannot handle the zlib format as specified in RFC 1950.
zlib DEFLATE is used internally by the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format.
Since the late 1990s, bzip2, a file compression utility based on a block-sorting algorithm, has gained some popularity as a gzip replacement. It produces considerably smaller files (especially for source code and other structured text), but at the cost of memory and processing time (up to a factor of 4).
AdvanceCOMP and 7-Zip can produce gzip-compatible files, using an internal DEFLATE implementation with better compression ratios than gzip itself—at the cost of more processor time compared to the reference implementation.
Research published in 2023 showed that simple lossless compression techniques such as gzip could be combined with a k-nearest-neighbor classifier to create an attractive alternative to Deep Neural Networks for text classification in Natural Language Processing. This approach has been shown to equal and in some cases outperform conventional approaches such as BERT due to low resource requirements, e.g. no requirement for GPU hardware. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "gzip is a file format and a software application used for file compression and decompression. The program was created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler as a free software replacement for the compress program used in early Unix systems, and intended for use by GNU (from where the \"g\" of gzip is derived). Version 0.1 was first publicly released on 31 October 1992, and version 1.0 followed in February 1993.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The decompression of the gzip format can be implemented as a streaming algorithm, an important feature for Web protocols, data interchange and ETL (in standard pipes) applications.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "gzip is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of LZ77 and Huffman coding. DEFLATE was intended as a replacement for LZW and other patent-encumbered data compression algorithms which, at the time, limited the usability of compress and other popular archivers.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "\"gzip\" is often also used to refer to the gzip file format, which is:",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Although its file format also allows for multiple such streams to be concatenated (gzipped files are simply decompressed concatenated as if they were originally one file), gzip is normally used to compress just single files. Compressed archives are typically created by assembling collections of files into a single tar archive (also called tarball), and then compressing that archive with gzip. The final compressed file usually has the extension .tar.gz or .tgz.",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "gzip is not to be confused with the ZIP archive format, which also uses DEFLATE. The ZIP format can hold collections of files without an external archiver, but is less compact than compressed tarballs holding the same data, because it compresses files individually and cannot take advantage of redundancy between files (solid compression).",
"title": "File format"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Various implementations of the program have been written. The most commonly known is the GNU Project's implementation using Lempel-Ziv coding (LZ77). OpenBSD's version of gzip is actually the compress program, to which support for the gzip format was added in OpenBSD 3.4. The 'g' in this specific version stands for gratis. FreeBSD, DragonFly BSD and NetBSD use a BSD-licensed implementation instead of the GNU version; it is actually a command-line interface for zlib intended to be compatible with the GNU implementations' options. These implementations originally come from NetBSD, and support decompression of bzip2 and the Unix pack format.",
"title": "Implementations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "An alternative compression program achieving 3-8% better compression is Zopfli. It achieves gzip-compatible compression using more exhaustive algorithms, at the expense of compression time required. It does not affect decompression time.",
"title": "Implementations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "pigz, written by Mark Adler, is compatible with gzip and speeds up compression by using all available CPU cores and threads.",
"title": "Implementations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Data in blocks prior to the first damaged part of the archive is usually fully readable. Data from blocks not demolished by damage that are located afterward may be recoverable through difficult workarounds.",
"title": "Implementations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The tar utility included in most Linux distributions can extract .tar.gz files by passing the z option, e.g., tar -zxf file.tar.gz, where -z instructs decompression, -x means extraction, and -f specifies the name of the compressed archive file to extract from. Optionally, -v (verbose) lists files as they are being extracted.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "zlib is an abstraction of the DEFLATE algorithm in library form which includes support both for the gzip file format and a lightweight data stream format in its API. The zlib stream format, DEFLATE, and the gzip file format were standardized respectively as RFC 1950, RFC 1951, and RFC 1952.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "The gzip format is used in HTTP compression, a technique used to speed up the sending of HTML and other content on the World Wide Web. It is one of the three standard formats for HTTP compression as specified in RFC 2616. This RFC also specifies a zlib format (called \"DEFLATE\"), which is equal to the gzip format except that gzip adds eleven bytes of overhead in the form of headers and trailers. Still, the gzip format is sometimes recommended over zlib because Internet Explorer does not implement the standard correctly and cannot handle the zlib format as specified in RFC 1950.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "zlib DEFLATE is used internally by the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Since the late 1990s, bzip2, a file compression utility based on a block-sorting algorithm, has gained some popularity as a gzip replacement. It produces considerably smaller files (especially for source code and other structured text), but at the cost of memory and processing time (up to a factor of 4).",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "AdvanceCOMP and 7-Zip can produce gzip-compatible files, using an internal DEFLATE implementation with better compression ratios than gzip itself—at the cost of more processor time compared to the reference implementation.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Research published in 2023 showed that simple lossless compression techniques such as gzip could be combined with a k-nearest-neighbor classifier to create an attractive alternative to Deep Neural Networks for text classification in Natural Language Processing. This approach has been shown to equal and in some cases outperform conventional approaches such as BERT due to low resource requirements, e.g. no requirement for GPU hardware.",
"title": "Derivatives and other uses"
}
]
| gzip is a file format and a software application used for file compression and decompression. The program was created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler as a free software replacement for the compress program used in early Unix systems, and intended for use by GNU. Version 0.1 was first publicly released on 31 October 1992, and version 1.0 followed in February 1993. The decompression of the gzip format can be implemented as a streaming algorithm, an important feature for Web protocols, data interchange and ETL applications. | 2001-10-30T14:46:59Z | 2023-08-31T11:34:17Z | [
"Template:GNU",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Compression software implementations",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Archive formats",
"Template:Lowercase title",
"Template:Infobox file format",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Infobox software",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Mono",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip |
12,786 | General anaesthetic | General anaesthetics (or anesthetics, see spelling differences) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of awareness to painful stimuli, sufficient to facilitate surgical applications in clinical and veterinary practice. General anaesthetics do not act as analgesics and should also not be confused with sedatives. General anaesthetics are a structurally diverse group of compounds whose mechanisms encompasses multiple biological targets involved in the control of neuronal pathways. The precise workings are the subject of some debate and ongoing research.
General anesthetics elicit a state of general anesthesia. It remains somewhat controversial regarding how this state should be defined. General anesthetics, however, typically elicit several key reversible effects: immobility, analgesia, amnesia, unconsciousness, and reduced autonomic responsiveness to noxious stimuli.
General anaesthetics can be administered either as gases or vapours (inhalational anaesthetics), or as injections (intravenous anaesthetics or even intramuscular). All of these agents share the property of being quite hydrophobic (i.e., as liquids, they are not freely miscible—or mixable—in water, and as gases they dissolve in oils better than in water). It is possible to deliver anaesthesia solely by inhalation or injection, but most commonly the two forms are combined, with an injection given to induce anaesthesia and a gas used to maintain it.
Inhalational anaesthetic substances are either volatile liquids or gases, and are usually delivered using an anaesthesia machine. An anaesthesia machine allows composing a mixture of oxygen, anaesthetics and ambient air, delivering it to the patient and monitoring patient and machine parameters. Liquid anaesthetics are vapourised in the machine.
Many compounds have been used for inhalation anaesthesia, but only a few are still in widespread use. Desflurane, isoflurane and sevoflurane are the most widely used volatile anaesthetics today. They are often combined with nitrous oxide. Older, less popular, volatile anaesthetics, include halothane, enflurane, and methoxyflurane. Researchers are also actively exploring the use of xenon as an anaesthetic.
Injectable anaesthetics are used for the induction and maintenance of a state of unconsciousness. Anaesthetists prefer to use intravenous injections, as they are faster, generally less painful and more reliable than intramuscular or subcutaneous injections. Among the most widely used drugs are:
Benzodiazepines are sedatives and are used in combinations with other general anaesthetics
Induction and maintenance of general anesthesia, and the control of the various physiological side effects is typically achieved through a combinatorial drug approach. Individual general anesthetics vary with respect to their specific physiological and cognitive effects. While general anesthesia induction may be facilitated by one general anesthetic, others may be used in parallel or subsequently to achieve and maintain the desired anesthetic state. The drug approach utilized is dependent upon the procedure and the needs of the healthcare providers.
It is postulated that general anaesthetics exert their action by the activation of inhibitory central nervous system (CNS) receptors, and the inactivation of CNS excitatory receptors. The relative roles of different receptors is still under debate, but evidence exists for particular targets being involved with certain anaesthetics and drug effects.
Below are several key targets of general anesthetics that likely mediate their effects:
During administration of an anesthetic, the receiver goes through different stages of behavior ultimately leading to unconsciousness. This process is accelerated with intravenous anesthetics, so much so that it is negligible to consider during their use. The four stages of anesthesia are described using Guedel's signs, signifying the depth of anesthesia. These stages describe effects of anesthesia mainly on cognition, muscular activity, and respiration.
The receiver of the anesthesia primarily feels analgesia followed by amnesia and a sense of confusion moving into the next stage.
Stage II is often characterized by the receiver being delirious and confused, with severe amnesia. Irregularities in the patterns of respiration are common at this stage of anesthesia. Nausea and vomiting are also indicators of Stage II anesthesia. Struggling and panic can sometimes occur as a result of delirium.
Normal breathing resumes at the beginnings of Stage III. Nearing the end of the stage, breathing ceases completely. Indicators for stage III anesthesia include loss of the eyelash reflex as well as regular breathing. Depth of stage III anesthesia can often be gauged by eye movement and pupil size.
No respiration occurs in stage IV. This is shortly followed by circulatory failure and depression of the vasomotor centers. Death is common at this stage of anesthesia if no breathing and circulatory support is available.
Aside from the clinically advantageous effects of general anesthetics, there are a number of other physiological consequences mediated by this class of drug. Notably, a reduction in blood pressure can be facilitated by a variety of mechanisms, including reduced cardiac contractility and dilation of the vasculature. This drop in blood pressure may activate a reflexive increase in heart rate, due to a baroreceptor-mediated feedback mechanism. Some anesthetics, however, disrupt this reflex.
Patients under general anesthesia are at greater risk of developing hypothermia, as the aforementioned vasodilation increases the heat lost via peripheral blood flow. By and large, these drugs reduce the internal body temperature threshold at which autonomic thermoregulatory mechanisms are triggered in response to cold. (On the other hand, the threshold at which thermoregulatory mechanisms are triggered in response to heat is typically increased.)
Anesthetics typically affect respiration. Inhalational anesthetics elicit bronchodilation, an increase in respiratory rate, and reduced tidal volume. The net effect is decreased respiration, which must be managed by healthcare providers, while the patient is under general anesthesia. The reflexes that function to alleviate airway obstructions are also dampened (e.g. gag and cough). Compounded with a reduction in lower esophageal sphincter tone, which increases the frequency of regurgitation, patients are especially prone to asphyxiation while under general anesthesia. Healthcare providers closely monitor individuals under general anesthesia and utilize a number of devices, such as an endotracheal tube, to ensure patient safety.
General anesthetics also affect the chemoreceptor trigger zone and brainstem vomiting center, eliciting nausea and vomiting following treatment.
Intravenously delivered general anesthetics are typically small and highly lipophilic molecules. These characteristics facilitate their rapid preferential distribution into the brain and spinal cord, which are both highly vascularized and lipophilic. It is here where the actions of these drugs lead to general anesthesia induction.
Following distribution into the central nervous system (CNS), the anesthetic drug then diffuses out of the CNS into the muscles and viscera, followed by adipose tissues. In patients given a single injection of drug, this redistribution results in termination of general anesthesia. Therefore, following administration of a single anesthetic bolus, duration of drug effect is dependent solely upon the redistribution kinetics.
The half-life of an anesthetic drug following a prolonged infusion, however, depends upon both drug redistribution kinetics, drug metabolism in the liver, and existing drug concentration in fat. When large quantities of an anesthetic drug have already been dissolved in the body's fat stores, this can slow its redistribution out of the brain and spinal cord, prolonging its CNS effects. For this reason, the half-lives of these infused drugs are said to be context-dependent. Generally, prolonged anesthetic drug infusions result in longer drug half-lives, slowed elimination from the brain and spinal cord, and delayed termination of general anesthesia.
Minimal alveolar concentration (MAC) is the concentration of an inhalational anesthetic in the lungs that prevents 50% of patients from responding to surgical incision. This value is used to compare the potencies of various inhalational general anesthetics and impacts the partial-pressure of the drug utilized by healthcare providers during general anesthesia induction and/or maintenance.
Induction of anesthesia is facilitated by diffusion of an inhaled anesthetic drug into the brain and spinal cord. Diffusion throughout the body proceeds until the drug's partial pressure within the various tissues is equivalent to the partial pressure of the drug within the lungs. Healthcare providers can control the rate of anesthesia induction and final tissue concentrations of the anesthetic by varying the partial pressure of the inspired anesthetic. A higher drug partial pressure in the lungs will drive diffusion more rapidly throughout the body and yield a higher maximum tissue concentration. Respiratory rate and inspiratory volume will also affect the promptness of anesthesia onset, as will the extent of pulmonary blood flow.
The partition coefficient of a gaseous drug is indicative of its relative solubility in various tissues. This metric is the relative drug concentration between two tissues, when their partial pressures are equal (gas:blood, fat:blood, etc.). Inhalational anesthetics vary widely with respect to their tissue solubilities and partition coefficients. Anesthetics that are highly soluble require many molecules of drug to raise the partial pressure within a given tissue, as opposed to minimally soluble anesthetics which require relatively few. Generally, inhalational anesthetics that are minimally soluble reach equilibrium more quickly. Inhalational anesthetics that have a high fat:blood partition coefficient, however, reach equilibrium more slowly, due to the minimal vascularization of fat tissue, which serves as a large, slowly-filling reservoir for the drug.
Inhaled anesthetics are eliminated via expiration, following diffusion into the lungs. This process is dependent largely upon the anesthetic blood:gas partition coefficient, tissue solubility, blood flow to the lungs, and patient respiratory rate and inspiratory volume. For gases that have minimal tissue solubility, termination of anesthesia generally occurs as rapidly as the onset of anesthesia. For gases that have high tissue solubility, however, termination of anesthesia is generally context-dependent. As with intravenous anesthetic infusions, prolonged delivery of highly soluble anesthetic gases generally results in longer drug half-lives, slowed elimination from the brain and spinal cord, and delayed termination of anesthesia.
Metabolism of inhaled anesthetics is generally not a major route of drug elimination. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "General anaesthetics (or anesthetics, see spelling differences) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of awareness to painful stimuli, sufficient to facilitate surgical applications in clinical and veterinary practice. General anaesthetics do not act as analgesics and should also not be confused with sedatives. General anaesthetics are a structurally diverse group of compounds whose mechanisms encompasses multiple biological targets involved in the control of neuronal pathways. The precise workings are the subject of some debate and ongoing research.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "General anesthetics elicit a state of general anesthesia. It remains somewhat controversial regarding how this state should be defined. General anesthetics, however, typically elicit several key reversible effects: immobility, analgesia, amnesia, unconsciousness, and reduced autonomic responsiveness to noxious stimuli.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "General anaesthetics can be administered either as gases or vapours (inhalational anaesthetics), or as injections (intravenous anaesthetics or even intramuscular). All of these agents share the property of being quite hydrophobic (i.e., as liquids, they are not freely miscible—or mixable—in water, and as gases they dissolve in oils better than in water). It is possible to deliver anaesthesia solely by inhalation or injection, but most commonly the two forms are combined, with an injection given to induce anaesthesia and a gas used to maintain it.",
"title": "Mode of administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Inhalational anaesthetic substances are either volatile liquids or gases, and are usually delivered using an anaesthesia machine. An anaesthesia machine allows composing a mixture of oxygen, anaesthetics and ambient air, delivering it to the patient and monitoring patient and machine parameters. Liquid anaesthetics are vapourised in the machine.",
"title": "Mode of administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Many compounds have been used for inhalation anaesthesia, but only a few are still in widespread use. Desflurane, isoflurane and sevoflurane are the most widely used volatile anaesthetics today. They are often combined with nitrous oxide. Older, less popular, volatile anaesthetics, include halothane, enflurane, and methoxyflurane. Researchers are also actively exploring the use of xenon as an anaesthetic.",
"title": "Mode of administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Injectable anaesthetics are used for the induction and maintenance of a state of unconsciousness. Anaesthetists prefer to use intravenous injections, as they are faster, generally less painful and more reliable than intramuscular or subcutaneous injections. Among the most widely used drugs are:",
"title": "Mode of administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Benzodiazepines are sedatives and are used in combinations with other general anaesthetics",
"title": "Mode of administration"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Induction and maintenance of general anesthesia, and the control of the various physiological side effects is typically achieved through a combinatorial drug approach. Individual general anesthetics vary with respect to their specific physiological and cognitive effects. While general anesthesia induction may be facilitated by one general anesthetic, others may be used in parallel or subsequently to achieve and maintain the desired anesthetic state. The drug approach utilized is dependent upon the procedure and the needs of the healthcare providers.",
"title": "Mechanism of action"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "It is postulated that general anaesthetics exert their action by the activation of inhibitory central nervous system (CNS) receptors, and the inactivation of CNS excitatory receptors. The relative roles of different receptors is still under debate, but evidence exists for particular targets being involved with certain anaesthetics and drug effects.",
"title": "Mechanism of action"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Below are several key targets of general anesthetics that likely mediate their effects:",
"title": "Mechanism of action"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "During administration of an anesthetic, the receiver goes through different stages of behavior ultimately leading to unconsciousness. This process is accelerated with intravenous anesthetics, so much so that it is negligible to consider during their use. The four stages of anesthesia are described using Guedel's signs, signifying the depth of anesthesia. These stages describe effects of anesthesia mainly on cognition, muscular activity, and respiration.",
"title": "Stages of anesthesia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The receiver of the anesthesia primarily feels analgesia followed by amnesia and a sense of confusion moving into the next stage.",
"title": "Stages of anesthesia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Stage II is often characterized by the receiver being delirious and confused, with severe amnesia. Irregularities in the patterns of respiration are common at this stage of anesthesia. Nausea and vomiting are also indicators of Stage II anesthesia. Struggling and panic can sometimes occur as a result of delirium.",
"title": "Stages of anesthesia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Normal breathing resumes at the beginnings of Stage III. Nearing the end of the stage, breathing ceases completely. Indicators for stage III anesthesia include loss of the eyelash reflex as well as regular breathing. Depth of stage III anesthesia can often be gauged by eye movement and pupil size.",
"title": "Stages of anesthesia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "No respiration occurs in stage IV. This is shortly followed by circulatory failure and depression of the vasomotor centers. Death is common at this stage of anesthesia if no breathing and circulatory support is available.",
"title": "Stages of anesthesia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Aside from the clinically advantageous effects of general anesthetics, there are a number of other physiological consequences mediated by this class of drug. Notably, a reduction in blood pressure can be facilitated by a variety of mechanisms, including reduced cardiac contractility and dilation of the vasculature. This drop in blood pressure may activate a reflexive increase in heart rate, due to a baroreceptor-mediated feedback mechanism. Some anesthetics, however, disrupt this reflex.",
"title": "Physiological side effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Patients under general anesthesia are at greater risk of developing hypothermia, as the aforementioned vasodilation increases the heat lost via peripheral blood flow. By and large, these drugs reduce the internal body temperature threshold at which autonomic thermoregulatory mechanisms are triggered in response to cold. (On the other hand, the threshold at which thermoregulatory mechanisms are triggered in response to heat is typically increased.)",
"title": "Physiological side effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Anesthetics typically affect respiration. Inhalational anesthetics elicit bronchodilation, an increase in respiratory rate, and reduced tidal volume. The net effect is decreased respiration, which must be managed by healthcare providers, while the patient is under general anesthesia. The reflexes that function to alleviate airway obstructions are also dampened (e.g. gag and cough). Compounded with a reduction in lower esophageal sphincter tone, which increases the frequency of regurgitation, patients are especially prone to asphyxiation while under general anesthesia. Healthcare providers closely monitor individuals under general anesthesia and utilize a number of devices, such as an endotracheal tube, to ensure patient safety.",
"title": "Physiological side effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "General anesthetics also affect the chemoreceptor trigger zone and brainstem vomiting center, eliciting nausea and vomiting following treatment.",
"title": "Physiological side effects"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Intravenously delivered general anesthetics are typically small and highly lipophilic molecules. These characteristics facilitate their rapid preferential distribution into the brain and spinal cord, which are both highly vascularized and lipophilic. It is here where the actions of these drugs lead to general anesthesia induction.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Following distribution into the central nervous system (CNS), the anesthetic drug then diffuses out of the CNS into the muscles and viscera, followed by adipose tissues. In patients given a single injection of drug, this redistribution results in termination of general anesthesia. Therefore, following administration of a single anesthetic bolus, duration of drug effect is dependent solely upon the redistribution kinetics.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The half-life of an anesthetic drug following a prolonged infusion, however, depends upon both drug redistribution kinetics, drug metabolism in the liver, and existing drug concentration in fat. When large quantities of an anesthetic drug have already been dissolved in the body's fat stores, this can slow its redistribution out of the brain and spinal cord, prolonging its CNS effects. For this reason, the half-lives of these infused drugs are said to be context-dependent. Generally, prolonged anesthetic drug infusions result in longer drug half-lives, slowed elimination from the brain and spinal cord, and delayed termination of general anesthesia.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Minimal alveolar concentration (MAC) is the concentration of an inhalational anesthetic in the lungs that prevents 50% of patients from responding to surgical incision. This value is used to compare the potencies of various inhalational general anesthetics and impacts the partial-pressure of the drug utilized by healthcare providers during general anesthesia induction and/or maintenance.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Induction of anesthesia is facilitated by diffusion of an inhaled anesthetic drug into the brain and spinal cord. Diffusion throughout the body proceeds until the drug's partial pressure within the various tissues is equivalent to the partial pressure of the drug within the lungs. Healthcare providers can control the rate of anesthesia induction and final tissue concentrations of the anesthetic by varying the partial pressure of the inspired anesthetic. A higher drug partial pressure in the lungs will drive diffusion more rapidly throughout the body and yield a higher maximum tissue concentration. Respiratory rate and inspiratory volume will also affect the promptness of anesthesia onset, as will the extent of pulmonary blood flow.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The partition coefficient of a gaseous drug is indicative of its relative solubility in various tissues. This metric is the relative drug concentration between two tissues, when their partial pressures are equal (gas:blood, fat:blood, etc.). Inhalational anesthetics vary widely with respect to their tissue solubilities and partition coefficients. Anesthetics that are highly soluble require many molecules of drug to raise the partial pressure within a given tissue, as opposed to minimally soluble anesthetics which require relatively few. Generally, inhalational anesthetics that are minimally soluble reach equilibrium more quickly. Inhalational anesthetics that have a high fat:blood partition coefficient, however, reach equilibrium more slowly, due to the minimal vascularization of fat tissue, which serves as a large, slowly-filling reservoir for the drug.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Inhaled anesthetics are eliminated via expiration, following diffusion into the lungs. This process is dependent largely upon the anesthetic blood:gas partition coefficient, tissue solubility, blood flow to the lungs, and patient respiratory rate and inspiratory volume. For gases that have minimal tissue solubility, termination of anesthesia generally occurs as rapidly as the onset of anesthesia. For gases that have high tissue solubility, however, termination of anesthesia is generally context-dependent. As with intravenous anesthetic infusions, prolonged delivery of highly soluble anesthetic gases generally results in longer drug half-lives, slowed elimination from the brain and spinal cord, and delayed termination of anesthesia.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Metabolism of inhaled anesthetics is generally not a major route of drug elimination.",
"title": "Pharmacokinetics"
}
]
| General anaesthetics are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of awareness to painful stimuli, sufficient to facilitate surgical applications in clinical and veterinary practice. General anaesthetics do not act as analgesics and should also not be confused with sedatives. General anaesthetics are a structurally diverse group of compounds whose mechanisms encompasses multiple biological targets involved in the control of neuronal pathways. The precise workings are the subject of some debate and ongoing research. General anesthetics elicit a state of general anesthesia. It remains somewhat controversial regarding how this state should be defined. General anesthetics, however, typically elicit several key reversible effects: immobility, analgesia, amnesia, unconsciousness, and reduced autonomic responsiveness to noxious stimuli. | 2001-10-30T11:34:54Z | 2023-11-09T22:42:13Z | [
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Hatnote",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Anesthesia",
"Template:General anesthetics",
"Template:Major drug groups",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthetic |
12,787 | Geoffrey Chaucer | Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1340s – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.
Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts.
Chaucer was born in London most likely in the early 1340s (by some accounts, including his monument, he was born in 1343), though the precise date and location remain unknown. The Chaucer family offers an extraordinary example of upward mobility. His great-grandfather was a tavern keeper, his grandfather worked as a purveyor of wines, and his father John Chaucer rose to become an important wine merchant with a royal appointment. Several previous generations of Geoffrey Chaucer's family had been vintners and merchants in Ipswich. His family name is derived from the French chaucier, once thought to mean 'shoemaker', but now known to mean a maker of hose or leggings.
In 1324, his father John Chaucer was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the 12-year-old to her daughter in an attempt to keep the property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and fined £250, now equivalent to about £200,000, which suggests that the family was financially secure.
John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who inherited properties in 1349, including 24 shops in London from her uncle Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated 3 April 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as "moneyer", said to be a moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie, which translates as: "I, Geoffrey Chaucer, son of the vintner John Chaucer, London".
While records concerning the lives of his contemporaries William Langland and the Gawain Poet are practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant his official life is very well documented, with nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections, a common medieval form of apprenticeship for boys into knighthood or prestige appointments. The countess was married to Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the king, Edward III, and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the King's Works.
In 1359, the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom, a considerable sum equivalent to £12,261 in 2021, and Chaucer was released.
After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later (c. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas's daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk. Thomas's great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffrey's other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey, Agnes, an attendant at Henry IV's coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer. Chaucer's "Treatise on the Astrolabe" was written for Lewis.
According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at this time. He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other literary stars of the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369 of the plague.
Chaucer travelled to Picardy the next year as part of a military expedition; in 1373 he visited Genoa and Florence. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland suggested that, on this Italian trip, he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio. They introduced him to medieval Italian poetry, the forms and stories of which he would use later. The purposes of a voyage in 1377 are mysterious, as details within the historical record conflict. Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage between the future King Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years' War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred.
In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and to Sir John Hawkwood, English condottiere (mercenary leader) in Milan. It has been speculated that it was Hawkwood on whom Chaucer based his character the Knight in the Canterbury Tales, for a description matches that of a 14th-century condottiere.
A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer "a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task. This was an unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been for another early poetic work. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary grant on 18 April 1378.
Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of comptroller of the customs for the port of London, which he began on 8 June 1374. He must have been suited for the role as he continued in it for twelve years, a long time in such a post at that time. His life goes undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he wrote (or began) most of his famous works during this period. Chaucer's "only surviving handwriting" dates from this period. This is a request for temporary leave from work presented to King Richard II, hitherto believed to be the work of one of his subordinates due to the low level of language.
On 16 October 1379 Thomas Staundon filed a legal action against his former servant Cecily Chaumpaigne and Chaucer, accusing Chaucer of unlawfully employing Chaumpaigne before her term of service was completed, which violated the Statute of Labourers. Though eight court documents dated between October 1379 and July 1380 survive from the action, the case was never prosecuted and no details survive about Chaumpaigne's service or how she came to leave Staundon's employ for Chaucer's.
It is not known if Chaucer was in the City of London at the time of the Peasants' Revolt, but if he was, he would have seen its leaders pass almost directly under his apartment window at Aldgate.
While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to Kent, being appointed as one of the commissioners of peace for Kent, at a time when French invasion was a possibility. He is thought to have started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. He also became a member of parliament for Kent in 1386, and attended the 'Wonderful Parliament' that year. He appears to have been present at most of the 71 days it sat, for which he was paid £24 9s. On 15 October that year, he gave a deposition in the case of Scrope v. Grosvenor. There is no further reference after this date to Philippa, Chaucer's wife, and she is presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political upheavals caused by the Lords Appellants, despite the fact that Chaucer knew some of the men executed over the affair quite well.
On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of foreman organising most of the king's building projects. No major works were begun during his tenure, but he did conduct repairs on Westminster Palace, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, continued building the wharf at the Tower of London, and built the stands for a tournament held in 1390. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid two shillings a day, more than three times his salary as a comptroller. Chaucer was also appointed keeper of the lodge at the King's park in Feckenham Forest in Worcestershire, which was a largely honorary appointment.
In September 1390, records say that Chaucer was robbed and possibly injured while conducting the business, and he stopped working in this capacity on 17 June 1391. He began as Deputy Forester in the royal forest of Petherton Park in North Petherton, Somerset on 22 June. This was no sinecure, with maintenance an important part of the job, although there were many opportunities to derive profit.
Richard II granted him an annual pension of 20 pounds in 1394 (equivalent to £18,558 in 2021), and Chaucer's name fades from the historical record not long after Richard's overthrow in 1399. The last few records of his life show his pension renewed by the new king, and his taking a lease on a residence within the close of Westminster Abbey on 24 December 1399. Henry IV renewed the grants assigned by Richard, but The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse hints that the grants might not have been paid. The last mention of Chaucer is on 5 June 1400 when some debts owed to him were repaid.
Chaucer died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, although the only evidence for this date comes from the engraving on his tomb which was erected more than 100 years after his death. There is some speculation that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making him the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.
Chaucer was a close friend of John of Gaunt, the wealthy Duke of Lancaster and father of Henry IV, and he served under Lancaster's patronage. Near the end of their lives, Lancaster and Chaucer became brothers-in-law when Lancaster married Katherine Swynford (de Roet) in 1396; she was the sister of Philippa (de) Roet, whom Chaucer had married in 1366.
Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess (also known as the Deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse) was written in commemoration of Blanche of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's first wife. The poem refers to John and Blanche in allegory as the narrator relates the tale of "A long castel with walles white/Be Seynt Johan, on a ryche hil" (1318–1319) who is mourning grievously after the death of his love, "And goode faire White she het/That was my lady name ryght" (948–949). The phrase "long castel" is a reference to Lancaster (also called "Loncastel" and "Longcastell"), "walles white" is thought to be an oblique reference to Blanche, "Seynt Johan" was John of Gaunt's name-saint, and "ryche hil" is a reference to Richmond. These references reveal the identity of the grieving black knight of the poem as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Earl of Richmond. "White" is the English translation of the French word "blanche", implying that the white lady was Blanche of Lancaster.
Chaucer's short poem Fortune, believed to have been written in the 1390s, is also thought to refer to Lancaster. "Chaucer as narrator" openly defies Fortune, proclaiming that he has learned who his enemies are through her tyranny and deceit, and declares "my suffisaunce" (15) and that "over himself hath the maystrye" (14).
Fortune, in turn, does not understand Chaucer's harsh words to her for she believes that she has been kind to him, claims that he does not know what she has in store for him in the future, but most importantly, "And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve" (32, 40, 48). Chaucer retorts, "My frend maystow nat reven, blind goddesse" (50) and orders her to take away those who merely pretend to be his friends.
Fortune turns her attention to three princes whom she implores to relieve Chaucer of his pain and "Preyeth his beste frend of his noblesse/That to som beter estat he may atteyne" (78–79). The three princes are believed to represent the dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester, and a portion of line 76 ("as three of you or tweyne") is thought to refer to the ordinance of 1390 which specified that no royal gift could be authorised without the consent of at least two of the three dukes.
Most conspicuous in this short poem is the number of references to Chaucer's "beste frend". Fortune states three times in her response to the plaintiff, "And also, you still have your best friend alive" (32, 40, 48); she also refers to his "beste frend" in the envoy when appealing to his "noblesse" to help Chaucer to a higher estate. The narrator makes a fifth reference when he rails at Fortune that she shall not take his friend from him.
Chaucer seems to have respected and admired Christians and to have been one himself, though he also recognised that many people in the church were venal and corrupt. He wrote in Canterbury Tales, "now I beg all those that listen to this little treatise, or read it, that if there be anything in it that pleases them, they thank our Lord Jesus Christ for it, from whom proceeds all understanding and goodness."
Chaucer's first major work was The Book of the Duchess, an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster who died in 1368. Two other early works were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. He wrote many of his major works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386). His Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. It is believed that he started The Canterbury Tales in the 1380s.
Chaucer also translated Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris (extended by Jean de Meun). Eustache Deschamps called himself a "nettle in Chaucer's garden of poetry". In 1385, Thomas Usk made glowing mention of Chaucer, and John Gower also lauded him.
Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe describes the form and use of the astrolabe in detail and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language, and it indicates that Chaucer was versed in science in addition to his literary talents. The equatorie of the planetis is a scientific work similar to the Treatise and sometimes ascribed to Chaucer because of its language and handwriting, an identification which scholars no longer deem tenable.
Chaucer wrote in continental accentual-syllabic metre, a style which had developed in English literature since around the 12th century as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre. Chaucer is known for metrical innovation, inventing the rhyme royal, and he was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line, a decasyllabic cousin to the iambic pentametre, in his work, with only a few anonymous short works using it before him. The arrangement of these five-stress lines into rhyming couplets, first seen in his The Legend of Good Women, was used in much of his later work and became one of the standard poetic forms in English. His early influence as a satirist is also important, with the common humorous device, the funny accent of a regional dialect, apparently making its first appearance in The Reeve's Tale.
The poetry of Chaucer, along with other writers of the era, is credited with helping to standardise the London Dialect of the Middle English language from a combination of the Kentish and Midlands dialects. This is probably overstated; the influence of the court, chancery and bureaucracy – of which Chaucer was a part – remains a more probable influence on the development of Standard English.
Modern English is somewhat distanced from the language of Chaucer's poems owing to the effect of the Great Vowel Shift some time after his death. This change in the pronunciation of English, still not fully understood, makes the reading of Chaucer difficult for the modern audience.
The status of the final -e in Chaucer's verse is uncertain: it seems likely that during the period of Chaucer's writing the final -e was dropping out of colloquial English and that its use was somewhat irregular. It may have been a vestige of the Old English dative singular suffix -e attached to most nouns. Chaucer's versification suggests that the final -e is sometimes to be vocalised, and sometimes to be silent; however, this remains a point on which there is disagreement. When it is vocalised, most scholars pronounce it as a schwa.
Apart from the irregular spelling, much of the vocabulary is recognisable to the modern reader. Chaucer is also recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as the first author to use many common English words in his writings. These words were probably frequently used in the language at the time but Chaucer, with his ear for common speech, is the earliest extant manuscript source. Acceptable, alkali, altercation, amble, angrily, annex, annoyance, approaching, arbitration, armless, army, arrogant, arsenic, arc, artillery and aspect are just some of almost two thousand English words first attested in Chaucer.
Widespread knowledge of Chaucer's works is attested by the many poets who imitated or responded to his writing. John Lydgate was one of the earliest poets to write continuations of Chaucer's unfinished Tales while Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid completes the story of Cressida left unfinished in his Troilus and Criseyde. Many of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works contain material from these poets and later appreciations by the Romantic era poets were shaped by their failure to distinguish the later "additions" from original Chaucer.
Writers of the 17th and 18th centuries, such as John Dryden, admired Chaucer for his stories, but not for his rhythm and rhyme, as few critics could then read Middle English and the text had been butchered by printers, leaving a somewhat unadmirable mess. It was not until the late 19th century that the official Chaucerian canon, accepted today, was decided upon, largely as a result of Walter William Skeat's work. Roughly seventy-five years after Chaucer's death, The Canterbury Tales was selected by William Caxton to be one of the first books to be printed in England.
Chaucer is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition. His achievement for the language can be seen as part of a general historical trend towards the creation of a vernacular literature, after the example of Dante, in many parts of Europe. A parallel trend in Chaucer's own lifetime was underway in Scotland through the work of his slightly earlier contemporary, John Barbour, and was likely to have been even more general, as is evidenced by the example of the Pearl Poet in the north of England.
Although Chaucer's language is much closer to Modern English than the text of Beowulf, such that (unlike that of Beowulf) a Modern English-speaker with a large vocabulary of archaic words may understand it, it differs enough that most publications modernise his idiom. The following is a sample from the prologue of The Summoner's Tale that compares Chaucer's text to a modern translation:
The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is believed to be in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules (1382), a dream vision portraying a parliament for birds to choose their mates. Honouring the first anniversary of the engagement of fifteen-year-old King Richard II of England to fifteen-year-old Anne of Bohemia:
For this was on seynt Volantynys dayWhan euery bryd comyth there to chese his makeOf euery kynde that men thinke mayAnd that so heuge a noyse gan they makeThat erthe & eyr & tre & euery lakeSo ful was that onethe was there spaceFor me to stonde, so ful was al the place.
"The language of England, upon which Chaucer was the first to confer celebrity, has amply justified the foresight which led him to disdain all others for its sake, and, in turn, has conferred an enduring celebrity upon him who trusted his reputation to it without reserve."
—T. R. Lounsbury.
The poet Thomas Hoccleve, who may have met Chaucer and considered him his role model, hailed Chaucer as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage". John Lydgate referred to Chaucer within his own text The Fall of Princes as the "lodesterre (guiding principle) … off our language". Around two centuries later, Sir Philip Sidney greatly praised Troilus and Criseyde in his own Defence of Poesie. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Chaucer came to be viewed as a symbol of the nation's poetic heritage.
In Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield, the Victorian era author echoed Chaucer's use of Luke 23:34 from Troilus and Criseyde (Dickens held a copy in his library among other works of Chaucer), with G. K. Chesterton writing, "among the great canonical English authors, Chaucer and Dickens have the most in common."
The large number of surviving manuscripts of Chaucer's works is testimony to the enduring interest in his poetry prior to the arrival of the printing press. There are 83 surviving manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales (in whole or part) alone, along with sixteen of Troilus and Criseyde, including the personal copy of Henry IV. Given the ravages of time, it is likely that these surviving manuscripts represent hundreds since lost.
Chaucer's original audience was a courtly one, and would have included women as well as men of the upper social classes. Yet even before his death in 1400, Chaucer's audience had begun to include members of the rising literate, middle and merchant classes. This included many Lollard sympathisers who may well have been inclined to read Chaucer as one of their own.
Lollards were particularly attracted to Chaucer's satirical writings about friars, priests, and other church officials. In 1464, John Baron, a tenant farmer in Agmondesham (Amersham in Buckinghamshire), was brought before John Chadworth, the Bishop of Lincoln, on charges of being a Lollard heretic; he confessed to owning a "boke of the Tales of Caunterburie" among other suspect volumes.
The first English printer, William Caxton, was responsible for the first two folio editions of The Canterbury Tales which were published in 1478 and 1483. Caxton's second printing, by his own account, came about because a customer complained that the printed text differed from a manuscript he knew; Caxton obligingly used the man's manuscript as his source. Both Caxton editions carry the equivalent of manuscript authority. Caxton's edition was reprinted by his successor, Wynkyn de Worde, but this edition has no independent authority.
Richard Pynson, the King's Printer under Henry VIII for about twenty years, was the first to collect and sell something that resembled an edition of the collected works of Chaucer; however, in the process, he introduced five previously printed texts that are now known not to be Chaucer's. (The collection is actually three separately printed texts, or collections of texts, bound together as one volume.)
There is a likely connection between Pynson's product and William Thynne's a mere six years later. Thynne had a successful career from the 1520s until his death in 1546, as chief clerk of the kitchen of Henry VIII, one of the masters of the royal household. He spent years comparing various versions of Chaucer's works, and selected 41 pieces for publication. While there were questions over the authorship of some of the material, there is not doubt this was the first comprehensive view of Chaucer's work. The Workes of Geffray Chaucer, published in 1532, was the first edition of Chaucer's collected works. Thynne's editions of Chaucer's Works in 1532 and 1542 were the first major contributions to the existence of a widely recognised Chaucerian canon. Thynne represents his edition as a book sponsored by and supportive of the king who is praised in the preface by Sir Brian Tuke. Thynne's canon brought the number of apocryphal works associated with Chaucer to a total of 28, even if that was not his intention. As with Pynson, once included in the Works, pseudepigraphic texts stayed with those works, regardless of their first editor's intentions.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Chaucer was printed more than any other English author, and he was the first author to have his works collected in comprehensive single-volume editions in which a Chaucer canon began to cohere. Some scholars contend that 16th-century editions of Chaucer's Works set the precedent for all other English authors in terms of presentation, prestige and success in print. These editions certainly established Chaucer's reputation, but they also began the complicated process of reconstructing and frequently inventing Chaucer's biography and the canonical list of works which were attributed to him.
Probably the most significant aspect of the growing apocrypha is that, beginning with Thynne's editions, it began to include medieval texts that made Chaucer appear as a proto-Protestant Lollard, primarily the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale. As "Chaucerian" works that were not considered apocryphal until the late 19th century, these medieval texts enjoyed a new life, with English Protestants carrying on the earlier Lollard project of appropriating existing texts and authors who seemed sympathetic—or malleable enough to be construed as sympathetic—to their cause. The official Chaucer of the early printed volumes of his Works was construed as a proto-Protestant as the same was done, concurrently, with William Langland and Piers Plowman.
The famous Plowman's Tale did not enter Thynne's Works until the second, 1542, edition. Its entry was surely facilitated by Thynne's inclusion of Thomas Usk's Testament of Love in the first edition. The Testament of Love imitates, borrows from, and thus resembles Usk's contemporary, Chaucer. (Testament of Love also appears to borrow from Piers Plowman.)
Since the Testament of Love mentions its author's part in a failed plot (book 1, chapter 6), his imprisonment, and (perhaps) a recantation of (possibly Lollard) heresy, all this was associated with Chaucer. (Usk himself was executed as a traitor in 1388.) John Foxe took this recantation of heresy as a defence of the true faith, calling Chaucer a "right Wiclevian" and (erroneously) identifying him as a schoolmate and close friend of John Wycliffe at Merton College, Oxford. (Thomas Speght is careful to highlight these facts in his editions and his "Life of Chaucer".) No other sources for the Testament of Love exist—there is only Thynne's construction of whatever manuscript sources he had.
John Stow (1525–1605) was an antiquarian and also a chronicler. His edition of Chaucer's Works in 1561 brought the apocrypha to more than 50 titles. More were added in the 17th century, and they remained as late as 1810, well after Thomas Tyrwhitt pared the canon down in his 1775 edition. The compilation and printing of Chaucer's works was, from its beginning, a political enterprise, since it was intended to establish an English national identity and history that grounded and authorised the Tudor monarchy and church. What was added to Chaucer often helped represent him favourably to Protestant England.
In his 1598 edition of the Works, Speght (probably taking cues from Foxe) made good use of Usk's account of his political intrigue and imprisonment in the Testament of Love to assemble a largely fictional "Life of Our Learned English Poet, Geffrey Chaucer". Speght's "Life" presents readers with an erstwhile radical in troubled times much like their own, a proto-Protestant who eventually came round to the king's views on religion. Speght states, "In the second year of Richard the second, the King tooke Geffrey Chaucer and his lands into his protection. The occasion wherof no doubt was some daunger and trouble whereinto he was fallen by favouring some rash attempt of the common people." Under the discussion of Chaucer's friends, namely John of Gaunt, Speght further explains:
Later, in "The Argument" to the Testament of Love, Speght adds:
Speght is also the source of the famous tale of Chaucer being fined for beating a Franciscan friar in Fleet Street, as well as a fictitious coat of arms and family tree. Ironically – and perhaps consciously so – an introductory, apologetic letter in Speght's edition from Francis Beaumont defends the unseemly, "low", and bawdy bits in Chaucer from an elite, classicist position.
Francis Thynne noted some of these inconsistencies in his Animadversions, insisting that Chaucer was not a commoner, and he objected to the friar-beating story. Yet Thynne himself underscores Chaucer's support for popular religious reform, associating Chaucer's views with his father William Thynne's attempts to include The Plowman's Tale and The Pilgrim's Tale in the 1532 and 1542 Works.
The myth of the Protestant Chaucer continues to have a lasting impact on a large body of Chaucerian scholarship. Though it is extremely rare for a modern scholar to suggest Chaucer supported a religious movement that did not exist until more than a century after his death, the predominance of this thinking for so many centuries left it for granted that Chaucer was at least hostile toward Catholicism. This assumption forms a large part of many critical approaches to Chaucer's works, including neo-Marxism.
Alongside Chaucer's Works, the most impressive literary monument of the period is John Foxe's Acts and Monuments.... As with the Chaucer editions, it was critically significant to English Protestant identity and included Chaucer in its project. Foxe's Chaucer both derived from and contributed to the printed editions of Chaucer's Works, particularly the pseudepigrapha. Jack Upland was first printed in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, and then it appeared in Speght's edition of Chaucer's Works.
Speght's "Life of Chaucer" echoes Foxe's own account, which is itself dependent upon the earlier editions that added the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale to their pages. Like Speght's Chaucer, Foxe's Chaucer was also a shrewd (or lucky) political survivor. In his 1563 edition, Foxe "thought it not out of season … to couple … some mention of Geoffrey Chaucer" with a discussion of John Colet, a possible source for John Skelton's character Colin Clout.
Probably referring to the 1542 Act for the Advancement of True Religion, Foxe said that he
"marvel[s] to consider … how the bishops, condemning and abolishing all manner of English books and treatises which might bring the people to any light of knowledge, did yet authorise the works of Chaucer to remain still and to be occupied; who, no doubt, saw into religion as much almost as even we do now, and uttereth in his works no less, and seemeth to be a right Wicklevian, or else there never was any. And that, all his works almost, if they be thoroughly advised, will testify (albeit done in mirth, and covertly); and especially the latter end of his third book of the Testament of Love … Wherein, except a man be altogether blind, he may espy him at the full: although in the same book (as in all others he useth to do), under shadows covertly, as under a visor, he suborneth truth in such sort, as both privily she may profit the godly-minded, and yet not be espied of the crafty adversary. And therefore the bishops, belike, taking his works but for jests and toys, in condemning other books, yet permitted his books to be read."
It is significant, too, that Foxe's discussion of Chaucer leads into his history of "The Reformation of the Church of Christ in the Time of Martin Luther" when "Printing, being opened, incontinently ministered unto the church the instruments and tools of learning and knowledge; which were good books and authors, which before lay hid and unknown. The science of printing being found, immediately followed the grace of God; which stirred up good wits aptly to conceive the light of knowledge and judgment: by which light darkness began to be espied, and ignorance to be detected; truth from error, religion from superstition, to be discerned."
Foxe downplays Chaucer's bawdy and amorous writing, insisting that it all testifies to his piety. Material that is troubling is deemed metaphoric, while the more forthright satire (which Foxe prefers) is taken literally.
John Urry produced the first edition of the complete works of Chaucer in a Latin font, published posthumously in 1721. Included were several tales, according to the editors, for the first time printed, a biography of Chaucer, a glossary of old English words, and testimonials of author writers concerning Chaucer dating back to the 16th century. According to A. S. G Edwards,
"This was the first collected edition of Chaucer to be printed in roman type. The life of Chaucer prefixed to the volume was the work of the Reverend John Dart, corrected and revised by Timothy Thomas. The glossary appended was also mainly compiled by Thomas. The text of Urry's edition has often been criticised by subsequent editors for its frequent conjectural emendations, mainly to make it conform to his sense of Chaucer's metre. The justice of such criticisms should not obscure his achievement. His is the first edition of Chaucer for nearly a hundred and fifty years to consult any manuscripts and is the first since that of William Thynne in 1534 to seek systematically to assemble a substantial number of manuscripts to establish his text. It is also the first edition to offer descriptions of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works, and the first to print texts of 'Gamelyn' and 'The Tale of Beryn', works ascribed to, but not by, Chaucer."
Although Chaucer's works had long been admired, serious scholarly work on his legacy did not begin until the late 18th century, when Thomas Tyrwhitt edited The Canterbury Tales, and it did not become an established academic discipline until the 19th century.
Scholars such as Frederick James Furnivall, who founded the Chaucer Society in 1868, pioneered the establishment of diplomatic editions of Chaucer's major texts, along with careful accounts of Chaucer's language and prosody. Walter William Skeat, who like Furnivall was closely associated with the Oxford English Dictionary, established the base text of all of Chaucer's works with his edition, published by Oxford University Press. Later editions by John H. Fisher and Larry D. Benson offered further refinements, along with critical commentary and bibliographies.
With the textual issues largely addressed, if not resolved, attention turned to the questions of Chaucer's themes, structure, and audience. The Chaucer Research Project at the University of Chicago began in 1924. The Chaucer Review was founded in 1966 and has maintained its position as the pre-eminent journal of Chaucer studies. In 1994, literary critic Harold Bloom placed Chaucer among the greatest Western writers of all time, and in 1997 expounded on William Shakespeare's debt to the author.
The following major works are in rough chronological order but scholars still debate the dating of most of Chaucer's output and works made up from a collection of stories may have been compiled over a long period.
Chaucer is one of the main characters in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale, and is portrayed by Paul Bettany. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈtʃɔːsər/; c. 1340s – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the \"father of English literature\", or, alternatively, the \"father of English poetry\". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as \"the firste fyndere of our fair langage\" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Chaucer was born in London most likely in the early 1340s (by some accounts, including his monument, he was born in 1343), though the precise date and location remain unknown. The Chaucer family offers an extraordinary example of upward mobility. His great-grandfather was a tavern keeper, his grandfather worked as a purveyor of wines, and his father John Chaucer rose to become an important wine merchant with a royal appointment. Several previous generations of Geoffrey Chaucer's family had been vintners and merchants in Ipswich. His family name is derived from the French chaucier, once thought to mean 'shoemaker', but now known to mean a maker of hose or leggings.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "In 1324, his father John Chaucer was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the 12-year-old to her daughter in an attempt to keep the property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and fined £250, now equivalent to about £200,000, which suggests that the family was financially secure.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who inherited properties in 1349, including 24 shops in London from her uncle Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated 3 April 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as \"moneyer\", said to be a moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie, which translates as: \"I, Geoffrey Chaucer, son of the vintner John Chaucer, London\".",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "While records concerning the lives of his contemporaries William Langland and the Gawain Poet are practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant his official life is very well documented, with nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the \"Chaucer Life Records\" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections, a common medieval form of apprenticeship for boys into knighthood or prestige appointments. The countess was married to Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the king, Edward III, and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the King's Works.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In 1359, the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom, a considerable sum equivalent to £12,261 in 2021, and Chaucer was released.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later (c. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas's daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk. Thomas's great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffrey's other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey, Agnes, an attendant at Henry IV's coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer. Chaucer's \"Treatise on the Astrolabe\" was written for Lewis.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at this time. He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other literary stars of the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369 of the plague.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Chaucer travelled to Picardy the next year as part of a military expedition; in 1373 he visited Genoa and Florence. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland suggested that, on this Italian trip, he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio. They introduced him to medieval Italian poetry, the forms and stories of which he would use later. The purposes of a voyage in 1377 are mysterious, as details within the historical record conflict. Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage between the future King Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years' War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding occurred.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and to Sir John Hawkwood, English condottiere (mercenary leader) in Milan. It has been speculated that it was Hawkwood on whom Chaucer based his character the Knight in the Canterbury Tales, for a description matches that of a 14th-century condottiere.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer \"a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life\" for some unspecified task. This was an unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been for another early poetic work. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary grant on 18 April 1378.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of comptroller of the customs for the port of London, which he began on 8 June 1374. He must have been suited for the role as he continued in it for twelve years, a long time in such a post at that time. His life goes undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he wrote (or began) most of his famous works during this period. Chaucer's \"only surviving handwriting\" dates from this period. This is a request for temporary leave from work presented to King Richard II, hitherto believed to be the work of one of his subordinates due to the low level of language.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "On 16 October 1379 Thomas Staundon filed a legal action against his former servant Cecily Chaumpaigne and Chaucer, accusing Chaucer of unlawfully employing Chaumpaigne before her term of service was completed, which violated the Statute of Labourers. Though eight court documents dated between October 1379 and July 1380 survive from the action, the case was never prosecuted and no details survive about Chaumpaigne's service or how she came to leave Staundon's employ for Chaucer's.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "It is not known if Chaucer was in the City of London at the time of the Peasants' Revolt, but if he was, he would have seen its leaders pass almost directly under his apartment window at Aldgate.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to Kent, being appointed as one of the commissioners of peace for Kent, at a time when French invasion was a possibility. He is thought to have started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. He also became a member of parliament for Kent in 1386, and attended the 'Wonderful Parliament' that year. He appears to have been present at most of the 71 days it sat, for which he was paid £24 9s. On 15 October that year, he gave a deposition in the case of Scrope v. Grosvenor. There is no further reference after this date to Philippa, Chaucer's wife, and she is presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political upheavals caused by the Lords Appellants, despite the fact that Chaucer knew some of the men executed over the affair quite well.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of foreman organising most of the king's building projects. No major works were begun during his tenure, but he did conduct repairs on Westminster Palace, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, continued building the wharf at the Tower of London, and built the stands for a tournament held in 1390. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid two shillings a day, more than three times his salary as a comptroller. Chaucer was also appointed keeper of the lodge at the King's park in Feckenham Forest in Worcestershire, which was a largely honorary appointment.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In September 1390, records say that Chaucer was robbed and possibly injured while conducting the business, and he stopped working in this capacity on 17 June 1391. He began as Deputy Forester in the royal forest of Petherton Park in North Petherton, Somerset on 22 June. This was no sinecure, with maintenance an important part of the job, although there were many opportunities to derive profit.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Richard II granted him an annual pension of 20 pounds in 1394 (equivalent to £18,558 in 2021), and Chaucer's name fades from the historical record not long after Richard's overthrow in 1399. The last few records of his life show his pension renewed by the new king, and his taking a lease on a residence within the close of Westminster Abbey on 24 December 1399. Henry IV renewed the grants assigned by Richard, but The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse hints that the grants might not have been paid. The last mention of Chaucer is on 5 June 1400 when some debts owed to him were repaid.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Chaucer died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, although the only evidence for this date comes from the engraving on his tomb which was erected more than 100 years after his death. There is some speculation that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making him the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Chaucer was a close friend of John of Gaunt, the wealthy Duke of Lancaster and father of Henry IV, and he served under Lancaster's patronage. Near the end of their lives, Lancaster and Chaucer became brothers-in-law when Lancaster married Katherine Swynford (de Roet) in 1396; she was the sister of Philippa (de) Roet, whom Chaucer had married in 1366.",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess (also known as the Deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse) was written in commemoration of Blanche of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's first wife. The poem refers to John and Blanche in allegory as the narrator relates the tale of \"A long castel with walles white/Be Seynt Johan, on a ryche hil\" (1318–1319) who is mourning grievously after the death of his love, \"And goode faire White she het/That was my lady name ryght\" (948–949). The phrase \"long castel\" is a reference to Lancaster (also called \"Loncastel\" and \"Longcastell\"), \"walles white\" is thought to be an oblique reference to Blanche, \"Seynt Johan\" was John of Gaunt's name-saint, and \"ryche hil\" is a reference to Richmond. These references reveal the identity of the grieving black knight of the poem as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and Earl of Richmond. \"White\" is the English translation of the French word \"blanche\", implying that the white lady was Blanche of Lancaster.",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Chaucer's short poem Fortune, believed to have been written in the 1390s, is also thought to refer to Lancaster. \"Chaucer as narrator\" openly defies Fortune, proclaiming that he has learned who his enemies are through her tyranny and deceit, and declares \"my suffisaunce\" (15) and that \"over himself hath the maystrye\" (14).",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Fortune, in turn, does not understand Chaucer's harsh words to her for she believes that she has been kind to him, claims that he does not know what she has in store for him in the future, but most importantly, \"And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve\" (32, 40, 48). Chaucer retorts, \"My frend maystow nat reven, blind goddesse\" (50) and orders her to take away those who merely pretend to be his friends.",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Fortune turns her attention to three princes whom she implores to relieve Chaucer of his pain and \"Preyeth his beste frend of his noblesse/That to som beter estat he may atteyne\" (78–79). The three princes are believed to represent the dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester, and a portion of line 76 (\"as three of you or tweyne\") is thought to refer to the ordinance of 1390 which specified that no royal gift could be authorised without the consent of at least two of the three dukes.",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Most conspicuous in this short poem is the number of references to Chaucer's \"beste frend\". Fortune states three times in her response to the plaintiff, \"And also, you still have your best friend alive\" (32, 40, 48); she also refers to his \"beste frend\" in the envoy when appealing to his \"noblesse\" to help Chaucer to a higher estate. The narrator makes a fifth reference when he rails at Fortune that she shall not take his friend from him.",
"title": "Relationship to John of Gaunt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Chaucer seems to have respected and admired Christians and to have been one himself, though he also recognised that many people in the church were venal and corrupt. He wrote in Canterbury Tales, \"now I beg all those that listen to this little treatise, or read it, that if there be anything in it that pleases them, they thank our Lord Jesus Christ for it, from whom proceeds all understanding and goodness.\"",
"title": "Religious beliefs"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Chaucer's first major work was The Book of the Duchess, an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster who died in 1368. Two other early works were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. He wrote many of his major works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386). His Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. It is believed that he started The Canterbury Tales in the 1380s.",
"title": "Literary works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Chaucer also translated Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris (extended by Jean de Meun). Eustache Deschamps called himself a \"nettle in Chaucer's garden of poetry\". In 1385, Thomas Usk made glowing mention of Chaucer, and John Gower also lauded him.",
"title": "Literary works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe describes the form and use of the astrolabe in detail and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language, and it indicates that Chaucer was versed in science in addition to his literary talents. The equatorie of the planetis is a scientific work similar to the Treatise and sometimes ascribed to Chaucer because of its language and handwriting, an identification which scholars no longer deem tenable.",
"title": "Literary works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Chaucer wrote in continental accentual-syllabic metre, a style which had developed in English literature since around the 12th century as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre. Chaucer is known for metrical innovation, inventing the rhyme royal, and he was one of the first English poets to use the five-stress line, a decasyllabic cousin to the iambic pentametre, in his work, with only a few anonymous short works using it before him. The arrangement of these five-stress lines into rhyming couplets, first seen in his The Legend of Good Women, was used in much of his later work and became one of the standard poetic forms in English. His early influence as a satirist is also important, with the common humorous device, the funny accent of a regional dialect, apparently making its first appearance in The Reeve's Tale.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The poetry of Chaucer, along with other writers of the era, is credited with helping to standardise the London Dialect of the Middle English language from a combination of the Kentish and Midlands dialects. This is probably overstated; the influence of the court, chancery and bureaucracy – of which Chaucer was a part – remains a more probable influence on the development of Standard English.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Modern English is somewhat distanced from the language of Chaucer's poems owing to the effect of the Great Vowel Shift some time after his death. This change in the pronunciation of English, still not fully understood, makes the reading of Chaucer difficult for the modern audience.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "The status of the final -e in Chaucer's verse is uncertain: it seems likely that during the period of Chaucer's writing the final -e was dropping out of colloquial English and that its use was somewhat irregular. It may have been a vestige of the Old English dative singular suffix -e attached to most nouns. Chaucer's versification suggests that the final -e is sometimes to be vocalised, and sometimes to be silent; however, this remains a point on which there is disagreement. When it is vocalised, most scholars pronounce it as a schwa.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Apart from the irregular spelling, much of the vocabulary is recognisable to the modern reader. Chaucer is also recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as the first author to use many common English words in his writings. These words were probably frequently used in the language at the time but Chaucer, with his ear for common speech, is the earliest extant manuscript source. Acceptable, alkali, altercation, amble, angrily, annex, annoyance, approaching, arbitration, armless, army, arrogant, arsenic, arc, artillery and aspect are just some of almost two thousand English words first attested in Chaucer.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Widespread knowledge of Chaucer's works is attested by the many poets who imitated or responded to his writing. John Lydgate was one of the earliest poets to write continuations of Chaucer's unfinished Tales while Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid completes the story of Cressida left unfinished in his Troilus and Criseyde. Many of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works contain material from these poets and later appreciations by the Romantic era poets were shaped by their failure to distinguish the later \"additions\" from original Chaucer.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Writers of the 17th and 18th centuries, such as John Dryden, admired Chaucer for his stories, but not for his rhythm and rhyme, as few critics could then read Middle English and the text had been butchered by printers, leaving a somewhat unadmirable mess. It was not until the late 19th century that the official Chaucerian canon, accepted today, was decided upon, largely as a result of Walter William Skeat's work. Roughly seventy-five years after Chaucer's death, The Canterbury Tales was selected by William Caxton to be one of the first books to be printed in England.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Chaucer is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition. His achievement for the language can be seen as part of a general historical trend towards the creation of a vernacular literature, after the example of Dante, in many parts of Europe. A parallel trend in Chaucer's own lifetime was underway in Scotland through the work of his slightly earlier contemporary, John Barbour, and was likely to have been even more general, as is evidenced by the example of the Pearl Poet in the north of England.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Although Chaucer's language is much closer to Modern English than the text of Beowulf, such that (unlike that of Beowulf) a Modern English-speaker with a large vocabulary of archaic words may understand it, it differs enough that most publications modernise his idiom. The following is a sample from the prologue of The Summoner's Tale that compares Chaucer's text to a modern translation:",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is believed to be in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules (1382), a dream vision portraying a parliament for birds to choose their mates. Honouring the first anniversary of the engagement of fifteen-year-old King Richard II of England to fifteen-year-old Anne of Bohemia:",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "For this was on seynt Volantynys dayWhan euery bryd comyth there to chese his makeOf euery kynde that men thinke mayAnd that so heuge a noyse gan they makeThat erthe & eyr & tre & euery lakeSo ful was that onethe was there spaceFor me to stonde, so ful was al the place.",
"title": "Influence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "\"The language of England, upon which Chaucer was the first to confer celebrity, has amply justified the foresight which led him to disdain all others for its sake, and, in turn, has conferred an enduring celebrity upon him who trusted his reputation to it without reserve.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "—T. R. Lounsbury.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "The poet Thomas Hoccleve, who may have met Chaucer and considered him his role model, hailed Chaucer as \"the firste fyndere of our fair langage\". John Lydgate referred to Chaucer within his own text The Fall of Princes as the \"lodesterre (guiding principle) … off our language\". Around two centuries later, Sir Philip Sidney greatly praised Troilus and Criseyde in his own Defence of Poesie. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Chaucer came to be viewed as a symbol of the nation's poetic heritage.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "In Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield, the Victorian era author echoed Chaucer's use of Luke 23:34 from Troilus and Criseyde (Dickens held a copy in his library among other works of Chaucer), with G. K. Chesterton writing, \"among the great canonical English authors, Chaucer and Dickens have the most in common.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "The large number of surviving manuscripts of Chaucer's works is testimony to the enduring interest in his poetry prior to the arrival of the printing press. There are 83 surviving manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales (in whole or part) alone, along with sixteen of Troilus and Criseyde, including the personal copy of Henry IV. Given the ravages of time, it is likely that these surviving manuscripts represent hundreds since lost.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Chaucer's original audience was a courtly one, and would have included women as well as men of the upper social classes. Yet even before his death in 1400, Chaucer's audience had begun to include members of the rising literate, middle and merchant classes. This included many Lollard sympathisers who may well have been inclined to read Chaucer as one of their own.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Lollards were particularly attracted to Chaucer's satirical writings about friars, priests, and other church officials. In 1464, John Baron, a tenant farmer in Agmondesham (Amersham in Buckinghamshire), was brought before John Chadworth, the Bishop of Lincoln, on charges of being a Lollard heretic; he confessed to owning a \"boke of the Tales of Caunterburie\" among other suspect volumes.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "The first English printer, William Caxton, was responsible for the first two folio editions of The Canterbury Tales which were published in 1478 and 1483. Caxton's second printing, by his own account, came about because a customer complained that the printed text differed from a manuscript he knew; Caxton obligingly used the man's manuscript as his source. Both Caxton editions carry the equivalent of manuscript authority. Caxton's edition was reprinted by his successor, Wynkyn de Worde, but this edition has no independent authority.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Richard Pynson, the King's Printer under Henry VIII for about twenty years, was the first to collect and sell something that resembled an edition of the collected works of Chaucer; however, in the process, he introduced five previously printed texts that are now known not to be Chaucer's. (The collection is actually three separately printed texts, or collections of texts, bound together as one volume.)",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "There is a likely connection between Pynson's product and William Thynne's a mere six years later. Thynne had a successful career from the 1520s until his death in 1546, as chief clerk of the kitchen of Henry VIII, one of the masters of the royal household. He spent years comparing various versions of Chaucer's works, and selected 41 pieces for publication. While there were questions over the authorship of some of the material, there is not doubt this was the first comprehensive view of Chaucer's work. The Workes of Geffray Chaucer, published in 1532, was the first edition of Chaucer's collected works. Thynne's editions of Chaucer's Works in 1532 and 1542 were the first major contributions to the existence of a widely recognised Chaucerian canon. Thynne represents his edition as a book sponsored by and supportive of the king who is praised in the preface by Sir Brian Tuke. Thynne's canon brought the number of apocryphal works associated with Chaucer to a total of 28, even if that was not his intention. As with Pynson, once included in the Works, pseudepigraphic texts stayed with those works, regardless of their first editor's intentions.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "In the 16th and 17th centuries, Chaucer was printed more than any other English author, and he was the first author to have his works collected in comprehensive single-volume editions in which a Chaucer canon began to cohere. Some scholars contend that 16th-century editions of Chaucer's Works set the precedent for all other English authors in terms of presentation, prestige and success in print. These editions certainly established Chaucer's reputation, but they also began the complicated process of reconstructing and frequently inventing Chaucer's biography and the canonical list of works which were attributed to him.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Probably the most significant aspect of the growing apocrypha is that, beginning with Thynne's editions, it began to include medieval texts that made Chaucer appear as a proto-Protestant Lollard, primarily the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale. As \"Chaucerian\" works that were not considered apocryphal until the late 19th century, these medieval texts enjoyed a new life, with English Protestants carrying on the earlier Lollard project of appropriating existing texts and authors who seemed sympathetic—or malleable enough to be construed as sympathetic—to their cause. The official Chaucer of the early printed volumes of his Works was construed as a proto-Protestant as the same was done, concurrently, with William Langland and Piers Plowman.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "The famous Plowman's Tale did not enter Thynne's Works until the second, 1542, edition. Its entry was surely facilitated by Thynne's inclusion of Thomas Usk's Testament of Love in the first edition. The Testament of Love imitates, borrows from, and thus resembles Usk's contemporary, Chaucer. (Testament of Love also appears to borrow from Piers Plowman.)",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Since the Testament of Love mentions its author's part in a failed plot (book 1, chapter 6), his imprisonment, and (perhaps) a recantation of (possibly Lollard) heresy, all this was associated with Chaucer. (Usk himself was executed as a traitor in 1388.) John Foxe took this recantation of heresy as a defence of the true faith, calling Chaucer a \"right Wiclevian\" and (erroneously) identifying him as a schoolmate and close friend of John Wycliffe at Merton College, Oxford. (Thomas Speght is careful to highlight these facts in his editions and his \"Life of Chaucer\".) No other sources for the Testament of Love exist—there is only Thynne's construction of whatever manuscript sources he had.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "John Stow (1525–1605) was an antiquarian and also a chronicler. His edition of Chaucer's Works in 1561 brought the apocrypha to more than 50 titles. More were added in the 17th century, and they remained as late as 1810, well after Thomas Tyrwhitt pared the canon down in his 1775 edition. The compilation and printing of Chaucer's works was, from its beginning, a political enterprise, since it was intended to establish an English national identity and history that grounded and authorised the Tudor monarchy and church. What was added to Chaucer often helped represent him favourably to Protestant England.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "In his 1598 edition of the Works, Speght (probably taking cues from Foxe) made good use of Usk's account of his political intrigue and imprisonment in the Testament of Love to assemble a largely fictional \"Life of Our Learned English Poet, Geffrey Chaucer\". Speght's \"Life\" presents readers with an erstwhile radical in troubled times much like their own, a proto-Protestant who eventually came round to the king's views on religion. Speght states, \"In the second year of Richard the second, the King tooke Geffrey Chaucer and his lands into his protection. The occasion wherof no doubt was some daunger and trouble whereinto he was fallen by favouring some rash attempt of the common people.\" Under the discussion of Chaucer's friends, namely John of Gaunt, Speght further explains:",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Later, in \"The Argument\" to the Testament of Love, Speght adds:",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Speght is also the source of the famous tale of Chaucer being fined for beating a Franciscan friar in Fleet Street, as well as a fictitious coat of arms and family tree. Ironically – and perhaps consciously so – an introductory, apologetic letter in Speght's edition from Francis Beaumont defends the unseemly, \"low\", and bawdy bits in Chaucer from an elite, classicist position.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Francis Thynne noted some of these inconsistencies in his Animadversions, insisting that Chaucer was not a commoner, and he objected to the friar-beating story. Yet Thynne himself underscores Chaucer's support for popular religious reform, associating Chaucer's views with his father William Thynne's attempts to include The Plowman's Tale and The Pilgrim's Tale in the 1532 and 1542 Works.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "The myth of the Protestant Chaucer continues to have a lasting impact on a large body of Chaucerian scholarship. Though it is extremely rare for a modern scholar to suggest Chaucer supported a religious movement that did not exist until more than a century after his death, the predominance of this thinking for so many centuries left it for granted that Chaucer was at least hostile toward Catholicism. This assumption forms a large part of many critical approaches to Chaucer's works, including neo-Marxism.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Alongside Chaucer's Works, the most impressive literary monument of the period is John Foxe's Acts and Monuments.... As with the Chaucer editions, it was critically significant to English Protestant identity and included Chaucer in its project. Foxe's Chaucer both derived from and contributed to the printed editions of Chaucer's Works, particularly the pseudepigrapha. Jack Upland was first printed in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, and then it appeared in Speght's edition of Chaucer's Works.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Speght's \"Life of Chaucer\" echoes Foxe's own account, which is itself dependent upon the earlier editions that added the Testament of Love and The Plowman's Tale to their pages. Like Speght's Chaucer, Foxe's Chaucer was also a shrewd (or lucky) political survivor. In his 1563 edition, Foxe \"thought it not out of season … to couple … some mention of Geoffrey Chaucer\" with a discussion of John Colet, a possible source for John Skelton's character Colin Clout.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Probably referring to the 1542 Act for the Advancement of True Religion, Foxe said that he",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "\"marvel[s] to consider … how the bishops, condemning and abolishing all manner of English books and treatises which might bring the people to any light of knowledge, did yet authorise the works of Chaucer to remain still and to be occupied; who, no doubt, saw into religion as much almost as even we do now, and uttereth in his works no less, and seemeth to be a right Wicklevian, or else there never was any. And that, all his works almost, if they be thoroughly advised, will testify (albeit done in mirth, and covertly); and especially the latter end of his third book of the Testament of Love … Wherein, except a man be altogether blind, he may espy him at the full: although in the same book (as in all others he useth to do), under shadows covertly, as under a visor, he suborneth truth in such sort, as both privily she may profit the godly-minded, and yet not be espied of the crafty adversary. And therefore the bishops, belike, taking his works but for jests and toys, in condemning other books, yet permitted his books to be read.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "It is significant, too, that Foxe's discussion of Chaucer leads into his history of \"The Reformation of the Church of Christ in the Time of Martin Luther\" when \"Printing, being opened, incontinently ministered unto the church the instruments and tools of learning and knowledge; which were good books and authors, which before lay hid and unknown. The science of printing being found, immediately followed the grace of God; which stirred up good wits aptly to conceive the light of knowledge and judgment: by which light darkness began to be espied, and ignorance to be detected; truth from error, religion from superstition, to be discerned.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Foxe downplays Chaucer's bawdy and amorous writing, insisting that it all testifies to his piety. Material that is troubling is deemed metaphoric, while the more forthright satire (which Foxe prefers) is taken literally.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "John Urry produced the first edition of the complete works of Chaucer in a Latin font, published posthumously in 1721. Included were several tales, according to the editors, for the first time printed, a biography of Chaucer, a glossary of old English words, and testimonials of author writers concerning Chaucer dating back to the 16th century. According to A. S. G Edwards,",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "\"This was the first collected edition of Chaucer to be printed in roman type. The life of Chaucer prefixed to the volume was the work of the Reverend John Dart, corrected and revised by Timothy Thomas. The glossary appended was also mainly compiled by Thomas. The text of Urry's edition has often been criticised by subsequent editors for its frequent conjectural emendations, mainly to make it conform to his sense of Chaucer's metre. The justice of such criticisms should not obscure his achievement. His is the first edition of Chaucer for nearly a hundred and fifty years to consult any manuscripts and is the first since that of William Thynne in 1534 to seek systematically to assemble a substantial number of manuscripts to establish his text. It is also the first edition to offer descriptions of the manuscripts of Chaucer's works, and the first to print texts of 'Gamelyn' and 'The Tale of Beryn', works ascribed to, but not by, Chaucer.\"",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "Although Chaucer's works had long been admired, serious scholarly work on his legacy did not begin until the late 18th century, when Thomas Tyrwhitt edited The Canterbury Tales, and it did not become an established academic discipline until the 19th century.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Scholars such as Frederick James Furnivall, who founded the Chaucer Society in 1868, pioneered the establishment of diplomatic editions of Chaucer's major texts, along with careful accounts of Chaucer's language and prosody. Walter William Skeat, who like Furnivall was closely associated with the Oxford English Dictionary, established the base text of all of Chaucer's works with his edition, published by Oxford University Press. Later editions by John H. Fisher and Larry D. Benson offered further refinements, along with critical commentary and bibliographies.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "With the textual issues largely addressed, if not resolved, attention turned to the questions of Chaucer's themes, structure, and audience. The Chaucer Research Project at the University of Chicago began in 1924. The Chaucer Review was founded in 1966 and has maintained its position as the pre-eminent journal of Chaucer studies. In 1994, literary critic Harold Bloom placed Chaucer among the greatest Western writers of all time, and in 1997 expounded on William Shakespeare's debt to the author.",
"title": "Critical reception"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "The following major works are in rough chronological order but scholars still debate the dating of most of Chaucer's output and works made up from a collection of stories may have been compiled over a long period.",
"title": "List of works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Chaucer is one of the main characters in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale, and is portrayed by Paul Bettany.",
"title": "In popular culture"
}
]
| Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament. Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage". Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts. | 2001-10-30T14:22:32Z | 2023-12-16T22:19:34Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:The Canterbury Tales",
"Template:Pp-move-indef",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Wikiquote-inline",
"Template:In Our Time",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Troilus and Criseyde",
"Template:Quote box",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Commons-inline",
"Template:StandardEbooks",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Lang",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Internet Archive author",
"Template:Chaucer",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Pp-pc1",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Wikisource author-inline",
"Template:Gutenberg author",
"Template:Multiple image",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Inflation",
"Template:Inflation/fn",
"Template:Cite ODNB"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer |
12,789 | Gerald Gardner | Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist. He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts and founding the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca.
Born into an upper-middle-class family in Blundellsands, Lancashire, Gardner spent much of his childhood abroad in Madeira. In 1900, he moved to colonial Ceylon, and then in 1911 to Malaya, where he worked as a civil servant, independently developing an interest in the native peoples and writing papers and a book about their magical practices.
After his retirement in 1936, he travelled to Cyprus, penning the novel A Goddess Arrives before returning to England. Settling down near the New Forest, he joined an occult group, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, through which he said he had encountered the New Forest coven into which he was initiated in 1939. Gardner portrayed the coven as a survival of the theoretical 'witch-cult' discussed in the works of Margaret Murray; a theory now discredited.
He claimed to be reviving this 'pagan' faith, supplementing the coven's rituals with ideas borrowed from Freemasonry, ceremonial magic and the writings of Aleister Crowley to form the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca.
Moving to London in 1945, he became intent on propagating this religion, attracting media attention and writing about it in High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Founding a Wiccan group known as the Bricket Wood coven, he introduced a string of High Priestesses into the religion, including Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, Patricia Crowther and Eleanor Bone, through which the Gardnerian community spread throughout Britain and subsequently into Australia and the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Involved for a time with Cecil Williamson, Gardner also became director of the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man, which he ran until his death.
Gardner is internationally recognised as the "Father of Wicca" among the neo-pagan and occult communities. His claims regarding the New Forest coven have been widely scrutinised, with Gardner being the subject of investigation for historians and biographers Aidan Kelly, Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton.
Gardner's family was wealthy and upper middle class, running a family firm, Joseph Gardner and Sons, which described itself as "the oldest private company in the timber trade within the British Empire." Specialising in the import of hardwood, the company had been founded in the mid-18th century by Edmund Gardner (b. 1721), an entrepreneur who would subsequently become a Freeman of Liverpool.
Gerald's father, William Robert Gardner (1844–1935) had been the youngest son of Joseph Gardner (b. 1791), after whom the firm had been renamed, and who with his wife Maria had had five sons and three daughters. In 1867, William had been sent to New York City to further the interests of the family firm. Here, he had met an American, Louise Burguelew Ennis, the daughter of a wholesale stationer; entering a relationship, they were married in Manhattan on 25 November 1868.
After a visit to England, the couple returned to the US, where they settled in Mott Haven, Morrisania in New York State. It was here that their first child, Harold Ennis Gardner, was born in 1870. At some point in the next two years they moved back to England, by 1873 settling into The Glen, a large Victorian house in Blundellsands in Lancashire, north-west England, which was developing into a wealthy suburb of Liverpool. It was here that their second child, Robert "Bob" Marshall Gardner, was born in 1874.
In 1876 the family moved into one of the neighbouring houses, Ingle Lodge, and it was here that the couple's third son, Gerald Brosseau Gardner, was born on Friday 13 June 1884. A fourth child, Francis Douglas Gardner, was then born in 1886. Gerald would rarely see Harold, who went on to study law at the University of Oxford, but saw more of Bob, who drew pictures for him, and Douglas, with whom he shared his nursery.
The Gardners employed an Irish nursemaid named Josephine "Com" McCombie, who was entrusted with taking care of the young Gerald; she would subsequently become the dominant figure of his childhood, spending far more time with him than his parents. Gardner suffered with asthma from a young age, having particular difficulty in the cold Lancashire winters. His nursemaid offered to take him to warmer climates abroad at his father's expense in the hope that this condition would not be so badly affected.
Subsequently, in summer 1888, Gerald and Com travelled via London to Nice in the south of France. After several more years spent in the Mediterranean, in 1891 they went to the Canary Islands, and it was here that Gardner first developed his lifelong interest in weaponry. From there, they then went on to Accra in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana). Accra was followed by a visit to Funchal on the Portuguese colony of Madeira; they would spend most of the next nine years on the island, only returning to England for three or four months in the summer.
According to Gardner's first biographer, Jack Bracelin, Com was very flirtatious and "clearly looked on these trips as mainly manhunts", viewing Gardner as a nuisance. As a result, he was largely left to his own devices, which he spent going out, meeting new people and learning about foreign cultures. In Madeira, he also began collecting weapons, many of which were remnants from the Napoleonic Wars, displaying them on the wall of his hotel room.
As a result of his illness and these foreign trips, Gardner ultimately never attended school, or gained any formal education. He taught himself to read by looking at copies of The Strand Magazine but his writing betrayed his poor education all his life, with highly eccentric spelling and grammar. A voracious reader, one of the books that most influenced him at the time was Florence Marryat's There Is No Death (1891), a discussion of spiritualism, and from which he gained a firm belief in the existence of an afterlife.
In 1900, Com married David Elkington, one of her many suitors who owned a tea plantation in the British colony of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). It was agreed with the Gardners that Gerald would live with her on a tea plantation named Ladbroke Estate in the town of Maskeliya , where he could learn the tea trade. In 1901 Gardner and the Elkingtons lived briefly in a bungalow in Kandy, where a neighbouring bungalow had just been vacated by the occultists Aleister Crowley and Charles Henry Allan Bennett.
At his father's expense, Gardner trained as a "creeper", or trainee planter, learning all about the growing of tea; although he disliked the "dreary endlessness" of the work, he enjoyed being outdoors and near to the forests. He lived with the Elkingtons until 1904, when he moved into his own bungalow and began earning a living working on the Non Pareil tea estate below the Horton Plains. He spent much of his spare time hunting deer and trekking through the local forests, becoming acquainted with the Singhalese natives and taking a great interest in their Buddhist beliefs.
In December 1904, his parents and younger brother visited, with his father asking him to invest in a pioneering rubber plantation which Gardner was to manage; located near the village of Belihuloya, it was known as the Atlanta Estate, but allowed him a great deal of leisure time. Exploring his interest in weaponry, in 1907 Gardner joined the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps, a local volunteer force composed of European tea and rubber planters intent on protecting their interests from foreign aggression or domestic insurrection.
In 1907 Gardner returned to Britain for several months' leave, spending time with his family and joining the Legion of Frontiersmen, a militia founded to repel the threat of German invasion. During his visit, Gardner spent a lot of time with family relations known as the Sergenesons. Gardner became very friendly with this side of his family, whom his Anglican parents avoided because they were Methodists.
According to Gardner, the Surgenesons talked about the paranormal with him; the patriarch of the family, Ted Surgeneson, believed that fairies were living in his garden and would say "I can often feel they're there, and sometimes I've seen them", though he readily admitted the possibility that it was all in his imagination. It was from the Sergenesons that Gardner claimed to have discovered a family rumour that his grandfather, Joseph, had been a practising witch, after being converted to the practice by his mistress. Another unconfirmed family belief repeated by Gardner was that a Scottish ancestor, Grissell Gairdner, had been burned as a witch in Newburgh in 1610.
Gardner returned to Ceylon in late 1907 and settled down to the routine of managing the rubber plantation. In 1910 he was initiated as an Apprentice Freemason into the Sphinx Lodge No. 107 in Colombo, affiliated with the Irish Grand Lodge. Gardner placed great importance on this new activity; In order to attend masonic meetings, he had to arrange a weekend's leave, walk 15 miles to the nearest railway station in Haputale, and then catch a train to the city.
He entered into the second and third degrees of Freemasonry within the next month, but this enthusiasm seems also to have waned, and he resigned the next year, probably because he intended to leave Ceylon. The experiment with rubber growing at the Atlanta Estate had proved relatively unsuccessful, and Gardner's father decided to sell the property in 1911, leaving Gerald unemployed.
That year, Gardner moved to British North Borneo, gaining employment as a rubber planter at the Mawo Estate at Membuket. However, he did not get on well with the plantation's manager, a racist named R. J. Graham who had wanted to deforest the entire local area. Instead, Gardner became friendly with many of the locals, including the Dayak and Dusun people.
An amateur anthropologist, Gardner was fascinated by the indigenous way of life, particularly the local forms of weaponry such as the sumpitan. He was intrigued by the tattoos of the Dayaks and pictures of him in later life show large snake or dragon tattoos on his forearms, presumably obtained at this time. Taking a great interest in indigenous religious beliefs, Gardner told his first biographer that he had attended Dusun séances or healing rituals.
He was unhappy with the working conditions and the racist attitudes of his colleagues, and when he developed malaria he felt that this was the last straw; he left Borneo and moved to Singapore, in what was then known as the Straits Settlements, part of British Malaya.
Arriving in Singapore, he initially planned to return to Ceylon, but was offered a job working as an assistant on a rubber plantation in Perak, northern Malaya, and decided to take it, working for the Borneo Company. Arriving in the area, he decided to supplement this income by purchasing his own estate, Bukit Katho, on which he could grow rubber; initially sized at 450 acres, Gardner purchased various pieces of adjacent land until it covered 600 acres.
Here, Gardner made friends with an American man known as Cornwall, who had converted to Islam and married a local Malay woman. Through Cornwall, Gardner was introduced to many locals, whom he soon befriended, including members of the Senoi and Malay peoples. Cornwall invited Gardner to make the Shahada, the Muslim confession of faith, which he did; it allowed him to gain the trust of locals, although he would never become a practising Muslim. Cornwall was however an unorthodox Muslim, and his interest in local peoples included their magical and spiritual beliefs, to which he also introduced Gardner, who took a particular interest in the kris, a ritual knife with magical uses.
In 1915, Gardner again joined a local volunteer militia, the Malay States Volunteer Rifles. Although between 1914 and 1918 World War I was raging in Europe, its effects were little felt in Malaya, apart from the 1915 Singapore Mutiny. Gardner was keen to do more towards the war effort and in 1916 once again returned to Britain. He attempted to join the British Navy but was turned down due to ill health. Unable to fight on the front lines, he began working as an orderly in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in the First Western General Hospital, Fazakerley, located on the outskirts of Liverpool.
He was working in the VAD when casualties came back from the Battle of the Somme and he was engaged in looking after patients and assisting in changing wound dressings. He soon had to give this up when his malaria returned, and so decided to return to Malaya in October 1916 because of the warmer climate.
He continued to manage the rubber plantation but after the end of the war, commodity prices dropped and by 1921 it was difficult to make a profit. He returned again to Britain, in what later biographer Philip Heselton speculated might have been an unsuccessful attempt to ask his father for money. Returning to Malaya, Gardner found that the Borneo Company had sacked him, and he was forced to find work with the Public Works Department. In September 1923 he successfully applied to the Office of Customs to become a government-inspector of rubber plantations, a job that involved a great amount of travelling around the country, something he enjoyed.
After a brief but serious illness, the Johore government reassigned Gardner to an office in the Lands Office while he recovered, eventually being promoted to Principal Officer of Customs. In this capacity, he was made an Inspector of Rubber Shops, overseeing the regulation and sale of rubber in the country. In 1926 he was placed in charge of monitoring shops selling opium, noting regular irregularities and a thriving illegal trade in the controlled substance; believing opium to be essentially harmless, there is evidence indicating that Gardner probably took many bribes in this position, earning himself a small fortune.
Gardner's mother had died in 1920, but he had not returned to Britain on that occasion. However, in 1927 his father became very ill with dementia, and Gardner decided to visit him. On his return to Britain, Gardner began to investigate spiritualism and mediumship. He soon had several encounters which he attributed to spirits of deceased family members.
Continuing to visit Spiritualist churches and séances, he was highly critical of much of what he saw, although he encountered several mediums he considered genuine. One medium apparently made contact with a deceased cousin of Gardner's, an event which impressed him greatly. His first biographer Jack Bracelin reports that this was a watershed in Gardner's life, and that a previous academic interest in spiritualism and life after death thereafter became a matter of firm personal belief for him.
The very same evening (28 July 1927) after Gardner had met this medium, he met the woman he was to marry; Dorothea Frances Rosedale, known as Donna, a relation of his sister-in-law Edith. He asked her to marry him the next day and she agreed. Because his leave was coming to an end very soon, they married quickly on 16 August at St Jude's Church, Kensington, and then honeymooned in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, before heading via France to Malaya.
Arriving in the country, the couple settled into a bungalow at Bukit Japon in Johor Bahru. Here, he once more became involved in Freemasonry, joining the Johore Royal Lodge No. 3946, but had retired from it by April 1931. Gardner also returned to his old interests in the anthropology of Malaya, witnessing the magical practices performed by the locals, and he readily accepted a belief in magic. During his time in Malaya, Gardner became increasingly interested in local customs, particularly those involved in folk magic and weapons.
Gardner was not only interested in the anthropology of Malaya, but also in its archaeology. He began excavations at the city of Johore Lama, alone and in secret, as the local Sultan considered archaeologists little better than grave-robbers. Prior to Gardner's investigations, no serious archaeological excavation had occurred at the city, though he himself soon unearthed four miles of earthworks, and uncovered finds that included tombs, pottery, and porcelain dating from Ming China.
He went on to begin further excavations at the royal cemetery of Kota Tinggi, and the jungle city of Syong Penang. His finds were displayed as an exhibit on the "Early History of Johore" at the National Museum of Singapore, and several beads that he had discovered suggested that trade went on between the Roman Empire and the Malays, presumably, Gardner thought, via India. He also found gold coins originating from Johore and he published academic papers on both the beads and the coins.
By the early 1930s Gardner's activities had moved from those exclusively of a civil servant, and he began to think of himself more as a folklorist, archaeologist and anthropologist. He was encouraged in this by the director of the Raffles Museum (now the National Museum of Singapore) and by his election to Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1936.
En route back to London in 1932 Gardner stopped off in Egypt and, armed with a letter of introduction, joined Sir Flinders Petrie who was excavating the site of Tall al-Ajjul in Palestine. Arriving in London in August 1932 he attended a conference on prehistory and protohistory at King's College London, attending at least two lectures which described the cult of the Mother Goddess. He also befriended the archaeologist and practising Pagan Alexander Keiller, known for his excavations at Avebury, who would encourage Gardner to join in with the excavations at Hembury Hill in Devon, also attended by Aileen Fox and Mary Leakey.
Returning to East Asia, he took a ship from Singapore to Saigon in French Indo-China, from where he travelled to Phnom Penh, visiting the Silver Pagoda. He then took a train to Hangzhou in China, before continuing onto Shanghai; because of the ongoing Chinese Civil War, the train did not stop throughout the entire journey, something that annoyed the passengers. In 1935, Gardner attended the Second Congress for Prehistoric Research in the Far East in Manila, Philippines, acquainting himself with several experts in the field.
His main research interest lay in the Malay kris blade, which he unusually chose to spell "keris"; he eventually collected 400 examples and talked to natives about their magico-religious uses. Deciding to author a book on the subject, he wrote Keris and Other Malay Weapons, being encouraged to do so by anthropologist friends; it would subsequently be edited into a readable form by Betty Lumsden Milne and published by the Singapore-based Progressive Publishing Company in 1936. It was well received by literary and academic circles in Malaya.
In 1935, Gardner heard that his father had died, leaving him a bequest of £3,000. This assurance of financial independence may have led him to consider retirement, and as he was due for a long leave in 1936 the Johore Civil Service allowed him to retire slightly early, in January 1936. Gardner wanted to stay in Malaya, but he conceded to his wife Donna, who insisted that they return to England.
In 1936, Gardner and Donna left Malaya and headed for Europe. She proceeded straight to London, renting them a flat at 26 Charing Cross Road. Gardner visited Palestine, becoming involved in the archaeological excavations run by J.L. Starkey at Lachish. Here he grew particularly interested in a temple containing statues to both the male deity of Judeo-Christian theology and the pagan goddess Ashtoreth.
From Palestine, Gardner went to Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Germany. He eventually reached England, but soon went on a visit to Denmark to attend a conference on weaponry at the Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, during which he gave a talk on the kris.
Returning to Britain, he found that the climate made him sick, leading him to register with a doctor, Edward A. Gregg, who recommended that he try nudism. Hesitant at first, Gardner first attended an indoor nudist club, the Lotus League in Finchley, North London, where he made several new friends and felt that the nudity cured his ailment. When summer came, he decided to visit an outdoor nudist club, that of Fouracres near the town of Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire, which he soon began to frequent.
Through nudism, Gardner made a number of notable friends, including James Laver (1899–1975), who became the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Cottie Arthur Burland (1905–1983), who was the Curator of the Department of Ethnography at the British Museum. Biographer Philip Heselton suggested that through the nudist scene Gardner may have also met Dion Byngham (1896–1990), a senior member of the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry who propounded a Contemporary Pagan religion known as Dionysianism. By the end of 1936, Gardner was finding his Charing Cross Road flat to be cramped and moved into the block of flats at 32a Buckingham Palace Mansions.
Fearing the cold of the English winter, Gardner decided to sail to Cyprus in late 1936, remaining there into the following year. Visiting the Museum in Nicosia, he studied the Bronze Age swords of the island, successfully hafting one of them, on the basis of which he wrote a paper entitled "The Problem of the Cypriot Bronze Dagger Hilt", which would subsequently be translated into both French and Danish, being published in the journals of the Société Préhistorique Française and the Vaabenhistorisk Selskab respectively.
Back in London, in September 1937, Gardner applied for and received a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Meta Collegiate Extension of the National Electronic Institute, an organisation based in Nevada that was widely recognised by academic institutions as offering invalid academic degrees via post for a fee. He would subsequently style himself as "Dr. Gardner", despite the fact that academic institutions would not recognise his qualifications.
Planning to return to the Palestinian excavations the following winter, he was prevented from doing so when Starkey was murdered. Instead, he decided to return to Cyprus. A believer in reincarnation, Gardner came to believe that he had lived on the island once before, in a previous life, subsequently buying a plot of land in Famagusta, planning to build a house on it, although this never came about.
Influenced by his dreams, he wrote his first novel, A Goddess Arrives, over the next few years. Revolving around an Englishman living in 1930s London named Robert Denvers who has recollections of a previous life as a Bronze Age Cypriot – an allusion to Gardner himself – the primary plot of A Goddess Arrives is set in ancient Cyprus and featured a queen, Dayonis, who practices sorcery in an attempt to help her people defend themselves from invading Egyptians. Published in late 1939, biographer Philip Heselton noted that the book was "a very competent first work of fiction", with strong allusions to the build-up which proceeded World War II.
Returning to London, he helped to dig shelter trenches in Hyde Park as a part of the build-up to the war, also volunteering for the Air Raid Wardens' Service. Fearing the bombing of the city, Gardner and his wife soon moved to Highcliffe, just south of the New Forest in Hampshire. Here, they purchased a house built in 1923 named Southridge, situated on the corner of Highland Avenue and Elphinstone Road.
In Highcliffe, Gardner came across a building describing itself as the "First Rosicrucian Theatre in England". Having an interest in Rosicrucianism, a prominent magico-religious tradition within Western esotericism, Gardner decided to attend one of the plays performed by the group; in August 1939, Gardner took his wife to a theatrical performance based on the life of Pythagoras. An amateur thespian, she hated the performance, thinking the quality of both actors and script terrible, and she refused to go again.
Unperturbed and hoping to learn more of Rosicrucianism, Gardner joined the group in charge of running the theatre, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, and began attending meetings held in their local ashram. Founded in 1920 by George Alexander Sullivan, the Fellowship had been based upon a blend of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Freemasonry and his own personal innovation, and had moved to Christchurch in 1930.
As time went by, Gardner became critical of many of the Rosicrucian Order's practices; Sullivan's followers claimed that he was immortal, having formerly been the famous historical figures Pythagoras, Cornelius Agrippa and Francis Bacon. Gardner facetiously asked if he was also the Wandering Jew, much to the annoyance of Sullivan himself. Another belief held by the group that Gardner found amusing was that a lamp hanging from one of the ceilings was the disguised holy grail of Arthurian legend.
Gardner's dissatisfaction with the group grew, particularly when in 1939, one of the group's leaders sent a letter out to all members in which she stated that war would not come. The very next day, Britain declared war on Germany, greatly unimpressing the increasingly cynical Gardner.
Alongside Rosicrucianism, Gardner had also been pursuing other interests. In 1939, Gardner joined the Folk-Lore Society; his first contribution to its journal Folk-Lore, appeared in the June 1939 issue and described a box of witchcraft relics that he believed had belonged to the 17th century "Witch-Finder General", Matthew Hopkins. Subsequently, in 1946 he would go on to become a member of the society's governing council, although most other members of the society were wary of him and his academic credentials.
Gardner would also join the Historical Association, being elected co-president of its Bournemouth and Christchurch branch in June 1944, following which he became a vocal supporter for the construction of a local museum for the Christchurch borough. He also involved himself in preparations for the impending war, joining the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) as a warden, where he soon rose to a position of local seniority, with his own house being assigned as the ARP post. In 1940, following the outbreak of conflict, he also tried to sign up for the Local Defence Volunteers, or "Home Guard", but was turned away because he was already an ARP warden.
He managed to circumvent this restriction by joining his local Home Guard in the capacity as armourer, which was officially classified as technical staff. Gardner took a strong interest in the Home Guard, helping to arm his fellows from his own personal weaponry collection and personally manufacturing molotov cocktails.
Although sceptical of the Rosicrucian Order, Gardner got on well with a group of individuals inside the group who were "rather brow-beaten by the others, kept themselves to themselves." Gardner's biographer Philip Heselton theorised that this group consisted of Edith Woodford-Grimes (1887–1975), Susie Mason, her brother Ernie Mason, and their sister Rosetta Fudge, all of whom had originally come from Southampton before moving to the area around Highcliffe, where they joined the Order.
According to Gardner, "unlike many of the others [in the Order], [they] had to earn their livings, were cheerful and optimistic and had a real interest in the occult". Gardner became "really very fond of them", remarking that he "would have gone through hell and high water even then for any of them." In particular he grew close to Woodford-Grimes, being invited over to her home to meet her daughter, and the two helped each other with their writing, Woodford-Grimes probably assisting Gardner edit A Goddess Arrives prior to publication. Gardner would subsequently give her the nickname "Dafo", for which she would become better known.
According to Gardner's later account, one night in September 1939, they took him to a large house owned by "Old Dorothy" Clutterbuck, a wealthy local woman, where he was made to strip naked and taken through an initiation ceremony. Halfway through the ceremony, he heard the word "Wicca (Male)" and "Wicce (Female)", and he recognised it as an Old English word for "witch".
He was already acquainted with Margaret Murray's theory of the Witch-cult, and that "I then knew then that which I had thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still survived." This group, he claimed, were the New Forest coven, and he portrayed them as one of the few surviving covens of an ancient, pre-Christian Witch-Cult religion. Murray's theory of a pagan 'witch-cult' has been discredited. Later research by the likes of Hutton and Heselton has shown that the New Forest coven was probably only formed in the mid-1930s, based upon Murray's discredited theories and works on folk magic.
Gardner only ever described one of their rituals in depth, and this was an event that he termed "Operation Cone of Power". According to his own account, it took place in 1940 in a part of the New Forest and was designed to ward off the Nazis from invading Britain by magical means. Gardner claimed that a "Great Circle" was erected at night, with a "great cone of power" – a form of magical energy – being raised and sent to Berlin with the command of "you cannot cross the sea, you cannot cross the sea, you cannot come, you cannot come".
Throughout his time in the New Forest, Gardner had regularly travelled to London, keeping his flat at Buckingham Palace Mansions until mid-1939 and regularly visiting the Spielplatz nudist club there. At Spielplatz he befriended Ross Nichols, whom he would later introduce to the Pagan religion of Druidry; Nichols would become enamoured with this faith, eventually founding the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. However, following the war, Gardner decided to return to London, moving into 47 Ridgemount Gardens, Bloomsbury in late 1944 or early 1945.
Continuing his interest in nudism, in 1945 he purchased a plot of land in Fouracres, a nudist colony near to the village of Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire that would soon be renamed Five Acres. As a result, he would become one of the major shareholders at the club, exercising a significant level of power over any administrative decisions and was involved in a recruitment drive to obtain more members.
Between 1936 and 1939, Gardner befriended the Christian mystic J.S.M. Ward, proprietor of the Abbey Folk Park, Britain's oldest open-air museum. One of the exhibits was a 16th-century cottage that Ward had found near to Ledbury, Herefordshire and had transported to his park, where he exhibited it as a "witch's cottage". Gardner made a deal with Ward exchanging the cottage for Gardner's piece of land near to Famagusta in Cyprus.
The cottage was dismantled, and the parts transported to Bricket Wood, where they were reassembled on Gardner's land at Five Acres. In Midsummer 1947 he held a ceremony in the cottage as a form of housewarming, which Heselton speculated was probably based upon the ceremonial magic rites featured in The Key of Solomon grimoire.
Furthering his interest in esoteric Christianity, in August 1946 Gardner was ordained as a priest in the Ancient British Church, a fellowship open to anyone who considered themselves a monotheist. Gardner also took an interest in Druidry, joining the Ancient Druid Order (ADO) and attending its annual Midsummer rituals at Stonehenge.
He also joined the Folk-Lore Society, being elected to their council in 1946, and that same year giving a talk on "Art Magic and Talismans". Nevertheless, many fellows – including Katherine Briggs – were dismissive of Gardner's ideas and his fraudulent academic credentials. In 1946 he also joined the Society for Psychical Research.
On May Day 1947, Gardner's friend Arnold Crowther introduced him to Aleister Crowley, the ceremonial magician who had founded the religion of Thelema in 1904. Shortly before his death, Crowley elevated Gardner to the IV° of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and issued a charter decreeing that Gardner could admit people into its Minerval degree. The charter itself was written in Gardner's handwriting and only signed by Crowley.
From November 1947 to March 1948, Gardner and his wife toured the United States visiting relatives in Memphis, also visiting New Orleans, where Gardner hoped to learn about Voodoo. During his voyage, Crowley had died, and as a result Gardner considered himself the head of the O.T.O. in Europe, (a position accepted by Lady Frieda Harris). He met Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in New York though Gardner would soon lose interest in leading the O.T.O., and in 1951 he was replaced by Frederic Mellinger as the O.T.O.'s European representative.
Gardner hoped to spread Wicca and described some of its practices in a fictional form as High Magic's Aid. Set in the twelfth-century, Gardner included scenes of ceremonial magic based on The Key of Solomon. Published by the Atlantis Bookshop in July 1949, Gardner's manuscript had been edited into a publishable form by astrologer Madeline Montalban.
Privately, he had also begun work on a scrapbook known as "Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical", in which he wrote down a number of Wiccan rituals and spells. This would prove to be the prototype for what he later termed a Book of Shadows. He also gained some of his first initiates, Barbara and Gilbert Vickers, who were initiated at some point between autumn 1949 and autumn 1950.
Gardner also came into contact with Cecil Williamson, who was intent on opening his own museum devoted to witchcraft; the result would be the Folk-lore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft, opened in Castletown on the Isle of Man in 1951. Gardner and his wife moved to the island, where he took up the position of "resident witch". On 29 July, the Sunday Pictorial published an article about the museum in which Gardner declared "Of course I'm a witch. And I get great fun out of it."
The museum was not a financial success, and the relationship between Gardner and Williamson deteriorated. In 1954, Gardner bought the museum from Williamson, who returned to England to form the rival Museum of Witchcraft, eventually settling it in Boscastle, Cornwall. Gardner renamed his exhibition the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft and continued running it up until his death.
He also acquired a flat at 145 Holland Road, near Shepherd's Bush in West London, but nevertheless fled to warmer climates during the winter, where his asthma would not be so badly affected, for instance spending time in France, Italy, and the Gold Coast. From his base in London, he would frequent Atlantis bookshop, thereby encountering a number of other occultists, including Austin Osman Spare and Kenneth Grant, and he also continued his communication with Karl Germer until 1956.
In 1952, Gardner had begun to correspond with a young woman named Doreen Valiente. She eventually requested initiation into the Craft, and though Gardner was hesitant at first, he agreed that they could meet during the winter at the home of Edith Woodford-Grimes. Valiente got on well with both Gardner and Woodford-Grimes and having no objections to either ritual nudity or scourging (which she had read about in a copy of Gardner's novel High Magic's Aid that he had given to her), she was initiated by Gardner into Wicca on Midsummer 1953.
Valiente went on to join the Bricket Wood Coven. She soon rose to become the High Priestess of the coven and helped Gardner to revise his Book of Shadows, and attempting to cut out most of Crowley's influence.
In 1954, Gardner published a non-fiction book, Witchcraft Today, containing a preface by Margaret Murray, who had published her discredited theory of 'witchcraft' being a surviving pagan religion in her 1921 book, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. In his book, Gardner not only espoused Murray's theory, but also his theory that a belief in faeries in Europe was due to a secretive pygmy race that lived alongside other communities, and that the Knights Templar had been initiates of the Craft.
Alongside this book, Gardner began to increasingly court publicity, going so far as to invite the press to write articles about the religion. Many of these turned out very negatively for the cult; one declared "Witches Devil-Worship in London!", and another accused him of whitewashing witchcraft in his luring of people into covens. Gardner continued courting publicity, despite the negative articles that many tabloids were producing, and believed that only through publicity could more people become interested in witchcraft, so preventing the "Old Religion", as he called it, from dying out.
In 1960, Gardner's official biography, entitled Gerald Gardner: Witch, was published. It was written by a friend of his, the Sufi mystic Idries Shah, but used the name of one of Gardner's High Priests, Jack L. Bracelin, because Shah was wary about being associated with Witchcraft. In May of that year, Gardner travelled to Buckingham Palace, where he enjoyed a garden party in recognition of his years of service to the Empire in the Far East. Soon after his trip, Gardner's wife Donna died, and Gardner himself once again began to suffer badly from asthma.
The following year he, along with Shah and Lois Bourne, travelled to the island of Majorca to holiday with the poet Robert Graves, whose The White Goddess would play a significant part in the burgeoning Wiccan religion. In 1963, Gardner decided to go to Lebanon over the winter. Whilst returning home on the ship, The Scottish Prince on 12 February 1964, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the breakfast table. He was buried in Tunisia, the ship's next port of call, and his funeral was attended only by the ship's captain. He was 79 years old.
Though having bequeathed the museum, all his artifacts, and the copyright to his books in his will to one of his High Priestesses, Monique Wilson, she and her husband sold off the artefact collection to the American Ripley's Believe It or Not! organisation several years later. Ripley's took the collection to America, where it was displayed in two museums before being sold off during the 1980s. Gardner had also left parts of his inheritance to Patricia Crowther, Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne and Jack Bracelin, the latter inheriting the Fiveacres Nudist Club and taking over as full-time High Priest of the Bricket Wood coven.
Several years after Gardner's death, the Wiccan High Priestess Eleanor Bone visited North Africa and went looking for Gardner's grave. She discovered that the cemetery he was interred in was to be redeveloped, and so she raised enough money for his body to be moved to another cemetery in Tunis, where it currently remains. In 2007, a new plaque was attached to his grave, describing him as being "Father of Modern Wicca. Beloved of the Great Goddess".
Gardner only married once, to Donna, and several who knew him made the claim that he was devoted to her. Indeed, after her death in 1960, he began to again suffer serious asthma attacks. Despite this, as many coven members slept over at his cottage due to living too far away to travel home safely, he was known to cuddle up to his young High Priestess, Dayonis, after rituals. The author Philip Heselton, who largely researched Wicca's origins, came to the conclusion that Gardner had held a long-term affair with Dafo, a theory expanded upon by Adrian Bott.
Those who knew him within the Wiccan movement recalled how he was a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits of sunbathing. He also had several tattoos on his body, depicting magical symbols such as a snake, dragon, anchor and dagger. In his later life he wore a "heavy bronze bracelet... denoting the three degrees... of witchcraft" as well as a "large silver ring with... signs on it, which... represented his witch-name 'Scire', in the letters of the magical Theban alphabet."
According to Bricket Wood coven member Frederic Lamond, Gardner also used to comb his beard into a narrow barbiche and his hair into two horn like peaks, giving him "a somewhat demonic appearance". Lamond thought that Gardner was "surprisingly lacking in charisma" for someone at the forefront of a religious movement.
Gardner was a supporter of the centre-right Conservative Party, and for several years had been a member of the Highcliffe Conservative Association, as well as being an avid reader of the pro-Conservative newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.
Lois Bourne, one of the High Priestesses of the Bricket Wood Coven, accused Gardner of homophobia:
"Gerald was homophobic. He had a deep hatred and detestation of homosexuality, which he regarded as a disgusting perversion and a flagrant transgression of natural law... 'There are no homosexual witches, and it is not possible to be a homosexual and a witch' Gerald almost shouted. No one argued with him."
In a 1951 interview with a journalist from the Sunday Pictorial newspaper, Gardner said he was a Doctor of Philosophy from Singapore and also had a doctorate in literature from Toulouse. Later investigation by Doreen Valiente suggested that these claims were false. The University of Singapore did not exist at that time and the University of Toulouse had no record of his receiving a doctorate. Valiente suggests that these claims may have been a form of compensation for his lack of formal education.
Valiente further criticises Gardner for his publicity-seeking – or at least his indiscretion. After a series of tabloid exposés, some members of his coven proposed some rules limiting what members of the Craft should say to non-members. Valiente reports that Gardner responded with a set of Wiccan laws of his own, which he claimed were original, but others suspected he had made up on the spot. This led to a split in the coven, with Valiente and others leaving.
Commenting on Gardner, Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White commented that "There are few figures in esoteric history who can rival him for his dominating place in the pantheon of Pagan pioneers."
In 2012, Philip Heselton published a two-volume biography of Gardner, titled Witchfather. The biography was reviewed by Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White in The Pomegranate journal, where he commented that it was "more exhaustive with greater detail" than Heselton's prior tomes and was "excellent in most respects". | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist. He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts and founding the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born into an upper-middle-class family in Blundellsands, Lancashire, Gardner spent much of his childhood abroad in Madeira. In 1900, he moved to colonial Ceylon, and then in 1911 to Malaya, where he worked as a civil servant, independently developing an interest in the native peoples and writing papers and a book about their magical practices.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "After his retirement in 1936, he travelled to Cyprus, penning the novel A Goddess Arrives before returning to England. Settling down near the New Forest, he joined an occult group, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, through which he said he had encountered the New Forest coven into which he was initiated in 1939. Gardner portrayed the coven as a survival of the theoretical 'witch-cult' discussed in the works of Margaret Murray; a theory now discredited.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "He claimed to be reviving this 'pagan' faith, supplementing the coven's rituals with ideas borrowed from Freemasonry, ceremonial magic and the writings of Aleister Crowley to form the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Moving to London in 1945, he became intent on propagating this religion, attracting media attention and writing about it in High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Founding a Wiccan group known as the Bricket Wood coven, he introduced a string of High Priestesses into the religion, including Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, Patricia Crowther and Eleanor Bone, through which the Gardnerian community spread throughout Britain and subsequently into Australia and the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Involved for a time with Cecil Williamson, Gardner also became director of the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man, which he ran until his death.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gardner is internationally recognised as the \"Father of Wicca\" among the neo-pagan and occult communities. His claims regarding the New Forest coven have been widely scrutinised, with Gardner being the subject of investigation for historians and biographers Aidan Kelly, Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Gardner's family was wealthy and upper middle class, running a family firm, Joseph Gardner and Sons, which described itself as \"the oldest private company in the timber trade within the British Empire.\" Specialising in the import of hardwood, the company had been founded in the mid-18th century by Edmund Gardner (b. 1721), an entrepreneur who would subsequently become a Freeman of Liverpool.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Gerald's father, William Robert Gardner (1844–1935) had been the youngest son of Joseph Gardner (b. 1791), after whom the firm had been renamed, and who with his wife Maria had had five sons and three daughters. In 1867, William had been sent to New York City to further the interests of the family firm. Here, he had met an American, Louise Burguelew Ennis, the daughter of a wholesale stationer; entering a relationship, they were married in Manhattan on 25 November 1868.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "After a visit to England, the couple returned to the US, where they settled in Mott Haven, Morrisania in New York State. It was here that their first child, Harold Ennis Gardner, was born in 1870. At some point in the next two years they moved back to England, by 1873 settling into The Glen, a large Victorian house in Blundellsands in Lancashire, north-west England, which was developing into a wealthy suburb of Liverpool. It was here that their second child, Robert \"Bob\" Marshall Gardner, was born in 1874.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In 1876 the family moved into one of the neighbouring houses, Ingle Lodge, and it was here that the couple's third son, Gerald Brosseau Gardner, was born on Friday 13 June 1884. A fourth child, Francis Douglas Gardner, was then born in 1886. Gerald would rarely see Harold, who went on to study law at the University of Oxford, but saw more of Bob, who drew pictures for him, and Douglas, with whom he shared his nursery.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The Gardners employed an Irish nursemaid named Josephine \"Com\" McCombie, who was entrusted with taking care of the young Gerald; she would subsequently become the dominant figure of his childhood, spending far more time with him than his parents. Gardner suffered with asthma from a young age, having particular difficulty in the cold Lancashire winters. His nursemaid offered to take him to warmer climates abroad at his father's expense in the hope that this condition would not be so badly affected.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Subsequently, in summer 1888, Gerald and Com travelled via London to Nice in the south of France. After several more years spent in the Mediterranean, in 1891 they went to the Canary Islands, and it was here that Gardner first developed his lifelong interest in weaponry. From there, they then went on to Accra in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana). Accra was followed by a visit to Funchal on the Portuguese colony of Madeira; they would spend most of the next nine years on the island, only returning to England for three or four months in the summer.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "According to Gardner's first biographer, Jack Bracelin, Com was very flirtatious and \"clearly looked on these trips as mainly manhunts\", viewing Gardner as a nuisance. As a result, he was largely left to his own devices, which he spent going out, meeting new people and learning about foreign cultures. In Madeira, he also began collecting weapons, many of which were remnants from the Napoleonic Wars, displaying them on the wall of his hotel room.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "As a result of his illness and these foreign trips, Gardner ultimately never attended school, or gained any formal education. He taught himself to read by looking at copies of The Strand Magazine but his writing betrayed his poor education all his life, with highly eccentric spelling and grammar. A voracious reader, one of the books that most influenced him at the time was Florence Marryat's There Is No Death (1891), a discussion of spiritualism, and from which he gained a firm belief in the existence of an afterlife.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "In 1900, Com married David Elkington, one of her many suitors who owned a tea plantation in the British colony of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). It was agreed with the Gardners that Gerald would live with her on a tea plantation named Ladbroke Estate in the town of Maskeliya , where he could learn the tea trade. In 1901 Gardner and the Elkingtons lived briefly in a bungalow in Kandy, where a neighbouring bungalow had just been vacated by the occultists Aleister Crowley and Charles Henry Allan Bennett.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "At his father's expense, Gardner trained as a \"creeper\", or trainee planter, learning all about the growing of tea; although he disliked the \"dreary endlessness\" of the work, he enjoyed being outdoors and near to the forests. He lived with the Elkingtons until 1904, when he moved into his own bungalow and began earning a living working on the Non Pareil tea estate below the Horton Plains. He spent much of his spare time hunting deer and trekking through the local forests, becoming acquainted with the Singhalese natives and taking a great interest in their Buddhist beliefs.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In December 1904, his parents and younger brother visited, with his father asking him to invest in a pioneering rubber plantation which Gardner was to manage; located near the village of Belihuloya, it was known as the Atlanta Estate, but allowed him a great deal of leisure time. Exploring his interest in weaponry, in 1907 Gardner joined the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps, a local volunteer force composed of European tea and rubber planters intent on protecting their interests from foreign aggression or domestic insurrection.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 1907 Gardner returned to Britain for several months' leave, spending time with his family and joining the Legion of Frontiersmen, a militia founded to repel the threat of German invasion. During his visit, Gardner spent a lot of time with family relations known as the Sergenesons. Gardner became very friendly with this side of his family, whom his Anglican parents avoided because they were Methodists.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "According to Gardner, the Surgenesons talked about the paranormal with him; the patriarch of the family, Ted Surgeneson, believed that fairies were living in his garden and would say \"I can often feel they're there, and sometimes I've seen them\", though he readily admitted the possibility that it was all in his imagination. It was from the Sergenesons that Gardner claimed to have discovered a family rumour that his grandfather, Joseph, had been a practising witch, after being converted to the practice by his mistress. Another unconfirmed family belief repeated by Gardner was that a Scottish ancestor, Grissell Gairdner, had been burned as a witch in Newburgh in 1610.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Gardner returned to Ceylon in late 1907 and settled down to the routine of managing the rubber plantation. In 1910 he was initiated as an Apprentice Freemason into the Sphinx Lodge No. 107 in Colombo, affiliated with the Irish Grand Lodge. Gardner placed great importance on this new activity; In order to attend masonic meetings, he had to arrange a weekend's leave, walk 15 miles to the nearest railway station in Haputale, and then catch a train to the city.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "He entered into the second and third degrees of Freemasonry within the next month, but this enthusiasm seems also to have waned, and he resigned the next year, probably because he intended to leave Ceylon. The experiment with rubber growing at the Atlanta Estate had proved relatively unsuccessful, and Gardner's father decided to sell the property in 1911, leaving Gerald unemployed.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "That year, Gardner moved to British North Borneo, gaining employment as a rubber planter at the Mawo Estate at Membuket. However, he did not get on well with the plantation's manager, a racist named R. J. Graham who had wanted to deforest the entire local area. Instead, Gardner became friendly with many of the locals, including the Dayak and Dusun people.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "An amateur anthropologist, Gardner was fascinated by the indigenous way of life, particularly the local forms of weaponry such as the sumpitan. He was intrigued by the tattoos of the Dayaks and pictures of him in later life show large snake or dragon tattoos on his forearms, presumably obtained at this time. Taking a great interest in indigenous religious beliefs, Gardner told his first biographer that he had attended Dusun séances or healing rituals.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "He was unhappy with the working conditions and the racist attitudes of his colleagues, and when he developed malaria he felt that this was the last straw; he left Borneo and moved to Singapore, in what was then known as the Straits Settlements, part of British Malaya.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Arriving in Singapore, he initially planned to return to Ceylon, but was offered a job working as an assistant on a rubber plantation in Perak, northern Malaya, and decided to take it, working for the Borneo Company. Arriving in the area, he decided to supplement this income by purchasing his own estate, Bukit Katho, on which he could grow rubber; initially sized at 450 acres, Gardner purchased various pieces of adjacent land until it covered 600 acres.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "Here, Gardner made friends with an American man known as Cornwall, who had converted to Islam and married a local Malay woman. Through Cornwall, Gardner was introduced to many locals, whom he soon befriended, including members of the Senoi and Malay peoples. Cornwall invited Gardner to make the Shahada, the Muslim confession of faith, which he did; it allowed him to gain the trust of locals, although he would never become a practising Muslim. Cornwall was however an unorthodox Muslim, and his interest in local peoples included their magical and spiritual beliefs, to which he also introduced Gardner, who took a particular interest in the kris, a ritual knife with magical uses.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In 1915, Gardner again joined a local volunteer militia, the Malay States Volunteer Rifles. Although between 1914 and 1918 World War I was raging in Europe, its effects were little felt in Malaya, apart from the 1915 Singapore Mutiny. Gardner was keen to do more towards the war effort and in 1916 once again returned to Britain. He attempted to join the British Navy but was turned down due to ill health. Unable to fight on the front lines, he began working as an orderly in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in the First Western General Hospital, Fazakerley, located on the outskirts of Liverpool.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "He was working in the VAD when casualties came back from the Battle of the Somme and he was engaged in looking after patients and assisting in changing wound dressings. He soon had to give this up when his malaria returned, and so decided to return to Malaya in October 1916 because of the warmer climate.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "He continued to manage the rubber plantation but after the end of the war, commodity prices dropped and by 1921 it was difficult to make a profit. He returned again to Britain, in what later biographer Philip Heselton speculated might have been an unsuccessful attempt to ask his father for money. Returning to Malaya, Gardner found that the Borneo Company had sacked him, and he was forced to find work with the Public Works Department. In September 1923 he successfully applied to the Office of Customs to become a government-inspector of rubber plantations, a job that involved a great amount of travelling around the country, something he enjoyed.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "After a brief but serious illness, the Johore government reassigned Gardner to an office in the Lands Office while he recovered, eventually being promoted to Principal Officer of Customs. In this capacity, he was made an Inspector of Rubber Shops, overseeing the regulation and sale of rubber in the country. In 1926 he was placed in charge of monitoring shops selling opium, noting regular irregularities and a thriving illegal trade in the controlled substance; believing opium to be essentially harmless, there is evidence indicating that Gardner probably took many bribes in this position, earning himself a small fortune.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Gardner's mother had died in 1920, but he had not returned to Britain on that occasion. However, in 1927 his father became very ill with dementia, and Gardner decided to visit him. On his return to Britain, Gardner began to investigate spiritualism and mediumship. He soon had several encounters which he attributed to spirits of deceased family members.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Continuing to visit Spiritualist churches and séances, he was highly critical of much of what he saw, although he encountered several mediums he considered genuine. One medium apparently made contact with a deceased cousin of Gardner's, an event which impressed him greatly. His first biographer Jack Bracelin reports that this was a watershed in Gardner's life, and that a previous academic interest in spiritualism and life after death thereafter became a matter of firm personal belief for him.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "The very same evening (28 July 1927) after Gardner had met this medium, he met the woman he was to marry; Dorothea Frances Rosedale, known as Donna, a relation of his sister-in-law Edith. He asked her to marry him the next day and she agreed. Because his leave was coming to an end very soon, they married quickly on 16 August at St Jude's Church, Kensington, and then honeymooned in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, before heading via France to Malaya.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Arriving in the country, the couple settled into a bungalow at Bukit Japon in Johor Bahru. Here, he once more became involved in Freemasonry, joining the Johore Royal Lodge No. 3946, but had retired from it by April 1931. Gardner also returned to his old interests in the anthropology of Malaya, witnessing the magical practices performed by the locals, and he readily accepted a belief in magic. During his time in Malaya, Gardner became increasingly interested in local customs, particularly those involved in folk magic and weapons.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Gardner was not only interested in the anthropology of Malaya, but also in its archaeology. He began excavations at the city of Johore Lama, alone and in secret, as the local Sultan considered archaeologists little better than grave-robbers. Prior to Gardner's investigations, no serious archaeological excavation had occurred at the city, though he himself soon unearthed four miles of earthworks, and uncovered finds that included tombs, pottery, and porcelain dating from Ming China.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "He went on to begin further excavations at the royal cemetery of Kota Tinggi, and the jungle city of Syong Penang. His finds were displayed as an exhibit on the \"Early History of Johore\" at the National Museum of Singapore, and several beads that he had discovered suggested that trade went on between the Roman Empire and the Malays, presumably, Gardner thought, via India. He also found gold coins originating from Johore and he published academic papers on both the beads and the coins.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "By the early 1930s Gardner's activities had moved from those exclusively of a civil servant, and he began to think of himself more as a folklorist, archaeologist and anthropologist. He was encouraged in this by the director of the Raffles Museum (now the National Museum of Singapore) and by his election to Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 1936.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "En route back to London in 1932 Gardner stopped off in Egypt and, armed with a letter of introduction, joined Sir Flinders Petrie who was excavating the site of Tall al-Ajjul in Palestine. Arriving in London in August 1932 he attended a conference on prehistory and protohistory at King's College London, attending at least two lectures which described the cult of the Mother Goddess. He also befriended the archaeologist and practising Pagan Alexander Keiller, known for his excavations at Avebury, who would encourage Gardner to join in with the excavations at Hembury Hill in Devon, also attended by Aileen Fox and Mary Leakey.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Returning to East Asia, he took a ship from Singapore to Saigon in French Indo-China, from where he travelled to Phnom Penh, visiting the Silver Pagoda. He then took a train to Hangzhou in China, before continuing onto Shanghai; because of the ongoing Chinese Civil War, the train did not stop throughout the entire journey, something that annoyed the passengers. In 1935, Gardner attended the Second Congress for Prehistoric Research in the Far East in Manila, Philippines, acquainting himself with several experts in the field.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "His main research interest lay in the Malay kris blade, which he unusually chose to spell \"keris\"; he eventually collected 400 examples and talked to natives about their magico-religious uses. Deciding to author a book on the subject, he wrote Keris and Other Malay Weapons, being encouraged to do so by anthropologist friends; it would subsequently be edited into a readable form by Betty Lumsden Milne and published by the Singapore-based Progressive Publishing Company in 1936. It was well received by literary and academic circles in Malaya.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In 1935, Gardner heard that his father had died, leaving him a bequest of £3,000. This assurance of financial independence may have led him to consider retirement, and as he was due for a long leave in 1936 the Johore Civil Service allowed him to retire slightly early, in January 1936. Gardner wanted to stay in Malaya, but he conceded to his wife Donna, who insisted that they return to England.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "In 1936, Gardner and Donna left Malaya and headed for Europe. She proceeded straight to London, renting them a flat at 26 Charing Cross Road. Gardner visited Palestine, becoming involved in the archaeological excavations run by J.L. Starkey at Lachish. Here he grew particularly interested in a temple containing statues to both the male deity of Judeo-Christian theology and the pagan goddess Ashtoreth.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "From Palestine, Gardner went to Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Germany. He eventually reached England, but soon went on a visit to Denmark to attend a conference on weaponry at the Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, during which he gave a talk on the kris.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Returning to Britain, he found that the climate made him sick, leading him to register with a doctor, Edward A. Gregg, who recommended that he try nudism. Hesitant at first, Gardner first attended an indoor nudist club, the Lotus League in Finchley, North London, where he made several new friends and felt that the nudity cured his ailment. When summer came, he decided to visit an outdoor nudist club, that of Fouracres near the town of Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire, which he soon began to frequent.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Through nudism, Gardner made a number of notable friends, including James Laver (1899–1975), who became the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Cottie Arthur Burland (1905–1983), who was the Curator of the Department of Ethnography at the British Museum. Biographer Philip Heselton suggested that through the nudist scene Gardner may have also met Dion Byngham (1896–1990), a senior member of the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry who propounded a Contemporary Pagan religion known as Dionysianism. By the end of 1936, Gardner was finding his Charing Cross Road flat to be cramped and moved into the block of flats at 32a Buckingham Palace Mansions.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Fearing the cold of the English winter, Gardner decided to sail to Cyprus in late 1936, remaining there into the following year. Visiting the Museum in Nicosia, he studied the Bronze Age swords of the island, successfully hafting one of them, on the basis of which he wrote a paper entitled \"The Problem of the Cypriot Bronze Dagger Hilt\", which would subsequently be translated into both French and Danish, being published in the journals of the Société Préhistorique Française and the Vaabenhistorisk Selskab respectively.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "Back in London, in September 1937, Gardner applied for and received a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Meta Collegiate Extension of the National Electronic Institute, an organisation based in Nevada that was widely recognised by academic institutions as offering invalid academic degrees via post for a fee. He would subsequently style himself as \"Dr. Gardner\", despite the fact that academic institutions would not recognise his qualifications.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Planning to return to the Palestinian excavations the following winter, he was prevented from doing so when Starkey was murdered. Instead, he decided to return to Cyprus. A believer in reincarnation, Gardner came to believe that he had lived on the island once before, in a previous life, subsequently buying a plot of land in Famagusta, planning to build a house on it, although this never came about.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Influenced by his dreams, he wrote his first novel, A Goddess Arrives, over the next few years. Revolving around an Englishman living in 1930s London named Robert Denvers who has recollections of a previous life as a Bronze Age Cypriot – an allusion to Gardner himself – the primary plot of A Goddess Arrives is set in ancient Cyprus and featured a queen, Dayonis, who practices sorcery in an attempt to help her people defend themselves from invading Egyptians. Published in late 1939, biographer Philip Heselton noted that the book was \"a very competent first work of fiction\", with strong allusions to the build-up which proceeded World War II.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "Returning to London, he helped to dig shelter trenches in Hyde Park as a part of the build-up to the war, also volunteering for the Air Raid Wardens' Service. Fearing the bombing of the city, Gardner and his wife soon moved to Highcliffe, just south of the New Forest in Hampshire. Here, they purchased a house built in 1923 named Southridge, situated on the corner of Highland Avenue and Elphinstone Road.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "In Highcliffe, Gardner came across a building describing itself as the \"First Rosicrucian Theatre in England\". Having an interest in Rosicrucianism, a prominent magico-religious tradition within Western esotericism, Gardner decided to attend one of the plays performed by the group; in August 1939, Gardner took his wife to a theatrical performance based on the life of Pythagoras. An amateur thespian, she hated the performance, thinking the quality of both actors and script terrible, and she refused to go again.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Unperturbed and hoping to learn more of Rosicrucianism, Gardner joined the group in charge of running the theatre, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, and began attending meetings held in their local ashram. Founded in 1920 by George Alexander Sullivan, the Fellowship had been based upon a blend of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Freemasonry and his own personal innovation, and had moved to Christchurch in 1930.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "As time went by, Gardner became critical of many of the Rosicrucian Order's practices; Sullivan's followers claimed that he was immortal, having formerly been the famous historical figures Pythagoras, Cornelius Agrippa and Francis Bacon. Gardner facetiously asked if he was also the Wandering Jew, much to the annoyance of Sullivan himself. Another belief held by the group that Gardner found amusing was that a lamp hanging from one of the ceilings was the disguised holy grail of Arthurian legend.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "Gardner's dissatisfaction with the group grew, particularly when in 1939, one of the group's leaders sent a letter out to all members in which she stated that war would not come. The very next day, Britain declared war on Germany, greatly unimpressing the increasingly cynical Gardner.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Alongside Rosicrucianism, Gardner had also been pursuing other interests. In 1939, Gardner joined the Folk-Lore Society; his first contribution to its journal Folk-Lore, appeared in the June 1939 issue and described a box of witchcraft relics that he believed had belonged to the 17th century \"Witch-Finder General\", Matthew Hopkins. Subsequently, in 1946 he would go on to become a member of the society's governing council, although most other members of the society were wary of him and his academic credentials.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Gardner would also join the Historical Association, being elected co-president of its Bournemouth and Christchurch branch in June 1944, following which he became a vocal supporter for the construction of a local museum for the Christchurch borough. He also involved himself in preparations for the impending war, joining the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) as a warden, where he soon rose to a position of local seniority, with his own house being assigned as the ARP post. In 1940, following the outbreak of conflict, he also tried to sign up for the Local Defence Volunteers, or \"Home Guard\", but was turned away because he was already an ARP warden.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "He managed to circumvent this restriction by joining his local Home Guard in the capacity as armourer, which was officially classified as technical staff. Gardner took a strong interest in the Home Guard, helping to arm his fellows from his own personal weaponry collection and personally manufacturing molotov cocktails.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Although sceptical of the Rosicrucian Order, Gardner got on well with a group of individuals inside the group who were \"rather brow-beaten by the others, kept themselves to themselves.\" Gardner's biographer Philip Heselton theorised that this group consisted of Edith Woodford-Grimes (1887–1975), Susie Mason, her brother Ernie Mason, and their sister Rosetta Fudge, all of whom had originally come from Southampton before moving to the area around Highcliffe, where they joined the Order.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "According to Gardner, \"unlike many of the others [in the Order], [they] had to earn their livings, were cheerful and optimistic and had a real interest in the occult\". Gardner became \"really very fond of them\", remarking that he \"would have gone through hell and high water even then for any of them.\" In particular he grew close to Woodford-Grimes, being invited over to her home to meet her daughter, and the two helped each other with their writing, Woodford-Grimes probably assisting Gardner edit A Goddess Arrives prior to publication. Gardner would subsequently give her the nickname \"Dafo\", for which she would become better known.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "According to Gardner's later account, one night in September 1939, they took him to a large house owned by \"Old Dorothy\" Clutterbuck, a wealthy local woman, where he was made to strip naked and taken through an initiation ceremony. Halfway through the ceremony, he heard the word \"Wicca (Male)\" and \"Wicce (Female)\", and he recognised it as an Old English word for \"witch\".",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "He was already acquainted with Margaret Murray's theory of the Witch-cult, and that \"I then knew then that which I had thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still survived.\" This group, he claimed, were the New Forest coven, and he portrayed them as one of the few surviving covens of an ancient, pre-Christian Witch-Cult religion. Murray's theory of a pagan 'witch-cult' has been discredited. Later research by the likes of Hutton and Heselton has shown that the New Forest coven was probably only formed in the mid-1930s, based upon Murray's discredited theories and works on folk magic.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Gardner only ever described one of their rituals in depth, and this was an event that he termed \"Operation Cone of Power\". According to his own account, it took place in 1940 in a part of the New Forest and was designed to ward off the Nazis from invading Britain by magical means. Gardner claimed that a \"Great Circle\" was erected at night, with a \"great cone of power\" – a form of magical energy – being raised and sent to Berlin with the command of \"you cannot cross the sea, you cannot cross the sea, you cannot come, you cannot come\".",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Throughout his time in the New Forest, Gardner had regularly travelled to London, keeping his flat at Buckingham Palace Mansions until mid-1939 and regularly visiting the Spielplatz nudist club there. At Spielplatz he befriended Ross Nichols, whom he would later introduce to the Pagan religion of Druidry; Nichols would become enamoured with this faith, eventually founding the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. However, following the war, Gardner decided to return to London, moving into 47 Ridgemount Gardens, Bloomsbury in late 1944 or early 1945.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Continuing his interest in nudism, in 1945 he purchased a plot of land in Fouracres, a nudist colony near to the village of Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire that would soon be renamed Five Acres. As a result, he would become one of the major shareholders at the club, exercising a significant level of power over any administrative decisions and was involved in a recruitment drive to obtain more members.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Between 1936 and 1939, Gardner befriended the Christian mystic J.S.M. Ward, proprietor of the Abbey Folk Park, Britain's oldest open-air museum. One of the exhibits was a 16th-century cottage that Ward had found near to Ledbury, Herefordshire and had transported to his park, where he exhibited it as a \"witch's cottage\". Gardner made a deal with Ward exchanging the cottage for Gardner's piece of land near to Famagusta in Cyprus.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "The cottage was dismantled, and the parts transported to Bricket Wood, where they were reassembled on Gardner's land at Five Acres. In Midsummer 1947 he held a ceremony in the cottage as a form of housewarming, which Heselton speculated was probably based upon the ceremonial magic rites featured in The Key of Solomon grimoire.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "Furthering his interest in esoteric Christianity, in August 1946 Gardner was ordained as a priest in the Ancient British Church, a fellowship open to anyone who considered themselves a monotheist. Gardner also took an interest in Druidry, joining the Ancient Druid Order (ADO) and attending its annual Midsummer rituals at Stonehenge.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "He also joined the Folk-Lore Society, being elected to their council in 1946, and that same year giving a talk on \"Art Magic and Talismans\". Nevertheless, many fellows – including Katherine Briggs – were dismissive of Gardner's ideas and his fraudulent academic credentials. In 1946 he also joined the Society for Psychical Research.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "On May Day 1947, Gardner's friend Arnold Crowther introduced him to Aleister Crowley, the ceremonial magician who had founded the religion of Thelema in 1904. Shortly before his death, Crowley elevated Gardner to the IV° of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and issued a charter decreeing that Gardner could admit people into its Minerval degree. The charter itself was written in Gardner's handwriting and only signed by Crowley.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "From November 1947 to March 1948, Gardner and his wife toured the United States visiting relatives in Memphis, also visiting New Orleans, where Gardner hoped to learn about Voodoo. During his voyage, Crowley had died, and as a result Gardner considered himself the head of the O.T.O. in Europe, (a position accepted by Lady Frieda Harris). He met Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in New York though Gardner would soon lose interest in leading the O.T.O., and in 1951 he was replaced by Frederic Mellinger as the O.T.O.'s European representative.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "Gardner hoped to spread Wicca and described some of its practices in a fictional form as High Magic's Aid. Set in the twelfth-century, Gardner included scenes of ceremonial magic based on The Key of Solomon. Published by the Atlantis Bookshop in July 1949, Gardner's manuscript had been edited into a publishable form by astrologer Madeline Montalban.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Privately, he had also begun work on a scrapbook known as \"Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical\", in which he wrote down a number of Wiccan rituals and spells. This would prove to be the prototype for what he later termed a Book of Shadows. He also gained some of his first initiates, Barbara and Gilbert Vickers, who were initiated at some point between autumn 1949 and autumn 1950.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Gardner also came into contact with Cecil Williamson, who was intent on opening his own museum devoted to witchcraft; the result would be the Folk-lore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft, opened in Castletown on the Isle of Man in 1951. Gardner and his wife moved to the island, where he took up the position of \"resident witch\". On 29 July, the Sunday Pictorial published an article about the museum in which Gardner declared \"Of course I'm a witch. And I get great fun out of it.\"",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "The museum was not a financial success, and the relationship between Gardner and Williamson deteriorated. In 1954, Gardner bought the museum from Williamson, who returned to England to form the rival Museum of Witchcraft, eventually settling it in Boscastle, Cornwall. Gardner renamed his exhibition the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft and continued running it up until his death.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "He also acquired a flat at 145 Holland Road, near Shepherd's Bush in West London, but nevertheless fled to warmer climates during the winter, where his asthma would not be so badly affected, for instance spending time in France, Italy, and the Gold Coast. From his base in London, he would frequent Atlantis bookshop, thereby encountering a number of other occultists, including Austin Osman Spare and Kenneth Grant, and he also continued his communication with Karl Germer until 1956.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "In 1952, Gardner had begun to correspond with a young woman named Doreen Valiente. She eventually requested initiation into the Craft, and though Gardner was hesitant at first, he agreed that they could meet during the winter at the home of Edith Woodford-Grimes. Valiente got on well with both Gardner and Woodford-Grimes and having no objections to either ritual nudity or scourging (which she had read about in a copy of Gardner's novel High Magic's Aid that he had given to her), she was initiated by Gardner into Wicca on Midsummer 1953.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "Valiente went on to join the Bricket Wood Coven. She soon rose to become the High Priestess of the coven and helped Gardner to revise his Book of Shadows, and attempting to cut out most of Crowley's influence.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In 1954, Gardner published a non-fiction book, Witchcraft Today, containing a preface by Margaret Murray, who had published her discredited theory of 'witchcraft' being a surviving pagan religion in her 1921 book, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. In his book, Gardner not only espoused Murray's theory, but also his theory that a belief in faeries in Europe was due to a secretive pygmy race that lived alongside other communities, and that the Knights Templar had been initiates of the Craft.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "Alongside this book, Gardner began to increasingly court publicity, going so far as to invite the press to write articles about the religion. Many of these turned out very negatively for the cult; one declared \"Witches Devil-Worship in London!\", and another accused him of whitewashing witchcraft in his luring of people into covens. Gardner continued courting publicity, despite the negative articles that many tabloids were producing, and believed that only through publicity could more people become interested in witchcraft, so preventing the \"Old Religion\", as he called it, from dying out.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "In 1960, Gardner's official biography, entitled Gerald Gardner: Witch, was published. It was written by a friend of his, the Sufi mystic Idries Shah, but used the name of one of Gardner's High Priests, Jack L. Bracelin, because Shah was wary about being associated with Witchcraft. In May of that year, Gardner travelled to Buckingham Palace, where he enjoyed a garden party in recognition of his years of service to the Empire in the Far East. Soon after his trip, Gardner's wife Donna died, and Gardner himself once again began to suffer badly from asthma.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "The following year he, along with Shah and Lois Bourne, travelled to the island of Majorca to holiday with the poet Robert Graves, whose The White Goddess would play a significant part in the burgeoning Wiccan religion. In 1963, Gardner decided to go to Lebanon over the winter. Whilst returning home on the ship, The Scottish Prince on 12 February 1964, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the breakfast table. He was buried in Tunisia, the ship's next port of call, and his funeral was attended only by the ship's captain. He was 79 years old.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "Though having bequeathed the museum, all his artifacts, and the copyright to his books in his will to one of his High Priestesses, Monique Wilson, she and her husband sold off the artefact collection to the American Ripley's Believe It or Not! organisation several years later. Ripley's took the collection to America, where it was displayed in two museums before being sold off during the 1980s. Gardner had also left parts of his inheritance to Patricia Crowther, Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne and Jack Bracelin, the latter inheriting the Fiveacres Nudist Club and taking over as full-time High Priest of the Bricket Wood coven.",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "Several years after Gardner's death, the Wiccan High Priestess Eleanor Bone visited North Africa and went looking for Gardner's grave. She discovered that the cemetery he was interred in was to be redeveloped, and so she raised enough money for his body to be moved to another cemetery in Tunis, where it currently remains. In 2007, a new plaque was attached to his grave, describing him as being \"Father of Modern Wicca. Beloved of the Great Goddess\".",
"title": "Involvement in Wicca"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Gardner only married once, to Donna, and several who knew him made the claim that he was devoted to her. Indeed, after her death in 1960, he began to again suffer serious asthma attacks. Despite this, as many coven members slept over at his cottage due to living too far away to travel home safely, he was known to cuddle up to his young High Priestess, Dayonis, after rituals. The author Philip Heselton, who largely researched Wicca's origins, came to the conclusion that Gardner had held a long-term affair with Dafo, a theory expanded upon by Adrian Bott.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Those who knew him within the Wiccan movement recalled how he was a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits of sunbathing. He also had several tattoos on his body, depicting magical symbols such as a snake, dragon, anchor and dagger. In his later life he wore a \"heavy bronze bracelet... denoting the three degrees... of witchcraft\" as well as a \"large silver ring with... signs on it, which... represented his witch-name 'Scire', in the letters of the magical Theban alphabet.\"",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "According to Bricket Wood coven member Frederic Lamond, Gardner also used to comb his beard into a narrow barbiche and his hair into two horn like peaks, giving him \"a somewhat demonic appearance\". Lamond thought that Gardner was \"surprisingly lacking in charisma\" for someone at the forefront of a religious movement.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "Gardner was a supporter of the centre-right Conservative Party, and for several years had been a member of the Highcliffe Conservative Association, as well as being an avid reader of the pro-Conservative newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "Lois Bourne, one of the High Priestesses of the Bricket Wood Coven, accused Gardner of homophobia:",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "\"Gerald was homophobic. He had a deep hatred and detestation of homosexuality, which he regarded as a disgusting perversion and a flagrant transgression of natural law... 'There are no homosexual witches, and it is not possible to be a homosexual and a witch' Gerald almost shouted. No one argued with him.\"",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "In a 1951 interview with a journalist from the Sunday Pictorial newspaper, Gardner said he was a Doctor of Philosophy from Singapore and also had a doctorate in literature from Toulouse. Later investigation by Doreen Valiente suggested that these claims were false. The University of Singapore did not exist at that time and the University of Toulouse had no record of his receiving a doctorate. Valiente suggests that these claims may have been a form of compensation for his lack of formal education.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Valiente further criticises Gardner for his publicity-seeking – or at least his indiscretion. After a series of tabloid exposés, some members of his coven proposed some rules limiting what members of the Craft should say to non-members. Valiente reports that Gardner responded with a set of Wiccan laws of his own, which he claimed were original, but others suspected he had made up on the spot. This led to a split in the coven, with Valiente and others leaving.",
"title": "Criticisms"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Commenting on Gardner, Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White commented that \"There are few figures in esoteric history who can rival him for his dominating place in the pantheon of Pagan pioneers.\"",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "In 2012, Philip Heselton published a two-volume biography of Gardner, titled Witchfather. The biography was reviewed by Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White in The Pomegranate journal, where he commented that it was \"more exhaustive with greater detail\" than Heselton's prior tomes and was \"excellent in most respects\".",
"title": "Legacy"
}
]
| Gerald Brosseau Gardner, also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist. He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts and founding the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca. Born into an upper-middle-class family in Blundellsands, Lancashire, Gardner spent much of his childhood abroad in Madeira. In 1900, he moved to colonial Ceylon, and then in 1911 to Malaya, where he worked as a civil servant, independently developing an interest in the native peoples and writing papers and a book about their magical practices. After his retirement in 1936, he travelled to Cyprus, penning the novel A Goddess Arrives before returning to England. Settling down near the New Forest, he joined an occult group, the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship, through which he said he had encountered the New Forest coven into which he was initiated in 1939. Gardner portrayed the coven as a survival of the theoretical 'witch-cult' discussed in the works of Margaret Murray; a theory now discredited. He claimed to be reviving this 'pagan' faith, supplementing the coven's rituals with ideas borrowed from Freemasonry, ceremonial magic and the writings of Aleister Crowley to form the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca. Moving to London in 1945, he became intent on propagating this religion, attracting media attention and writing about it in High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Founding a Wiccan group known as the Bricket Wood coven, he introduced a string of High Priestesses into the religion, including Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, Patricia Crowther and Eleanor Bone, through which the Gardnerian community spread throughout Britain and subsequently into Australia and the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Involved for a time with Cecil Williamson, Gardner also became director of the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man, which he ran until his death. Gardner is internationally recognised as the "Father of Wicca" among the neo-pagan and occult communities. His claims regarding the New Forest coven have been widely scrutinised, with Gardner being the subject of investigation for historians and biographers Aidan Kelly, Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton. | 2001-10-31T15:10:19Z | 2023-12-24T10:10:54Z | [
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Magic and Witchcraft in the British Isles",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Sfnm",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Main article",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:About",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Rp",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:WiccaandWitchcraft"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Gardner |
12,792 | Gavin MacLeod | Gavin MacLeod (/məˈklaʊd/ mə-KLOWD; born Allan George See; February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat. After growing up Catholic, MacLeod became an evangelical Christian in 1984. His career, which spanned six decades, included work as a Christian television host, author, and guest on several talk, variety, and religious programs.
MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he starred in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to appear in A Man Called Gannon (1968), in The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), and in Kelly's Heroes (1970).
MacLeod also achieved continuing television success co-starring alongside Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy (1962–1964) as Joseph "Happy" Haines.
Allan George See was born in Mount Kisco, New York. His mother, Margaret (née Shea) See (1906–2004), a middle school dropout, worked for Reader's Digest. His father, George See (1906–1945), an electrician, was part Chippewa (Ojibwe). His brother Ronald was three years his junior. He grew up in Pleasantville, New York, and studied acting at Ithaca College, from which he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts.
After serving in the United States Air Force, he moved to New York City and worked at Radio City Music Hall while looking for acting work. At about this time he changed his name, drawing "Gavin" from a physically disabled victim in a television drama, and "MacLeod" from his Ithaca drama coach, Beatrice MacLeod. MacLeod said in a 2013 interview with Parade about his stage name, he "felt as if my name was getting in the way of my success." Allan, he wrote, "just wasn't strong enough," and See was "too confusing."
MacLeod made his television debut in 1957 on The Walter Winchell File at the age of 26. His first movie appearance was a small, uncredited role in The True Story of Lynn Stuart in 1958. Soon thereafter, he landed a credited role in I Want to Live!, a 1958 prison drama starring Susan Hayward. He was soon noticed by Blake Edwards, who in 1958 cast him in the pilot episode of his NBC series Peter Gunn, two guest roles on the Edwards CBS series Mr. Lucky in 1959, and as a nervous harried navy yeoman in Operation Petticoat, with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. Operation Petticoat proved to be a breakout role for MacLeod, and he was soon cast in two other Edwards comedies, High Time with Bing Crosby and The Party with Peter Sellers.
In December 1961, he landed a guest role on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore. MacLeod also had guest appearances on Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, Ben Casey, The Big Valley, Hogan's Heroes, Ironside, and My Favorite Martian. He played the role of a drug pusher, "Big Chicken", in two episodes of the first season of Hawaii Five-O.
His first regular television role began in 1962 as Joseph "Happy" Haines on McHale's Navy; he left this role after two seasons to appear as Signalman 2nd Class Crosley in the film The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen.
MacLeod's second breakout role as Murray Slaughter on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show won him lasting fame and two Golden Globe Award nominations. His starring role as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat, his next television series, was broadcast in 90 countries worldwide, between 1977 and 1986, spanning nine seasons. His work on that show earned him three Golden Globe nominations. Co-starring with him was a familiar actor and best friend Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker and Ted Lange as bartender Isaac Washington. Lange said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show of MacLeod that "Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred (Grandy) lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends."
MacLeod became the global ambassador for Princess Cruises in 1986. He played a role in ceremonies launching many of the line's new ships. In 1997, MacLeod joined the Love Boat cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
After The Love Boat, MacLeod toured with Michael Learned (of The Waltons) in Love Letters. He made several appearances in musicals such as Gigi and Copacabana between 1997 and 2003. In December 2008, he appeared with the Colorado Symphony in Denver.
MacLeod and his wife were hosts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for 17 years, primarily hosting a show about marriage called Back on Course. MacLeod appeared in Rich Christiano's Time Changer, a movie about time travel and how the morals of society have moved away from the Bible. He also plays the lead role in Christiano's 2009 film The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.
In April 2010, the entire cast of The Love Boat attended the TV Land Awards with the exception of MacLeod, due to a back operation to repair a couple of injured discs. Former co-star and long-term friend Ted Lange contacted him and received word that MacLeod was doing well. In December, MacLeod appeared as a guest narrator with the Florida Orchestra and Master Chorale of Tampa Bay.
MacLeod served as the honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades for five years, until Sugar Ray Leonard succeeded him in 2011. On February 28, 2011, MacLeod celebrated his 80th birthday aboard the Golden Princess on Princess Cruises in Los Angeles, California. His friends and family wished him a happy birthday and presented him with a 5-foot-long (1.5 m) 3-D cake replica of the Pacific Princess, the original "Love Boat".
MacLeod appeared on the special for Betty White's 90th birthday on January 17, 2012. He reunited with White to film "Safety Old School Style", an in-flight safety video for Air New Zealand in 2013. By January 2013, the video had been viewed two million times on YouTube. In October 2013, MacLeod appeared on Today to begin the promotional tour for his new book This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life. This appearance included a special set change to honor MacLeod's appearance on the show. In addition to television appearances, he continued his national book tour.
On November 5, 2013, MacLeod joined his Love Boat cast mates live on the CBS daytime show The Talk. A full one-hour episode was dedicated to the cast reunion. The Talk co-hosts dressed in costumes to commemorate their special guests' arrivals. Spanish-American actress Charo also appeared on the reunion show. Charo guest-starred in eight episodes of The Love Boat. Jack Jones performed the Love Boat theme song, which he introduced in 1977.
In December 2013, MacLeod appeared on The 700 Club to discuss his life and career. The following year, on February 1, MacLeod was honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in downtown Palm Springs, California. In January 2015, MacLeod appeared in the Rose Parade along with several other members of the original cast of The Love Boat. Later that same year MacLeod starred in the play Happy Hour at the Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre (CVRep) in Rancho Mirage, California, a role which earned him critical praise.
In 1987, following MacLeod's conversion to evangelical Christianity and remarriage, he and his wife, Patti, wrote about his struggles with alcoholism and their divorce in Back On Course: The Remarkable Story of a Divorce That Ended in Remarriage.
In 2013, MacLeod released a memoir, This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life. He said, "...all my living has been based on what other people have written... I hope it can help others, how I overcame and never gave up. There are so many lessons in life." In the book, MacLeod recounted his stories as a young actor trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood, the lifelong friends he made, struggles with alcoholism, divorce, and faith.
While working as an usher and elevator operator at Radio City Music Hall, MacLeod met dancer Joan F. Rootvik, who was a Rockette. They married in 1955 and had two sons and two daughters before divorcing in 1972.
In 1974, he married Patti Kendig. The couple divorced in 1982 and remarried in 1985. During the mid-1980s, they became evangelical Protestants and credited their faith for bringing them back together.
On September 20, 2009, MacLeod discussed his conversion to evangelicalism at The Rock Church in Anaheim, California, and was a guest speaker there in 2012.
MacLeod died at his home in Palm Desert, California, on May 29, 2021, aged 90. He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gavin MacLeod (/məˈklaʊd/ mə-KLOWD; born Allan George See; February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat. After growing up Catholic, MacLeod became an evangelical Christian in 1984. His career, which spanned six decades, included work as a Christian television host, author, and guest on several talk, variety, and religious programs.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he starred in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to appear in A Man Called Gannon (1968), in The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), and in Kelly's Heroes (1970).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "MacLeod also achieved continuing television success co-starring alongside Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy (1962–1964) as Joseph \"Happy\" Haines.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Allan George See was born in Mount Kisco, New York. His mother, Margaret (née Shea) See (1906–2004), a middle school dropout, worked for Reader's Digest. His father, George See (1906–1945), an electrician, was part Chippewa (Ojibwe). His brother Ronald was three years his junior. He grew up in Pleasantville, New York, and studied acting at Ithaca College, from which he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "After serving in the United States Air Force, he moved to New York City and worked at Radio City Music Hall while looking for acting work. At about this time he changed his name, drawing \"Gavin\" from a physically disabled victim in a television drama, and \"MacLeod\" from his Ithaca drama coach, Beatrice MacLeod. MacLeod said in a 2013 interview with Parade about his stage name, he \"felt as if my name was getting in the way of my success.\" Allan, he wrote, \"just wasn't strong enough,\" and See was \"too confusing.\"",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "MacLeod made his television debut in 1957 on The Walter Winchell File at the age of 26. His first movie appearance was a small, uncredited role in The True Story of Lynn Stuart in 1958. Soon thereafter, he landed a credited role in I Want to Live!, a 1958 prison drama starring Susan Hayward. He was soon noticed by Blake Edwards, who in 1958 cast him in the pilot episode of his NBC series Peter Gunn, two guest roles on the Edwards CBS series Mr. Lucky in 1959, and as a nervous harried navy yeoman in Operation Petticoat, with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. Operation Petticoat proved to be a breakout role for MacLeod, and he was soon cast in two other Edwards comedies, High Time with Bing Crosby and The Party with Peter Sellers.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In December 1961, he landed a guest role on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore. MacLeod also had guest appearances on Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, Ben Casey, The Big Valley, Hogan's Heroes, Ironside, and My Favorite Martian. He played the role of a drug pusher, \"Big Chicken\", in two episodes of the first season of Hawaii Five-O.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "His first regular television role began in 1962 as Joseph \"Happy\" Haines on McHale's Navy; he left this role after two seasons to appear as Signalman 2nd Class Crosley in the film The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "MacLeod's second breakout role as Murray Slaughter on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show won him lasting fame and two Golden Globe Award nominations. His starring role as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat, his next television series, was broadcast in 90 countries worldwide, between 1977 and 1986, spanning nine seasons. His work on that show earned him three Golden Globe nominations. Co-starring with him was a familiar actor and best friend Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker and Ted Lange as bartender Isaac Washington. Lange said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show of MacLeod that \"Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred (Grandy) lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends.\"",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "MacLeod became the global ambassador for Princess Cruises in 1986. He played a role in ceremonies launching many of the line's new ships. In 1997, MacLeod joined the Love Boat cast on The Oprah Winfrey Show.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "After The Love Boat, MacLeod toured with Michael Learned (of The Waltons) in Love Letters. He made several appearances in musicals such as Gigi and Copacabana between 1997 and 2003. In December 2008, he appeared with the Colorado Symphony in Denver.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "MacLeod and his wife were hosts on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for 17 years, primarily hosting a show about marriage called Back on Course. MacLeod appeared in Rich Christiano's Time Changer, a movie about time travel and how the morals of society have moved away from the Bible. He also plays the lead role in Christiano's 2009 film The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "In April 2010, the entire cast of The Love Boat attended the TV Land Awards with the exception of MacLeod, due to a back operation to repair a couple of injured discs. Former co-star and long-term friend Ted Lange contacted him and received word that MacLeod was doing well. In December, MacLeod appeared as a guest narrator with the Florida Orchestra and Master Chorale of Tampa Bay.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "MacLeod served as the honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades for five years, until Sugar Ray Leonard succeeded him in 2011. On February 28, 2011, MacLeod celebrated his 80th birthday aboard the Golden Princess on Princess Cruises in Los Angeles, California. His friends and family wished him a happy birthday and presented him with a 5-foot-long (1.5 m) 3-D cake replica of the Pacific Princess, the original \"Love Boat\".",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "MacLeod appeared on the special for Betty White's 90th birthday on January 17, 2012. He reunited with White to film \"Safety Old School Style\", an in-flight safety video for Air New Zealand in 2013. By January 2013, the video had been viewed two million times on YouTube. In October 2013, MacLeod appeared on Today to begin the promotional tour for his new book This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life. This appearance included a special set change to honor MacLeod's appearance on the show. In addition to television appearances, he continued his national book tour.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "On November 5, 2013, MacLeod joined his Love Boat cast mates live on the CBS daytime show The Talk. A full one-hour episode was dedicated to the cast reunion. The Talk co-hosts dressed in costumes to commemorate their special guests' arrivals. Spanish-American actress Charo also appeared on the reunion show. Charo guest-starred in eight episodes of The Love Boat. Jack Jones performed the Love Boat theme song, which he introduced in 1977.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "In December 2013, MacLeod appeared on The 700 Club to discuss his life and career. The following year, on February 1, MacLeod was honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in downtown Palm Springs, California. In January 2015, MacLeod appeared in the Rose Parade along with several other members of the original cast of The Love Boat. Later that same year MacLeod starred in the play Happy Hour at the Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre (CVRep) in Rancho Mirage, California, a role which earned him critical praise.",
"title": "Career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "In 1987, following MacLeod's conversion to evangelical Christianity and remarriage, he and his wife, Patti, wrote about his struggles with alcoholism and their divorce in Back On Course: The Remarkable Story of a Divorce That Ended in Remarriage.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "In 2013, MacLeod released a memoir, This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life. He said, \"...all my living has been based on what other people have written... I hope it can help others, how I overcame and never gave up. There are so many lessons in life.\" In the book, MacLeod recounted his stories as a young actor trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood, the lifelong friends he made, struggles with alcoholism, divorce, and faith.",
"title": "Writing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "While working as an usher and elevator operator at Radio City Music Hall, MacLeod met dancer Joan F. Rootvik, who was a Rockette. They married in 1955 and had two sons and two daughters before divorcing in 1972.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In 1974, he married Patti Kendig. The couple divorced in 1982 and remarried in 1985. During the mid-1980s, they became evangelical Protestants and credited their faith for bringing them back together.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "On September 20, 2009, MacLeod discussed his conversion to evangelicalism at The Rock Church in Anaheim, California, and was a guest speaker there in 2012.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "MacLeod died at his home in Palm Desert, California, on May 29, 2021, aged 90. He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City.",
"title": "Personal life"
}
]
| Gavin MacLeod was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat. After growing up Catholic, MacLeod became an evangelical Christian in 1984. His career, which spanned six decades, included work as a Christian television host, author, and guest on several talk, variety, and religious programs. MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he starred in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to appear in A Man Called Gannon (1968), in The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), and in Kelly's Heroes (1970). MacLeod also achieved continuing television success co-starring alongside Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy (1962–1964) as Joseph "Happy" Haines. | 2001-11-01T03:37:23Z | 2023-12-26T21:41:05Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:IMDb name",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Cite press release",
"Template:For",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite AV media",
"Template:IBDB name",
"Template:Infobox person",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Respell",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite episode",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:Portal bar",
"Template:Sister bar",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:The Interviews name",
"Template:S-start"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_MacLeod |
12,794 | Gopher (protocol) | The Gopher protocol (/ˈɡoʊfər/) is a communication protocol designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents in Internet Protocol networks. The design of the Gopher protocol and user interface is menu-driven, and presented an alternative to the World Wide Web in its early stages, but ultimately fell into disfavor, yielding to HTTP. The Gopher ecosystem is often regarded as the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web.
The Gopher protocol was invented by a team led by Mark P. McCahill at the University of Minnesota. It offers some features not natively supported by the Web and imposes a much stronger hierarchy on the documents it stores. Its text menu interface is well-suited to computing environments that rely heavily on remote text-oriented computer terminals, which were still common at the time of its creation in 1991, and the simplicity of its protocol facilitated a wide variety of client implementations. More recent Gopher revisions and graphical clients added support for multimedia.
Gopher's hierarchical structure provided a platform for the first large-scale electronic library connections. The Gopher protocol is still in use by enthusiasts, and although it has been almost entirely supplanted by the Web, a small population of actively-maintained servers remains.
The Gopher system was released in mid-1991 by Mark P. McCahill, Farhad Anklesaria, Paul Lindner, Daniel Torrey, and Bob Alberti of the University of Minnesota in the United States. Its central goals were, as stated in RFC 1436:
Gopher combines document hierarchies with collections of services, including WAIS, the Archie and Veronica search engines, and gateways to other information systems such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Usenet.
The general interest in campus-wide information systems (CWISs) in higher education at the time, and the ease of setup of Gopher servers to create an instant CWIS with links to other sites' online directories and resources, were the factors contributing to Gopher's rapid adoption.
The name was coined by Anklesaria as a play on several meanings of the word "gopher". The University of Minnesota mascot is the gopher, a gofer is an assistant who "goes for" things, and a gopher burrows through the ground to reach a desired location.
The World Wide Web was in its infancy in 1991, and Gopher services quickly became established. By the late 1990s, Gopher had ceased expanding. Several factors contributed to Gopher's stagnation:
Gopher remains in active use by its enthusiasts, and there have been attempts to revive Gopher on modern platforms and mobile devices. One attempt is The Overbite Project, which hosts various browser extensions and modern clients.
The conceptualization of knowledge in "Gopher space" or a "cloud" as specific information in a particular file, and the prominence of the FTP, influenced the technology and the resulting functionality of Gopher.
Gopher is designed to function and to appear much like a mountable read-only global network file system (and software, such as gopherfs, is available that can actually mount a Gopher server as a FUSE resource). At a minimum, whatever can be done with data files on a CD-ROM, can be done on Gopher.
A Gopher system consists of a series of hierarchical hyperlinkable menus. The choice of menu items and titles is controlled by the administrator of the server.
Similar to a file on a Web server, a file on a Gopher server can be linked to as a menu item from any other Gopher server. Many servers take advantage of this inter-server linking to provide a directory of other servers that the user can access.
The Gopher protocol was first described in RFC 1436. IANA has assigned TCP port 70 to the Gopher protocol. The protocol is simple to negotiate, making it possible to browse without using a client.
First, the client establishes a TCP connection with the server on port 70, the standard gopher port. The client then sends a string followed by a carriage return followed by a line feed (a "CR + LF" sequence). This is the selector, which identifies the document to be retrieved. If the item selector were an empty line, the default directory would be selected.
The server then replies with the requested item and closes the connection. According to the protocol, before the connection is closed, the server should send a full-stop (i.e., a period character) on a line by itself. However, not all servers conform to this part of the protocol and the server may close the connection without returning the final full-stop. The main type of reply from the server is a text or binary resource. Alternatively, the resource can be a menu: a form of structured text resource providing references to other resources.
Because of the simplicity of the Gopher protocol, tools such as netcat make it possible to download Gopher content easily from the command line:
The protocol is also supported by cURL as of 7.21.2-DEV.
The selector string in the request can optionally be followed by a tab character and a search string. This is used by item type 7.
Gopher menu items are defined by lines of tab-separated values in a text file. This file is sometimes called a gophermap. As the source code to a gopher menu, a gophermap is roughly analogous to an HTML file for a web page. Each tab-separated line (called a selector line) gives the client software a description of the menu item: what it is, what it is called, and where it leads to. The client displays the menu items in the order that they appear in the gophermap.
The first character in a selector line indicates the item type, which tells the client what kind of file or protocol the menu item points to. This helps the client decide what to do with it. Gopher's item types are a more basic precursor to the media type system used by the Web and email attachments.
The item type is followed by the user display string (a description or label that represents the item in the menu); the selector (a path or other string for the resource on the server); the hostname (the domain name or IP address of the server), and the network port.
All lines in a gopher menu are terminated by "CR + LF".
Example of a selector line in a menu source: The following selector line generates a link to the "/home" directory at the subdomain gopher.floodgap.com, on port 70. The item type of 1 indicates that the linked resource is a Gopher menu itself. The string "Floodgap Home" is what the client will show to the user when visiting the example menu.
In a Gopher menu's source code, a one-character code indicates what kind of content the client should expect. This code may either be a digit or a letter of the alphabet; letters are case-sensitive.
The technical specification for Gopher, RFC 1436, defines 14 item types. The later gopher+ specification defined an additional 3 types. A one-character code indicates what kind of content the client should expect. Item type 3 is an error code for exception handling. Gopher client authors improvised item types h (HTML), i (informational message), and s (sound file) after the publication of RFC 1436. Browsers like Netscape Navigator and early versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer would prepend the item type code to the selector as described in RFC 4266, so that the type of the gopher item could be determined by the url itself. Most gopher browsers still available, use these prefixes in their urls.
Here is an example gopher session where the user requires a gopher menu (/Reference on the first line):
The gopher menu sent back from the server, is a sequence of lines each of which describes an item that can be retrieved. Most clients will display these as hypertext links, and so allow the user to navigate through gopherspace by following the links. This menu includes a text resource (itemtype 0 on the third line), multiple links to submenus (itemtype 1, on the second line as well as lines 4-6) and a non-standard information message (from line 7 on), broken down to multiple lines by providing dummy values for selector, host and port.
Historically, to create a link to a Web server, "GET /" was used as a pseudo-selector to emulate an HTTP GET request. John Goerzen created an addition to the Gopher protocol, commonly referred to as "URL links", that allows links to any protocol that supports URLs. For example, to create a link to http://gopher.quux.org/, the item type is h, the display string is the title of the link, the item selector is "URL:http://gopher.quux.org/", and the domain and port are that of the originating Gopher server (so that clients that do not support URL links will query the server and receive an HTML redirection page).
Gopher+ is a forward compatible enhancement to the Gopher protocol. Gopher+ works by sending metadata between the client and the server. The enhancement was never widely adopted by Gopher servers.
The client sends a tab followed by a +. A Gopher+ server will respond with a status line followed by the content the client requested. An item is marked as supporting Gopher+ in the Gopher directory listing by a tab + after the port (this is the case of some of the items in the example above).
Other features of Gopher+ include:
These are clients, libraries, and utilities primarily designed to access gopher resources.
Clients like web browsers, libraries, and utilities primarily designed to access world wide web resources, but which maintain(ed) gopher support.
Browsers that do not natively support Gopher can still access servers using one of the available Gopher to HTTP gateways or proxy server that converts Gopher menus into HTML; known proxies are the Floodgap Public Gopher proxy and Gopher Proxy. Similarly, certain server packages such as GN and PyGopherd have built-in Gopher to HTTP interfaces. Squid Proxy software gateways any gopher:// URL to HTTP content, enabling any browser or web agent to access gopher content easily.
For Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey, Overbite extensions extend Gopher browsing and support the current versions of the browsers (Firefox Quantum v ≥57 and equivalent versions of SeaMonkey):
OverbiteWX includes support for accessing Gopher servers not on port 70 using a whitelist and for CSO/ph queries. OverbiteFF always uses port 70. For Chromium and Google Chrome, Burrow is available. It redirects gopher:// URLs to a proxy. In the past an Overbite proxy-based extension for these browsers was available but is no longer maintained and does not work with the current (>23) releases. For Konqueror, Kio gopher is available.
As the bandwidth-sparing simple interface of Gopher can be a good match for mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), the early 2010s saw a renewed interest in native Gopher clients for popular smartphones.
Gopher popularity was at its height at a time when there were still many equally competing computer architectures and operating systems. As a result, there are several Gopher clients available for Acorn RISC OS, AmigaOS, Atari MiNT, CMS, DOS, classic Mac OS, MVS, NeXT, OS/2 Warp, most UNIX-like operating systems, VMS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 9x. GopherVR was a client designed for 3D visualization, and there is even a Gopher client in MOO. The majority of these clients are hard-coded to work on TCP port 70.
Because the protocol is trivial to implement in a basic fashion, there are many server packages still available, and some are still maintained. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Gopher protocol (/ˈɡoʊfər/) is a communication protocol designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents in Internet Protocol networks. The design of the Gopher protocol and user interface is menu-driven, and presented an alternative to the World Wide Web in its early stages, but ultimately fell into disfavor, yielding to HTTP. The Gopher ecosystem is often regarded as the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The Gopher protocol was invented by a team led by Mark P. McCahill at the University of Minnesota. It offers some features not natively supported by the Web and imposes a much stronger hierarchy on the documents it stores. Its text menu interface is well-suited to computing environments that rely heavily on remote text-oriented computer terminals, which were still common at the time of its creation in 1991, and the simplicity of its protocol facilitated a wide variety of client implementations. More recent Gopher revisions and graphical clients added support for multimedia.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Gopher's hierarchical structure provided a platform for the first large-scale electronic library connections. The Gopher protocol is still in use by enthusiasts, and although it has been almost entirely supplanted by the Web, a small population of actively-maintained servers remains.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The Gopher system was released in mid-1991 by Mark P. McCahill, Farhad Anklesaria, Paul Lindner, Daniel Torrey, and Bob Alberti of the University of Minnesota in the United States. Its central goals were, as stated in RFC 1436:",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Gopher combines document hierarchies with collections of services, including WAIS, the Archie and Veronica search engines, and gateways to other information systems such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Usenet.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The general interest in campus-wide information systems (CWISs) in higher education at the time, and the ease of setup of Gopher servers to create an instant CWIS with links to other sites' online directories and resources, were the factors contributing to Gopher's rapid adoption.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The name was coined by Anklesaria as a play on several meanings of the word \"gopher\". The University of Minnesota mascot is the gopher, a gofer is an assistant who \"goes for\" things, and a gopher burrows through the ground to reach a desired location.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The World Wide Web was in its infancy in 1991, and Gopher services quickly became established. By the late 1990s, Gopher had ceased expanding. Several factors contributed to Gopher's stagnation:",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Gopher remains in active use by its enthusiasts, and there have been attempts to revive Gopher on modern platforms and mobile devices. One attempt is The Overbite Project, which hosts various browser extensions and modern clients.",
"title": "Usage"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "The conceptualization of knowledge in \"Gopher space\" or a \"cloud\" as specific information in a particular file, and the prominence of the FTP, influenced the technology and the resulting functionality of Gopher.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Gopher is designed to function and to appear much like a mountable read-only global network file system (and software, such as gopherfs, is available that can actually mount a Gopher server as a FUSE resource). At a minimum, whatever can be done with data files on a CD-ROM, can be done on Gopher.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "A Gopher system consists of a series of hierarchical hyperlinkable menus. The choice of menu items and titles is controlled by the administrator of the server.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Similar to a file on a Web server, a file on a Gopher server can be linked to as a menu item from any other Gopher server. Many servers take advantage of this inter-server linking to provide a directory of other servers that the user can access.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The Gopher protocol was first described in RFC 1436. IANA has assigned TCP port 70 to the Gopher protocol. The protocol is simple to negotiate, making it possible to browse without using a client.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "First, the client establishes a TCP connection with the server on port 70, the standard gopher port. The client then sends a string followed by a carriage return followed by a line feed (a \"CR + LF\" sequence). This is the selector, which identifies the document to be retrieved. If the item selector were an empty line, the default directory would be selected.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "The server then replies with the requested item and closes the connection. According to the protocol, before the connection is closed, the server should send a full-stop (i.e., a period character) on a line by itself. However, not all servers conform to this part of the protocol and the server may close the connection without returning the final full-stop. The main type of reply from the server is a text or binary resource. Alternatively, the resource can be a menu: a form of structured text resource providing references to other resources.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Because of the simplicity of the Gopher protocol, tools such as netcat make it possible to download Gopher content easily from the command line:",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The protocol is also supported by cURL as of 7.21.2-DEV.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The selector string in the request can optionally be followed by a tab character and a search string. This is used by item type 7.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Gopher menu items are defined by lines of tab-separated values in a text file. This file is sometimes called a gophermap. As the source code to a gopher menu, a gophermap is roughly analogous to an HTML file for a web page. Each tab-separated line (called a selector line) gives the client software a description of the menu item: what it is, what it is called, and where it leads to. The client displays the menu items in the order that they appear in the gophermap.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "The first character in a selector line indicates the item type, which tells the client what kind of file or protocol the menu item points to. This helps the client decide what to do with it. Gopher's item types are a more basic precursor to the media type system used by the Web and email attachments.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The item type is followed by the user display string (a description or label that represents the item in the menu); the selector (a path or other string for the resource on the server); the hostname (the domain name or IP address of the server), and the network port.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "All lines in a gopher menu are terminated by \"CR + LF\".",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Example of a selector line in a menu source: The following selector line generates a link to the \"/home\" directory at the subdomain gopher.floodgap.com, on port 70. The item type of 1 indicates that the linked resource is a Gopher menu itself. The string \"Floodgap Home\" is what the client will show to the user when visiting the example menu.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "In a Gopher menu's source code, a one-character code indicates what kind of content the client should expect. This code may either be a digit or a letter of the alphabet; letters are case-sensitive.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The technical specification for Gopher, RFC 1436, defines 14 item types. The later gopher+ specification defined an additional 3 types. A one-character code indicates what kind of content the client should expect. Item type 3 is an error code for exception handling. Gopher client authors improvised item types h (HTML), i (informational message), and s (sound file) after the publication of RFC 1436. Browsers like Netscape Navigator and early versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer would prepend the item type code to the selector as described in RFC 4266, so that the type of the gopher item could be determined by the url itself. Most gopher browsers still available, use these prefixes in their urls.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Here is an example gopher session where the user requires a gopher menu (/Reference on the first line):",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "The gopher menu sent back from the server, is a sequence of lines each of which describes an item that can be retrieved. Most clients will display these as hypertext links, and so allow the user to navigate through gopherspace by following the links. This menu includes a text resource (itemtype 0 on the third line), multiple links to submenus (itemtype 1, on the second line as well as lines 4-6) and a non-standard information message (from line 7 on), broken down to multiple lines by providing dummy values for selector, host and port.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Historically, to create a link to a Web server, \"GET /\" was used as a pseudo-selector to emulate an HTTP GET request. John Goerzen created an addition to the Gopher protocol, commonly referred to as \"URL links\", that allows links to any protocol that supports URLs. For example, to create a link to http://gopher.quux.org/, the item type is h, the display string is the title of the link, the item selector is \"URL:http://gopher.quux.org/\", and the domain and port are that of the originating Gopher server (so that clients that do not support URL links will query the server and receive an HTML redirection page).",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Gopher+ is a forward compatible enhancement to the Gopher protocol. Gopher+ works by sending metadata between the client and the server. The enhancement was never widely adopted by Gopher servers.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The client sends a tab followed by a +. A Gopher+ server will respond with a status line followed by the content the client requested. An item is marked as supporting Gopher+ in the Gopher directory listing by a tab + after the port (this is the case of some of the items in the example above).",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Other features of Gopher+ include:",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "These are clients, libraries, and utilities primarily designed to access gopher resources.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Clients like web browsers, libraries, and utilities primarily designed to access world wide web resources, but which maintain(ed) gopher support.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Browsers that do not natively support Gopher can still access servers using one of the available Gopher to HTTP gateways or proxy server that converts Gopher menus into HTML; known proxies are the Floodgap Public Gopher proxy and Gopher Proxy. Similarly, certain server packages such as GN and PyGopherd have built-in Gopher to HTTP interfaces. Squid Proxy software gateways any gopher:// URL to HTTP content, enabling any browser or web agent to access gopher content easily.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "For Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey, Overbite extensions extend Gopher browsing and support the current versions of the browsers (Firefox Quantum v ≥57 and equivalent versions of SeaMonkey):",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "OverbiteWX includes support for accessing Gopher servers not on port 70 using a whitelist and for CSO/ph queries. OverbiteFF always uses port 70. For Chromium and Google Chrome, Burrow is available. It redirects gopher:// URLs to a proxy. In the past an Overbite proxy-based extension for these browsers was available but is no longer maintained and does not work with the current (>23) releases. For Konqueror, Kio gopher is available.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "As the bandwidth-sparing simple interface of Gopher can be a good match for mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), the early 2010s saw a renewed interest in native Gopher clients for popular smartphones.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Gopher popularity was at its height at a time when there were still many equally competing computer architectures and operating systems. As a result, there are several Gopher clients available for Acorn RISC OS, AmigaOS, Atari MiNT, CMS, DOS, classic Mac OS, MVS, NeXT, OS/2 Warp, most UNIX-like operating systems, VMS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 9x. GopherVR was a client designed for 3D visualization, and there is even a Gopher client in MOO. The majority of these clients are hard-coded to work on TCP port 70.",
"title": "Client software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Because the protocol is trivial to implement in a basic fashion, there are many server packages still available, and some are still maintained.",
"title": "Server software"
}
]
| The Gopher protocol is a communication protocol designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents in Internet Protocol networks. The design of the Gopher protocol and user interface is menu-driven, and presented an alternative to the World Wide Web in its early stages, but ultimately fell into disfavor, yielding to HTTP. The Gopher ecosystem is often regarded as the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-12-28T15:38:07Z | [
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Cite AV media",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Timeline of web browsers",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Date table sorting",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:IPstack",
"Template:Unofficial",
"Template:URI schemes",
"Template:Small",
"Template:Gopher clients",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Columns-list",
"Template:Triangulation",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Partial",
"Template:Okay",
"Template:Dunno",
"Template:IETF RFC",
"Template:Code",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:When",
"Template:Var"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) |
12,795 | General election | A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of an elected body, typically a legislature. They are distinct from by-elections, which all a seat that has become vacant between general elections. In most systems, a general election is a regularly scheduled election, typically including members of a legislature, and sometimes other officers such as a directly elected president. General elections may also take place at the same time as local, state/autonomous region, European Parliament, and other elections, where applicable. For example, on 25 May 2014, Belgian voters elected their national parliament, 21 members of the European Parliament, and regional parliaments.
In the United States, "general election" has a slightly different, but related meaning: the ordinary electoral competition following the selection of candidates in the primary election.
The term general election in the United Kingdom often refers to the elections held on the same day in all constituencies of their members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons.
Historically, English and later British general elections took place over a period of several weeks, with individual constituencies holding polling on different days. The Parliament Act 1911 introduced the requirement that elections in all parliamentary constituencies be held on the same day. There has been a convention since the 1930s that general elections in Britain should take place on a Thursday; the last general election to take place on any other weekday was that of 1931.
Under the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, in force until March 2022, the period between one general election and the next was fixed at five years, unless the House of Commons passed one of the following:
Although not provided for in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, an early election could also be brought about by an act of parliament specifically calling for a general election, which (unlike the second option above) only required a simple majority. This was the mechanism used to precipitate the December 2019 election, when the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 was enacted.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.
The term general election is also used in the United Kingdom to refer to elections to any democratically elected body in which all members are up for election. Section 2 of the Scotland Act 1998, for example, specifically refers to ordinary elections to the Scottish Parliament as general elections.
In U.S. politics, general elections are elections held at any level (e.g. city, county, congressional district, state) that typically involve competition between at least two parties. General elections occur every two to six years (depending on the positions being filled with most positions good for four years) and include the presidential election, but unlike parliamentary systems, the term can also refer to special elections that fill out positions prematurely vacated by the previous office holder (e.g. through death, resignation, etc.).
Unlike parliamentary systems where the term general election is distinguished from by-elections or local and regional elections, the term is used in the US and distinguished from primaries or caucuses, which are intra-party elections meant to select a party's official candidate for a particular race. Thus, if a primary is meant to elect a party's candidate for the position-in-question, a general election is meant to elect who occupies the position itself.
In the Louisiana the expression general election means the runoff election which occurs between the two highest candidates as determined by the jungle primary. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of an elected body, typically a legislature. They are distinct from by-elections, which all a seat that has become vacant between general elections. In most systems, a general election is a regularly scheduled election, typically including members of a legislature, and sometimes other officers such as a directly elected president. General elections may also take place at the same time as local, state/autonomous region, European Parliament, and other elections, where applicable. For example, on 25 May 2014, Belgian voters elected their national parliament, 21 members of the European Parliament, and regional parliaments.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "In the United States, \"general election\" has a slightly different, but related meaning: the ordinary electoral competition following the selection of candidates in the primary election.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The term general election in the United Kingdom often refers to the elections held on the same day in all constituencies of their members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons.",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Historically, English and later British general elections took place over a period of several weeks, with individual constituencies holding polling on different days. The Parliament Act 1911 introduced the requirement that elections in all parliamentary constituencies be held on the same day. There has been a convention since the 1930s that general elections in Britain should take place on a Thursday; the last general election to take place on any other weekday was that of 1931.",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Under the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, in force until March 2022, the period between one general election and the next was fixed at five years, unless the House of Commons passed one of the following:",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Although not provided for in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, an early election could also be brought about by an act of parliament specifically calling for a general election, which (unlike the second option above) only required a simple majority. This was the mechanism used to precipitate the December 2019 election, when the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 was enacted.",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The term general election is also used in the United Kingdom to refer to elections to any democratically elected body in which all members are up for election. Section 2 of the Scotland Act 1998, for example, specifically refers to ordinary elections to the Scottish Parliament as general elections.",
"title": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In U.S. politics, general elections are elections held at any level (e.g. city, county, congressional district, state) that typically involve competition between at least two parties. General elections occur every two to six years (depending on the positions being filled with most positions good for four years) and include the presidential election, but unlike parliamentary systems, the term can also refer to special elections that fill out positions prematurely vacated by the previous office holder (e.g. through death, resignation, etc.).",
"title": "United States"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Unlike parliamentary systems where the term general election is distinguished from by-elections or local and regional elections, the term is used in the US and distinguished from primaries or caucuses, which are intra-party elections meant to select a party's official candidate for a particular race. Thus, if a primary is meant to elect a party's candidate for the position-in-question, a general election is meant to elect who occupies the position itself.",
"title": "United States"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In the Louisiana the expression general election means the runoff election which occurs between the two highest candidates as determined by the jungle primary.",
"title": "United States"
}
]
| A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of an elected body, typically a legislature. They are distinct from by-elections, which all a seat that has become vacant between general elections. In most systems, a general election is a regularly scheduled election, typically including members of a legislature, and sometimes other officers such as a directly elected president. General elections may also take place at the same time as local, state/autonomous region, European Parliament, and other elections, where applicable. For example, on 25 May 2014, Belgian voters elected their national parliament, 21 members of the European Parliament, and regional parliaments. In the United States, "general election" has a slightly different, but related meaning: the ordinary electoral competition following the selection of candidates in the primary election. | 2001-11-02T13:51:49Z | 2023-12-31T01:13:32Z | [
"Template:Elections",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Scholia-inline",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Cite news"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_election |
12,796 | Genotype | The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a specific gene depends on the number of copies of each chromosome found in that species, also referred to as ploidy. In diploid species like humans, two full sets of chromosomes are present, meaning each individual has two alleles for any given gene. If both alleles are the same, the genotype is referred to as homozygous. If the alleles are different, the genotype is referred to as heterozygous.
Genotype contributes to phenotype, the observable traits and characteristics in an individual or organism. The degree to which genotype affects phenotype depends on the trait. For example, the petal color in a pea plant is exclusively determined by genotype. The petals can be purple or white depending on the alleles present in the pea plant. However, other traits are only partially influenced by genotype. These traits are often called complex traits because they are influenced by additional factors, such as environmental and epigenetic factors. Not all individuals with the same genotype look or act the same way because appearance and behavior are modified by environmental and growing conditions. Likewise, not all organisms that look alike necessarily have the same genotype.
The term genotype was coined by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen in 1903.
Any given gene will usually cause an observable change in an organism, known as the phenotype. The terms genotype and phenotype are distinct for at least two reasons:
A simple example to illustrate genotype as distinct from phenotype is the flower colour in pea plants (see Gregor Mendel). There are three available genotypes, PP (homozygous dominant), Pp (heterozygous), and pp (homozygous recessive). All three have different genotypes but the first two have the same phenotype (purple) as distinct from the third (white).
A more technical example to illustrate genotype is the single-nucleotide polymorphism or SNP. A SNP occurs when corresponding sequences of DNA from different individuals differ at one DNA base, for example where the sequence AAGCCTA changes to AAGCTTA. This contains two alleles : C and T. SNPs typically have three genotypes, denoted generically AA Aa and aa. In the example above, the three genotypes would be CC, CT and TT. Other types of genetic marker, such as microsatellites, can have more than two alleles, and thus many different genotypes.
Penetrance is the proportion of individuals showing a specified genotype in their phenotype under a given set of environmental conditions.
Traits that are determined exclusively by genotype are typically inherited in a Mendelian pattern. These laws of inheritance were described extensively by Gregor Mendel, who performed experiments with pea plants to determine how traits were passed on from generation to generation. He studied phenotypes that were easily observed, such as plant height, petal color, or seed shape. He was able to observe that if he crossed two true-breeding plants with distinct phenotypes, all the offspring would have the same phenotype. For example, when he crossed a tall plant with a short plant, all the resulting plants would be tall. However, when he self-fertilized the plants that resulted, about 1/4 of the second generation would be short. He concluded that some traits were dominant, such as tall height, and others were recessive, like short height. Though Mendel was not aware at the time, each phenotype he studied was controlled by a single gene with two alleles. In the case of plant height, one allele caused the plants to be tall, and the other caused plants to be short. When the tall allele was present, the plant would be tall, even if the plant was heterozygous. In order for the plant to be short, it had to be homozygous for the recessive allele.
One way this can be illustrated is using a Punnett square. In a Punnett square, the genotypes of the parents are placed on the outside. An uppercase letter is typically used to represent the dominant allele, and a lowercase letter is used to represent the recessive allele. The possible genotypes of the offspring can then be determined by combining the parent genotypes. In the example on the right, both parents are heterozygous, with a genotype of Bb. The offspring can inherit a dominant allele from each parent, making them homozygous with a genotype of BB. The offspring can inherit a dominant allele from one parent and a recessive allele from the other parent, making them heterozygous with a genotype of Bb. Finally, the offspring could inherit a recessive allele from each parent, making them homozygous with a genotype of bb. Plants with the BB and Bb genotypes will look the same, since the B allele is dominant. The plant with the bb genotype will have the recessive trait.
These inheritance patterns can also be applied to hereditary diseases or conditions in humans or animals. Some conditions are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, meaning individuals with the condition typically have an affected parent as well. A classic pedigree for an autosomal dominant condition shows affected individuals in every generation.
Other conditions are inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, where affected individuals do not typically have an affected parent. Since each parent must have a copy of the recessive allele in order to have an affected offspring, the parents are referred to as carriers of the condition. In autosomal conditions, the sex of the offspring does not play a role in their risk of being affected. In sex-linked conditions, the sex of the offspring affects their chances of having the condition. In humans, females inherit two X chromosomes, one from each parent, while males inherit an X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. X-linked dominant conditions can be distinguished from autosomal dominant conditions in pedigrees by the lack of transmission from fathers to sons, since affected fathers only pass their X chromosome to their daughters. In X-linked recessive conditions, males are typically affected more commonly because they are hemizygous, with only one X chromosome. In females, the presence of a second X chromosome will prevent the condition from appearing. Females are therefore carriers of the condition and can pass the trait on to their sons.
Mendelian patterns of inheritance can be complicated by additional factors. Some diseases show incomplete penetrance, meaning not all individuals with the disease-causing allele develop signs or symptoms of the disease. Penetrance can also be age-dependent, meaning signs or symptoms of disease are not visible until later in life. For example, Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant condition, but up to 25% of individuals with the affected genotype will not develop symptoms until after age 50. Another factor that can complicate Mendelian inheritance patterns is variable expressivity, in which individuals with the same genotype show different signs or symptoms of disease. For example, individuals with polydactyly can have a variable number of extra digits.
Many traits are not inherited in a Mendelian fashion, but have more complex patterns of inheritance.
For some traits, neither allele is completely dominant. Heterozygotes often have an appearance somewhere in between those of homozygotes. For example, a cross between true-breeding red and white Mirabilis jalapa results in pink flowers.
Codominance refers to traits in which both alleles are expressed in the offspring in approximately equal amounts. A classic example is the ABO blood group system in humans, where both the A and B alleles are expressed when they are present. Individuals with the AB genotype have both A and B proteins expressed on their red blood cells.
Epistasis is when the phenotype of one gene is affected by one or more other genes. This is often through some sort of masking effect of one gene on the other. For example, the "A" gene codes for hair color, a dominant "A" allele codes for brown hair, and a recessive "a" allele codes for blonde hair, but a separate "B" gene controls hair growth, and a recessive "b" allele causes baldness. If the individual has the BB or Bb genotype, then they produce hair and the hair color phenotype can be observed, but if the individual has a bb genotype, then the person is bald which masks the A gene entirely.
A polygenic trait is one whose phenotype is dependent on the additive effects of multiple genes. The contributions of each of these genes are typically small and add up to a final phenotype with a large amount of variation. A well studied example of this is the number of sensory bristles on a fly. These types of additive effects is also the explanation for the amount of variation in human eye color.
Genotyping refers to the method used to determine an individual's genotype. There are a variety of techniques that can be used to assess genotype. The genotyping method typically depends on what information is being sought. Many techniques initially require amplification of the DNA sample, which is commonly done using PCR.
Some techniques are designed to investigate specific SNPs or alleles in a particular gene or set of genes, such as whether an individual is a carrier for a particular condition. This can be done via a variety of techniques, including allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes or DNA sequencing. Tools such as multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification can also be used to look for duplications or deletions of genes or gene sections. Other techniques are meant to assess a large number of SNPs across the genome, such as SNP arrays. This type of technology is commonly used for genome-wide association studies.
Large-scale techniques to assess the entire genome are also available. This includes karyotyping to determine the number of chromosomes an individual has and chromosomal microarrays to assess for large duplications or deletions in the chromosome. More detailed information can be determined using exome sequencing, which provides the specific sequence of all DNA in the coding region of the genome, or whole genome sequencing, which sequences the entire genome including non-coding regions.
In linear models, the genotypes can be encoded in different manners. Let us consider a biallelic locus with two possible alleles, encoded by A {\textstyle A} and a {\displaystyle a} . We consider a {\displaystyle a} to correspond to the dominant allele to the reference allele A {\textstyle A} . The following table details the different encoding . | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a specific gene depends on the number of copies of each chromosome found in that species, also referred to as ploidy. In diploid species like humans, two full sets of chromosomes are present, meaning each individual has two alleles for any given gene. If both alleles are the same, the genotype is referred to as homozygous. If the alleles are different, the genotype is referred to as heterozygous.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Genotype contributes to phenotype, the observable traits and characteristics in an individual or organism. The degree to which genotype affects phenotype depends on the trait. For example, the petal color in a pea plant is exclusively determined by genotype. The petals can be purple or white depending on the alleles present in the pea plant. However, other traits are only partially influenced by genotype. These traits are often called complex traits because they are influenced by additional factors, such as environmental and epigenetic factors. Not all individuals with the same genotype look or act the same way because appearance and behavior are modified by environmental and growing conditions. Likewise, not all organisms that look alike necessarily have the same genotype.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The term genotype was coined by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen in 1903.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Any given gene will usually cause an observable change in an organism, known as the phenotype. The terms genotype and phenotype are distinct for at least two reasons:",
"title": "Phenotype"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "A simple example to illustrate genotype as distinct from phenotype is the flower colour in pea plants (see Gregor Mendel). There are three available genotypes, PP (homozygous dominant), Pp (heterozygous), and pp (homozygous recessive). All three have different genotypes but the first two have the same phenotype (purple) as distinct from the third (white).",
"title": "Phenotype"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "A more technical example to illustrate genotype is the single-nucleotide polymorphism or SNP. A SNP occurs when corresponding sequences of DNA from different individuals differ at one DNA base, for example where the sequence AAGCCTA changes to AAGCTTA. This contains two alleles : C and T. SNPs typically have three genotypes, denoted generically AA Aa and aa. In the example above, the three genotypes would be CC, CT and TT. Other types of genetic marker, such as microsatellites, can have more than two alleles, and thus many different genotypes.",
"title": "Phenotype"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Penetrance is the proportion of individuals showing a specified genotype in their phenotype under a given set of environmental conditions.",
"title": "Phenotype"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Traits that are determined exclusively by genotype are typically inherited in a Mendelian pattern. These laws of inheritance were described extensively by Gregor Mendel, who performed experiments with pea plants to determine how traits were passed on from generation to generation. He studied phenotypes that were easily observed, such as plant height, petal color, or seed shape. He was able to observe that if he crossed two true-breeding plants with distinct phenotypes, all the offspring would have the same phenotype. For example, when he crossed a tall plant with a short plant, all the resulting plants would be tall. However, when he self-fertilized the plants that resulted, about 1/4 of the second generation would be short. He concluded that some traits were dominant, such as tall height, and others were recessive, like short height. Though Mendel was not aware at the time, each phenotype he studied was controlled by a single gene with two alleles. In the case of plant height, one allele caused the plants to be tall, and the other caused plants to be short. When the tall allele was present, the plant would be tall, even if the plant was heterozygous. In order for the plant to be short, it had to be homozygous for the recessive allele.",
"title": "Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "One way this can be illustrated is using a Punnett square. In a Punnett square, the genotypes of the parents are placed on the outside. An uppercase letter is typically used to represent the dominant allele, and a lowercase letter is used to represent the recessive allele. The possible genotypes of the offspring can then be determined by combining the parent genotypes. In the example on the right, both parents are heterozygous, with a genotype of Bb. The offspring can inherit a dominant allele from each parent, making them homozygous with a genotype of BB. The offspring can inherit a dominant allele from one parent and a recessive allele from the other parent, making them heterozygous with a genotype of Bb. Finally, the offspring could inherit a recessive allele from each parent, making them homozygous with a genotype of bb. Plants with the BB and Bb genotypes will look the same, since the B allele is dominant. The plant with the bb genotype will have the recessive trait.",
"title": "Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "These inheritance patterns can also be applied to hereditary diseases or conditions in humans or animals. Some conditions are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, meaning individuals with the condition typically have an affected parent as well. A classic pedigree for an autosomal dominant condition shows affected individuals in every generation.",
"title": "Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Other conditions are inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, where affected individuals do not typically have an affected parent. Since each parent must have a copy of the recessive allele in order to have an affected offspring, the parents are referred to as carriers of the condition. In autosomal conditions, the sex of the offspring does not play a role in their risk of being affected. In sex-linked conditions, the sex of the offspring affects their chances of having the condition. In humans, females inherit two X chromosomes, one from each parent, while males inherit an X chromosome from their mother and a Y chromosome from their father. X-linked dominant conditions can be distinguished from autosomal dominant conditions in pedigrees by the lack of transmission from fathers to sons, since affected fathers only pass their X chromosome to their daughters. In X-linked recessive conditions, males are typically affected more commonly because they are hemizygous, with only one X chromosome. In females, the presence of a second X chromosome will prevent the condition from appearing. Females are therefore carriers of the condition and can pass the trait on to their sons.",
"title": "Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Mendelian patterns of inheritance can be complicated by additional factors. Some diseases show incomplete penetrance, meaning not all individuals with the disease-causing allele develop signs or symptoms of the disease. Penetrance can also be age-dependent, meaning signs or symptoms of disease are not visible until later in life. For example, Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant condition, but up to 25% of individuals with the affected genotype will not develop symptoms until after age 50. Another factor that can complicate Mendelian inheritance patterns is variable expressivity, in which individuals with the same genotype show different signs or symptoms of disease. For example, individuals with polydactyly can have a variable number of extra digits.",
"title": "Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Many traits are not inherited in a Mendelian fashion, but have more complex patterns of inheritance.",
"title": "Non-Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "For some traits, neither allele is completely dominant. Heterozygotes often have an appearance somewhere in between those of homozygotes. For example, a cross between true-breeding red and white Mirabilis jalapa results in pink flowers.",
"title": "Non-Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Codominance refers to traits in which both alleles are expressed in the offspring in approximately equal amounts. A classic example is the ABO blood group system in humans, where both the A and B alleles are expressed when they are present. Individuals with the AB genotype have both A and B proteins expressed on their red blood cells.",
"title": "Non-Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Epistasis is when the phenotype of one gene is affected by one or more other genes. This is often through some sort of masking effect of one gene on the other. For example, the \"A\" gene codes for hair color, a dominant \"A\" allele codes for brown hair, and a recessive \"a\" allele codes for blonde hair, but a separate \"B\" gene controls hair growth, and a recessive \"b\" allele causes baldness. If the individual has the BB or Bb genotype, then they produce hair and the hair color phenotype can be observed, but if the individual has a bb genotype, then the person is bald which masks the A gene entirely.",
"title": "Non-Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "A polygenic trait is one whose phenotype is dependent on the additive effects of multiple genes. The contributions of each of these genes are typically small and add up to a final phenotype with a large amount of variation. A well studied example of this is the number of sensory bristles on a fly. These types of additive effects is also the explanation for the amount of variation in human eye color.",
"title": "Non-Mendelian inheritance"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "Genotyping refers to the method used to determine an individual's genotype. There are a variety of techniques that can be used to assess genotype. The genotyping method typically depends on what information is being sought. Many techniques initially require amplification of the DNA sample, which is commonly done using PCR.",
"title": "Genotyping"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Some techniques are designed to investigate specific SNPs or alleles in a particular gene or set of genes, such as whether an individual is a carrier for a particular condition. This can be done via a variety of techniques, including allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes or DNA sequencing. Tools such as multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification can also be used to look for duplications or deletions of genes or gene sections. Other techniques are meant to assess a large number of SNPs across the genome, such as SNP arrays. This type of technology is commonly used for genome-wide association studies.",
"title": "Genotyping"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Large-scale techniques to assess the entire genome are also available. This includes karyotyping to determine the number of chromosomes an individual has and chromosomal microarrays to assess for large duplications or deletions in the chromosome. More detailed information can be determined using exome sequencing, which provides the specific sequence of all DNA in the coding region of the genome, or whole genome sequencing, which sequences the entire genome including non-coding regions.",
"title": "Genotyping"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "In linear models, the genotypes can be encoded in different manners. Let us consider a biallelic locus with two possible alleles, encoded by A {\\textstyle A} and a {\\displaystyle a} . We consider a {\\displaystyle a} to correspond to the dominant allele to the reference allele A {\\textstyle A} . The following table details the different encoding .",
"title": "Genotype encoding"
}
]
| The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a specific gene depends on the number of copies of each chromosome found in that species, also referred to as ploidy. In diploid species like humans, two full sets of chromosomes are present, meaning each individual has two alleles for any given gene. If both alleles are the same, the genotype is referred to as homozygous. If the alleles are different, the genotype is referred to as heterozygous. Genotype contributes to phenotype, the observable traits and characteristics in an individual or organism. The degree to which genotype affects phenotype depends on the trait. For example, the petal color in a pea plant is exclusively determined by genotype. The petals can be purple or white depending on the alleles present in the pea plant. However, other traits are only partially influenced by genotype. These traits are often called complex traits because they are influenced by additional factors, such as environmental and epigenetic factors. Not all individuals with the same genotype look or act the same way because appearance and behavior are modified by environmental and growing conditions. Likewise, not all organisms that look alike necessarily have the same genotype. The term genotype was coined by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen in 1903. | 2001-11-02T14:53:36Z | 2023-12-14T20:23:32Z | [
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Cite dictionary",
"Template:For",
"Template:TopicTOC-Biology",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Wiktionary",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:TOC Right",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genotype |
12,797 | Gerard Hengeveld | Gerard Hengeveld (December 7, 1910, in Kampen – October 28, 2001, in Bergen, North Holland) was a Dutch classical pianist, music composer and educationalist. He is especially known for his compositions of study material for piano. Other compositions include two piano concertos, a violin sonata, and a sonata for cello. Hengeveld was an able interpreter and performer of the music of Bach for piano and harpsichord. He gave regular concerts in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Some of his concerts were captured on record. Hengeveld was a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Amongst his students was Dutch pianist and musicologist Frans Bouwman.
Hengeveld died in 2001 at the age of 90, in Bergen. His closest living relative is Nicholas Hengeveld of Allentown, Pennsylvania. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gerard Hengeveld (December 7, 1910, in Kampen – October 28, 2001, in Bergen, North Holland) was a Dutch classical pianist, music composer and educationalist. He is especially known for his compositions of study material for piano. Other compositions include two piano concertos, a violin sonata, and a sonata for cello. Hengeveld was an able interpreter and performer of the music of Bach for piano and harpsichord. He gave regular concerts in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Some of his concerts were captured on record. Hengeveld was a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Amongst his students was Dutch pianist and musicologist Frans Bouwman.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Hengeveld died in 2001 at the age of 90, in Bergen. His closest living relative is Nicholas Hengeveld of Allentown, Pennsylvania.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Gerard Hengeveld was a Dutch classical pianist, music composer and educationalist. He is especially known for his compositions of study material for piano. Other compositions include two piano concertos, a violin sonata, and a sonata for cello. Hengeveld was an able interpreter and performer of the music of Bach for piano and harpsichord. He gave regular concerts in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Some of his concerts were captured on record. Hengeveld was a professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Amongst his students was Dutch pianist and musicologist Frans Bouwman. Hengeveld died in 2001 at the age of 90, in Bergen. His closest living relative is Nicholas Hengeveld of Allentown, Pennsylvania. | 2001-11-03T00:06:23Z | 2023-12-30T23:06:32Z | [
"Template:Short description",
"Template:More citations needed",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Netherlands-classical-musician-stub",
"Template:Classical-pianist-stub",
"Template:Netherlands-composer-stub"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Hengeveld |
12,798 | George William, Elector of Brandenburg | George William (German: Georg Wilhelm; 13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War. He was the father of Frederick William, the "Great Elector".
Born in Cölln on the Spree (today part of Berlin), George William was the son of John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg and Anna of Prussia. His maternal grandfather was Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. In 1616, he married Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. Their only son Frederick William would later be known as the "Great Elector". Of his two daughters, the eldest, Louise Charlotte, married Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland, and the younger, Hedwig Sophie, married William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.
In 1619, George William inherited the Margravate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, then part of Poland, although his ownership was not confirmed by Sigismund III Vasa until September 1621. He proved a weak and ineffective ruler in a very difficult period of history; possession of Prussia involved him in the 1621 to 1625 Polish–Swedish War, since Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was married to his sister Maria Eleonora.
During the Thirty Years' War, the Calvinist George William tried to remain neutral in the contest between the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand II, and his mostly Lutheran opponents. When the war shifted to northern Germany in 1625, this did not protect his lands from being looted by Imperial troops, and he was forced to take sides when Gustavus intervened in the Empire in 1630. However, this simply replaced one set of plunderers with another; Gustavus could not support so large an army, and his unpaid and unfed troops became increasingly mutinous and ill-disciplined.
After Gustavus was killed at Lützen in November 1632, George William joined the Swedish-backed Heilbronn League, until defeat at Nördlingen on 6 September 1634. Following the 1635 Peace of Prague, the League was dissolved, although by now Brandenburg's population had been decimated by the war.
Leaving his Catholic and pro-Imperial chief minister Schwarzenberg to run the government, George William withdrew in 1637 to the relatively untouched region of Prussia, where he lived in retirement until his death at Königsberg in 1640. He was succeeded by his far more accomplished son Frederick William. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "George William (German: Georg Wilhelm; 13 November 1595 – 1 December 1640), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War. He was the father of Frederick William, the \"Great Elector\".",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Born in Cölln on the Spree (today part of Berlin), George William was the son of John Sigismund, Margrave of Brandenburg and Anna of Prussia. His maternal grandfather was Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. In 1616, he married Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. Their only son Frederick William would later be known as the \"Great Elector\". Of his two daughters, the eldest, Louise Charlotte, married Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland, and the younger, Hedwig Sophie, married William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In 1619, George William inherited the Margravate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, then part of Poland, although his ownership was not confirmed by Sigismund III Vasa until September 1621. He proved a weak and ineffective ruler in a very difficult period of history; possession of Prussia involved him in the 1621 to 1625 Polish–Swedish War, since Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was married to his sister Maria Eleonora.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "During the Thirty Years' War, the Calvinist George William tried to remain neutral in the contest between the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand II, and his mostly Lutheran opponents. When the war shifted to northern Germany in 1625, this did not protect his lands from being looted by Imperial troops, and he was forced to take sides when Gustavus intervened in the Empire in 1630. However, this simply replaced one set of plunderers with another; Gustavus could not support so large an army, and his unpaid and unfed troops became increasingly mutinous and ill-disciplined.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "After Gustavus was killed at Lützen in November 1632, George William joined the Swedish-backed Heilbronn League, until defeat at Nördlingen on 6 September 1634. Following the 1635 Peace of Prague, the League was dissolved, although by now Brandenburg's population had been decimated by the war.",
"title": "Biography"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Leaving his Catholic and pro-Imperial chief minister Schwarzenberg to run the government, George William withdrew in 1637 to the relatively untouched region of Prussia, where he lived in retirement until his death at Königsberg in 1640. He was succeeded by his far more accomplished son Frederick William.",
"title": "Biography"
}
]
| George William, of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Margrave and Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia from 1619 until his death. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the Thirty Years' War. He was the father of Frederick William, the "Great Elector". | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-12-22T02:59:14Z | [
"Template:S-hou",
"Template:Rulers of Prussia",
"Template:Electors of Brandenburg",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Ahnentafel",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:S-reg",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:Lang-de",
"Template:Infobox royalty",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:S-start",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:Reflist"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_William,_Elector_of_Brandenburg |
12,799 | Graphic design | Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.
The role of the graphic designer in the communication process is that of encoder or interpreter of the message. They work on the interpretation, ordering, and presentation of visual messages. Usually, graphic design uses the aesthetics of typography and the compositional arrangement of the text, ornamentation, and imagery to convey ideas, feelings, and attitudes beyond what language alone expresses. The design work can be based on a customer's demand, a demand that ends up being established linguistically, either orally or in writing, that is, that graphic design transforms a linguistic message into a graphic manifestation.
Graphic design has, as a field of application, different areas of knowledge focused on any visual communication system. For example, it can be applied in advertising strategies, or it can also be applied in the aviation world or space exploration. In this sense, in some countries graphic design is related as only associated with the production of sketches and drawings, this is incorrect, since visual communication is a small part of a huge range of types and classes where it can be applied.
With origins in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, graphic design as applied art was initially linked to the boom of rise of printing in Europe in the 15th century and the growth of consumer culture in the Industrial Revolution. From there it emerged as a distinct profession in the West, closely associated with advertising in the 19th century and its evolution allowed its consolidation in the 20th century. Given the rapid and massive growth in information exchange today, the demand for experienced designers is greater than ever, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the need to pay attention to human factors beyond the competence of the engineers who develop them.
William Addison Dwiggins is often credited with first using the term "graphic design" in a 1922 article, although it appears in a 4 July 1908 issue (volume 9, number 27) of Organized Labor, a publication of the Labor Unions of San Francisco, in an article about technical education for printers:
An Enterprising Trades Union … The admittedly high standard of intelligence which prevails among printers is an assurance that with the elemental principles of design at their finger ends many of them will grow in knowledge and develop into specialists in graphic design and decorating. …
A decade later, the 1917–1918 course catalog of the California School of Arts & Crafts advertised a course titled Graphic Design and Lettering, which replaced one called Advanced Design and Lettering. Both classes were taught by Frederick Meyer.
In both its lengthy history and in the relatively recent explosion of visual communication in the 20th and 21st centuries, the distinction between advertising, art, graphic design and fine art has disappeared. They share many elements, theories, principles, practices, languages and sometimes the same benefactor or client. In advertising, the ultimate objective is the sale of goods and services. In graphic design, "the essence is to give order to information, form to ideas, expression, and feeling to artifacts that document the human experience."
In China, during the Tang dynasty (618–907) wood blocks were cut to print on textiles and later to reproduce Buddhist texts. A Buddhist scripture printed in 868 is the earliest known printed book. Beginning in the 11th century in China, longer scrolls and books were produced using movable type printing, making books widely available during the Song dynasty (960–1279).
In the mid-15th century in Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg developed a way to reproduce printed pages at a faster pace using movable type made with a new metal alloy that created a revolution in the dissemination of information.
In 1849, Henry Cole became one of the major forces in design education in Great Britain, informing the government of the importance of design in his Journal of Design and Manufactures. He organized the Great Exhibition as a celebration of modern industrial technology and Victorian design.
From 1891 to 1896, William Morris' Kelmscott Press was a leader in graphic design associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, creating hand-made books in medieval and Renaissance era style, in addition to wallpaper and textile designs. Morris' work, along with the rest of the Private Press movement, directly influenced Art Nouveau.
Will H. Bradley became one of the notable graphic designers in the late nineteenth-century due to creating art pieces in various Art Nouveau styles. Bradley created a number of designs as promotions for a literary magazine titled The Chap-Book.
In 1917, Frederick H. Meyer, director and instructor at the California School of Arts and Crafts, taught a class entitled "Graphic Design and Lettering". Raffe's Graphic Design, published in 1927, was the first book to use "Graphic Design" in its title. In 1936, author and graphic designer Leon Friend published his book titled "Graphic Design" and it is known to be the first piece of literature to cover the topic extensively.
The signage in the London Underground is a classic design example of the modern era. Although he lacked artistic training, Frank Pick led the Underground Group design and publicity movement. The first Underground station signs were introduced in 1908 with a design of a solid red disk with a blue bar in the center and the name of the station. The station name was in white sans-serif letters. It was in 1916 when Pick used the expertise of Edward Johnston to design a new typeface for the Underground. Johnston redesigned the Underground sign and logo to include his typeface on the blue bar in the center of a red circle.
In the 1920s, Soviet constructivism applied 'intellectual production' in different spheres of production. The movement saw individualistic art as useless in revolutionary Russia and thus moved towards creating objects for utilitarian purposes. They designed buildings, theater sets, posters, fabrics, clothing, furniture, logos, menus, etc.
Jan Tschichold codified the principles of modern typography in his 1928 book, New Typography. He later repudiated the philosophy he espoused in this book as fascistic, but it remained influential. Tschichold, Bauhaus typographers such as Herbert Bayer and László Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky greatly influenced graphic design. They pioneered production techniques and stylistic devices used throughout the twentieth century. The following years saw graphic design in the modern style gain widespread acceptance and application.
The professional graphic design industry grew in parallel with consumerism. This raised concerns and criticisms, notably from within the graphic design community with the First Things First manifesto. First launched by Ken Garland in 1964, it was re-published as the First Things First 2000 manifesto in 1999 in the magazine Emigre 51 stating "We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design."
Graphic design can have many applications, from road signs to technical schematics and reference manuals. It is often used in branding products and elements of company identity such as logos, colors, packaging, labelling and text.
From scientific journals to news reporting, the presentation of opinion and facts is often improved with graphics and thoughtful compositions of visual information – known as information design. With the advent of the web, information designers with experience in interactive tools are increasingly used to illustrate the background to news stories. Information design can include Data and information visualization, which involves using programs to interpret and form data into a visually compelling presentation, and can be tied in with information graphics.
A graphic design project may involve the creative presentation of existing text, ornament, and images.
The "process school" is concerned with communication; it highlights the channels and media through which messages are transmitted and by which senders and receivers encode and decode these messages. The semiotic school treats a message as a construction of signs which through interaction with receivers, produces meaning; communication as an agent.
Typography includes type design, modifying type glyphs and arranging type. Type glyphs (characters) are created and modified using illustration techniques. Type arrangement is the selection of typefaces, point size, tracking (the space between all characters used), kerning (the space between two specific characters) and leading (line spacing).
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic artists, art directors, and clerical workers. Until the digital age, typography was a specialized occupation. Certain fonts communicate or resemble stereotypical notions. For example, 1942 Report is a font which types text akin to a typewriter or a vintage report.
Page layout deals with the arrangement of elements (content) on a page, such as image placement, text layout and style. Page design has always been a consideration in printed material and more recently extended to displays such as web pages. Elements typically consist of type (text), images (pictures), and (with print media) occasionally place-holder graphics such as a dieline for elements that are not printed with ink such as die/laser cutting, foil stamping or blind embossing.
A grid serves as a method of arranging both space and information, allowing the reader to easily comprehend the overall project. Furthermore, a grid functions as a container for information and a means of establishing and maintaining order. Despite grids being utilized for centuries, many graphic designers associate them with Swiss design. The desire for order in the 1940s resulted in a highly systematic approach to visualizing information. However, grids were later regarded as tedious and uninteresting, earning the label of "designersaur." Today, grids are once again considered crucial tools for professionals, whether they are novices or veterans.
In the mid-1980s desktop publishing and graphic art software applications introduced computer image manipulation and creation capabilities that had previously been manually executed. Computers enabled designers to instantly see the effects of layout or typographic changes, and to simulate the effects of traditional media. Traditional tools such as pencils can be useful even when computers are used for finalization; a designer or art director may sketch numerous concepts as part of the creative process. Styluses can be used with tablet computers to capture hand drawings digitally.
Designers disagree whether computers enhance the creative process. Some designers argue that computers allow them to explore multiple ideas quickly and in more detail than can be achieved by hand-rendering or paste-up. While other designers find the limitless choices from digital design can lead to paralysis or endless iterations with no clear outcome.
Most designers use a hybrid process that combines traditional and computer-based technologies. First, hand-rendered layouts are used to get approval to execute an idea, then the polished visual product is produced on a computer.
Graphic designers are expected to be proficient in software programs for image-making, typography and layout. Nearly all of the popular and "industry standard" software programs used by graphic designers since the early 1990s are products of Adobe Inc. Adobe Photoshop (a raster-based program for photo editing) and Adobe Illustrator (a vector-based program for drawing) are often used in the final stage. CorelDraw, a vector graphics editing software developed and marketed by Corel Corporation, is also used worldwide. Designers often use pre-designed raster images and vector graphics in their work from online design databases. Raster images may be edited in Adobe Photoshop, vector logos and illustrations in Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, and the final product assembled in one of the major page layout programs, such as Adobe InDesign, Serif PagePlus and QuarkXPress.
Many free and open-source programs are also used by both professionals and casual graphic designers. Inkscape uses Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as its primary file format and allows importing and exporting other formats. Other open-source programs used include GIMP for photo-editing and image manipulation, Krita for digital painting, and Scribus for page layout.
Since the advent of personal computers, many graphic designers have become involved in interface design, in an environment commonly referred to as a Graphical user interface (GUI). This has included web design and software design when end user-interactivity is a design consideration of the layout or interface. Combining visual communication skills with an understanding of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with software developers and web developers to create the look and feel of a web site or software application. An important aspect of interface design is icon design.
User experience design (UX) is the study, analysis, and development of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the creation of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function. UX design involves creating the interface and interactions for a website or application, and is considered both an act and an art. This profession requires a combination of skills, including visual design, social psychology, development, project management, and most importantly, empathy towards the end-users.
Experiential graphic design is the application of communication skills to the built environment. This area of graphic design requires practitioners to understand physical installations that have to be manufactured and withstand the same environmental conditions as buildings. As such, it is a cross-disciplinary collaborative process involving designers, fabricators, city planners, architects, manufacturers and construction teams.
Experiential graphic designers try to solve problems that people encounter while interacting with buildings and space (also called environmental graphic design). Examples of practice areas for environmental graphic designers are wayfinding, placemaking, branded environments, exhibitions and museum displays, public installations and digital environments.
Graphic design career paths cover all parts of the creative spectrum and often overlap. Workers perform specialized tasks, such as design services, publishing, advertising and public relations. As of 2023, median pay was $50,710 per year. The main job titles within the industry are often country specific. They can include graphic designer, art director, creative director, animator and entry level production artist. Depending on the industry served, the responsibilities may have different titles such as "DTP associate" or "Graphic Artist". The responsibilities may involve specialized skills such as illustration, photography, animation, visual effects or interactive design.
Employment in design of online projects was expected to increase by 35% by 2026, while employment in traditional media, such as newspaper and book design, expect to go down by 22%. Graphic designers will be expected to constantly learn new techniques, programs, and methods.
Graphic designers can work within companies devoted specifically to the industry, such as design consultancies or branding agencies, others may work within publishing, marketing or other communications companies. Especially since the introduction of personal computers, many graphic designers work as in-house designers in non-design oriented organizations. Graphic designers may also work freelance, working on their own terms, prices, ideas, etc.
A graphic designer typically reports to the art director, creative director or senior media creative. As a designer becomes more senior, they spend less time designing and more time leading and directing other designers on broader creative activities, such as brand development and corporate identity development. They are often expected to interact more directly with clients, for example taking and interpreting briefs.
Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine first used the term "crowdsourcing" in his 2006 article, "The Rise of Crowdsourcing." It spans such creative domains as graphic design, architecture, apparel design, writing, illustration, and others. Tasks may be assigned to individuals or a group and may be categorized as convergent or divergent. An example of a divergent task is generating alternative designs for a poster. An example of a convergent task is selecting one poster design. Companies, startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs have all benefitted from design crowdsourcing since it helps them source great graphic designs at a fraction of the budget they used to spend before. Getting a logo design through crowdsourcing being one of the most common. Major companies that operate in the design crowdsourcing space are generally referred to as design contest sites.]
Graphic design is essential for advertising, branding, and marketing, influencing how people act. Good graphic design builds strong, recognizable brands, communicates messages clearly, and shapes how consumers see and react to things.
One way that graphic design influences consumer behavior is through the use of visual elements, such as color, typography, and imagery. Studies have shown that certain colors can evoke specific emotions and behaviors in consumers, and that typography can influence how information is perceived and remembered. For example, serif fonts are often associated with tradition and elegance, while sans-serif fonts are seen as modern and minimalistic. These factors can all impact the way consumers perceive a brand and its messaging.
Another way that graphic design impacts consumer behavior is through its ability to communicate complex information in a clear and accessible way. For example, infographics and data visualizations can help to distill complex information into a format that is easy to understand and engaging for consumers. This can help to build trust and credibility with consumers, and encourage them to take action.
Ethics are an important consideration in graphic design, particularly when it comes to accurately representing information and avoiding harmful stereotypes. Graphic designers have a responsibility to ensure that their work is truthful, accurate, and free from any misleading or deceptive elements. This requires a commitment to honesty, integrity, and transparency in all aspects of the design process.
One of the key ethical considerations in graphic design is the responsibility to accurately represent information. This means ensuring that any claims or statements made in advertising or marketing materials are true and supported by evidence. For example, a company should not use misleading statistics to promote their product or service, or make false claims about its benefits. Graphic designers must take care to accurately represent information in all visual elements, such as graphs, charts, and images, and avoid distorting or misrepresenting data.
Another important ethical consideration in graphic design is the need to avoid harmful stereotypes. This means avoiding any images or messaging that perpetuate negative or harmful stereotypes based on race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. Graphic designers should strive to create designs that are inclusive and respectful of all individuals and communities, and avoid reinforcing negative attitudes or biases.
The future of graphic design is likely to be heavily influenced by emerging technologies and social trends. Advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and automation are likely to transform the way that graphic designers work and create designs. Social trends, such as a greater focus on sustainability and inclusivity, are also likely to impact the future of graphic design.
One area where emerging technologies are likely to have a significant impact on graphic design is in the automation of certain tasks. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can analyze large datasets and create designs based on patterns and trends, freeing up designers to focus on more complex and creative tasks. Virtual and augmented reality technologies may also allow designers to create immersive and interactive experiences for users, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds.
Social trends are also likely to shape the future of graphic design. As consumers become more conscious of environmental issues, for example, there may be a greater demand for designs that prioritize sustainability and minimize waste. Similarly, there is likely to be a growing focus on inclusivity and diversity in design, with designers seeking to create designs that are accessible and representative of a wide range of individuals and communities. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "The role of the graphic designer in the communication process is that of encoder or interpreter of the message. They work on the interpretation, ordering, and presentation of visual messages. Usually, graphic design uses the aesthetics of typography and the compositional arrangement of the text, ornamentation, and imagery to convey ideas, feelings, and attitudes beyond what language alone expresses. The design work can be based on a customer's demand, a demand that ends up being established linguistically, either orally or in writing, that is, that graphic design transforms a linguistic message into a graphic manifestation.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Graphic design has, as a field of application, different areas of knowledge focused on any visual communication system. For example, it can be applied in advertising strategies, or it can also be applied in the aviation world or space exploration. In this sense, in some countries graphic design is related as only associated with the production of sketches and drawings, this is incorrect, since visual communication is a small part of a huge range of types and classes where it can be applied.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "With origins in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, graphic design as applied art was initially linked to the boom of rise of printing in Europe in the 15th century and the growth of consumer culture in the Industrial Revolution. From there it emerged as a distinct profession in the West, closely associated with advertising in the 19th century and its evolution allowed its consolidation in the 20th century. Given the rapid and massive growth in information exchange today, the demand for experienced designers is greater than ever, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the need to pay attention to human factors beyond the competence of the engineers who develop them.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "William Addison Dwiggins is often credited with first using the term \"graphic design\" in a 1922 article, although it appears in a 4 July 1908 issue (volume 9, number 27) of Organized Labor, a publication of the Labor Unions of San Francisco, in an article about technical education for printers:",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "An Enterprising Trades Union … The admittedly high standard of intelligence which prevails among printers is an assurance that with the elemental principles of design at their finger ends many of them will grow in knowledge and develop into specialists in graphic design and decorating. …",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "A decade later, the 1917–1918 course catalog of the California School of Arts & Crafts advertised a course titled Graphic Design and Lettering, which replaced one called Advanced Design and Lettering. Both classes were taught by Frederick Meyer.",
"title": "Terminology"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In both its lengthy history and in the relatively recent explosion of visual communication in the 20th and 21st centuries, the distinction between advertising, art, graphic design and fine art has disappeared. They share many elements, theories, principles, practices, languages and sometimes the same benefactor or client. In advertising, the ultimate objective is the sale of goods and services. In graphic design, \"the essence is to give order to information, form to ideas, expression, and feeling to artifacts that document the human experience.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In China, during the Tang dynasty (618–907) wood blocks were cut to print on textiles and later to reproduce Buddhist texts. A Buddhist scripture printed in 868 is the earliest known printed book. Beginning in the 11th century in China, longer scrolls and books were produced using movable type printing, making books widely available during the Song dynasty (960–1279).",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "In the mid-15th century in Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg developed a way to reproduce printed pages at a faster pace using movable type made with a new metal alloy that created a revolution in the dissemination of information.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1849, Henry Cole became one of the major forces in design education in Great Britain, informing the government of the importance of design in his Journal of Design and Manufactures. He organized the Great Exhibition as a celebration of modern industrial technology and Victorian design.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "From 1891 to 1896, William Morris' Kelmscott Press was a leader in graphic design associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, creating hand-made books in medieval and Renaissance era style, in addition to wallpaper and textile designs. Morris' work, along with the rest of the Private Press movement, directly influenced Art Nouveau.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Will H. Bradley became one of the notable graphic designers in the late nineteenth-century due to creating art pieces in various Art Nouveau styles. Bradley created a number of designs as promotions for a literary magazine titled The Chap-Book.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In 1917, Frederick H. Meyer, director and instructor at the California School of Arts and Crafts, taught a class entitled \"Graphic Design and Lettering\". Raffe's Graphic Design, published in 1927, was the first book to use \"Graphic Design\" in its title. In 1936, author and graphic designer Leon Friend published his book titled \"Graphic Design\" and it is known to be the first piece of literature to cover the topic extensively.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The signage in the London Underground is a classic design example of the modern era. Although he lacked artistic training, Frank Pick led the Underground Group design and publicity movement. The first Underground station signs were introduced in 1908 with a design of a solid red disk with a blue bar in the center and the name of the station. The station name was in white sans-serif letters. It was in 1916 when Pick used the expertise of Edward Johnston to design a new typeface for the Underground. Johnston redesigned the Underground sign and logo to include his typeface on the blue bar in the center of a red circle.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In the 1920s, Soviet constructivism applied 'intellectual production' in different spheres of production. The movement saw individualistic art as useless in revolutionary Russia and thus moved towards creating objects for utilitarian purposes. They designed buildings, theater sets, posters, fabrics, clothing, furniture, logos, menus, etc.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Jan Tschichold codified the principles of modern typography in his 1928 book, New Typography. He later repudiated the philosophy he espoused in this book as fascistic, but it remained influential. Tschichold, Bauhaus typographers such as Herbert Bayer and László Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky greatly influenced graphic design. They pioneered production techniques and stylistic devices used throughout the twentieth century. The following years saw graphic design in the modern style gain widespread acceptance and application.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The professional graphic design industry grew in parallel with consumerism. This raised concerns and criticisms, notably from within the graphic design community with the First Things First manifesto. First launched by Ken Garland in 1964, it was re-published as the First Things First 2000 manifesto in 1999 in the magazine Emigre 51 stating \"We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.\"",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Graphic design can have many applications, from road signs to technical schematics and reference manuals. It is often used in branding products and elements of company identity such as logos, colors, packaging, labelling and text.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "From scientific journals to news reporting, the presentation of opinion and facts is often improved with graphics and thoughtful compositions of visual information – known as information design. With the advent of the web, information designers with experience in interactive tools are increasingly used to illustrate the background to news stories. Information design can include Data and information visualization, which involves using programs to interpret and form data into a visually compelling presentation, and can be tied in with information graphics.",
"title": "Applications"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "A graphic design project may involve the creative presentation of existing text, ornament, and images.",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "The \"process school\" is concerned with communication; it highlights the channels and media through which messages are transmitted and by which senders and receivers encode and decode these messages. The semiotic school treats a message as a construction of signs which through interaction with receivers, produces meaning; communication as an agent.",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Typography includes type design, modifying type glyphs and arranging type. Type glyphs (characters) are created and modified using illustration techniques. Type arrangement is the selection of typefaces, point size, tracking (the space between all characters used), kerning (the space between two specific characters) and leading (line spacing).",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic artists, art directors, and clerical workers. Until the digital age, typography was a specialized occupation. Certain fonts communicate or resemble stereotypical notions. For example, 1942 Report is a font which types text akin to a typewriter or a vintage report.",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Page layout deals with the arrangement of elements (content) on a page, such as image placement, text layout and style. Page design has always been a consideration in printed material and more recently extended to displays such as web pages. Elements typically consist of type (text), images (pictures), and (with print media) occasionally place-holder graphics such as a dieline for elements that are not printed with ink such as die/laser cutting, foil stamping or blind embossing.",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "A grid serves as a method of arranging both space and information, allowing the reader to easily comprehend the overall project. Furthermore, a grid functions as a container for information and a means of establishing and maintaining order. Despite grids being utilized for centuries, many graphic designers associate them with Swiss design. The desire for order in the 1940s resulted in a highly systematic approach to visualizing information. However, grids were later regarded as tedious and uninteresting, earning the label of \"designersaur.\" Today, grids are once again considered crucial tools for professionals, whether they are novices or veterans.",
"title": "Skills"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "In the mid-1980s desktop publishing and graphic art software applications introduced computer image manipulation and creation capabilities that had previously been manually executed. Computers enabled designers to instantly see the effects of layout or typographic changes, and to simulate the effects of traditional media. Traditional tools such as pencils can be useful even when computers are used for finalization; a designer or art director may sketch numerous concepts as part of the creative process. Styluses can be used with tablet computers to capture hand drawings digitally.",
"title": "Tools"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Designers disagree whether computers enhance the creative process. Some designers argue that computers allow them to explore multiple ideas quickly and in more detail than can be achieved by hand-rendering or paste-up. While other designers find the limitless choices from digital design can lead to paralysis or endless iterations with no clear outcome.",
"title": "Tools"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Most designers use a hybrid process that combines traditional and computer-based technologies. First, hand-rendered layouts are used to get approval to execute an idea, then the polished visual product is produced on a computer.",
"title": "Tools"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Graphic designers are expected to be proficient in software programs for image-making, typography and layout. Nearly all of the popular and \"industry standard\" software programs used by graphic designers since the early 1990s are products of Adobe Inc. Adobe Photoshop (a raster-based program for photo editing) and Adobe Illustrator (a vector-based program for drawing) are often used in the final stage. CorelDraw, a vector graphics editing software developed and marketed by Corel Corporation, is also used worldwide. Designers often use pre-designed raster images and vector graphics in their work from online design databases. Raster images may be edited in Adobe Photoshop, vector logos and illustrations in Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, and the final product assembled in one of the major page layout programs, such as Adobe InDesign, Serif PagePlus and QuarkXPress.",
"title": "Tools"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Many free and open-source programs are also used by both professionals and casual graphic designers. Inkscape uses Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as its primary file format and allows importing and exporting other formats. Other open-source programs used include GIMP for photo-editing and image manipulation, Krita for digital painting, and Scribus for page layout.",
"title": "Tools"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Since the advent of personal computers, many graphic designers have become involved in interface design, in an environment commonly referred to as a Graphical user interface (GUI). This has included web design and software design when end user-interactivity is a design consideration of the layout or interface. Combining visual communication skills with an understanding of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with software developers and web developers to create the look and feel of a web site or software application. An important aspect of interface design is icon design.",
"title": "Related design fields"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "User experience design (UX) is the study, analysis, and development of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the creation of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function. UX design involves creating the interface and interactions for a website or application, and is considered both an act and an art. This profession requires a combination of skills, including visual design, social psychology, development, project management, and most importantly, empathy towards the end-users.",
"title": "Related design fields"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Experiential graphic design is the application of communication skills to the built environment. This area of graphic design requires practitioners to understand physical installations that have to be manufactured and withstand the same environmental conditions as buildings. As such, it is a cross-disciplinary collaborative process involving designers, fabricators, city planners, architects, manufacturers and construction teams.",
"title": "Related design fields"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Experiential graphic designers try to solve problems that people encounter while interacting with buildings and space (also called environmental graphic design). Examples of practice areas for environmental graphic designers are wayfinding, placemaking, branded environments, exhibitions and museum displays, public installations and digital environments.",
"title": "Related design fields"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Graphic design career paths cover all parts of the creative spectrum and often overlap. Workers perform specialized tasks, such as design services, publishing, advertising and public relations. As of 2023, median pay was $50,710 per year. The main job titles within the industry are often country specific. They can include graphic designer, art director, creative director, animator and entry level production artist. Depending on the industry served, the responsibilities may have different titles such as \"DTP associate\" or \"Graphic Artist\". The responsibilities may involve specialized skills such as illustration, photography, animation, visual effects or interactive design.",
"title": "Occupations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Employment in design of online projects was expected to increase by 35% by 2026, while employment in traditional media, such as newspaper and book design, expect to go down by 22%. Graphic designers will be expected to constantly learn new techniques, programs, and methods.",
"title": "Occupations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Graphic designers can work within companies devoted specifically to the industry, such as design consultancies or branding agencies, others may work within publishing, marketing or other communications companies. Especially since the introduction of personal computers, many graphic designers work as in-house designers in non-design oriented organizations. Graphic designers may also work freelance, working on their own terms, prices, ideas, etc.",
"title": "Occupations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "A graphic designer typically reports to the art director, creative director or senior media creative. As a designer becomes more senior, they spend less time designing and more time leading and directing other designers on broader creative activities, such as brand development and corporate identity development. They are often expected to interact more directly with clients, for example taking and interpreting briefs.",
"title": "Occupations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine first used the term \"crowdsourcing\" in his 2006 article, \"The Rise of Crowdsourcing.\" It spans such creative domains as graphic design, architecture, apparel design, writing, illustration, and others. Tasks may be assigned to individuals or a group and may be categorized as convergent or divergent. An example of a divergent task is generating alternative designs for a poster. An example of a convergent task is selecting one poster design. Companies, startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs have all benefitted from design crowdsourcing since it helps them source great graphic designs at a fraction of the budget they used to spend before. Getting a logo design through crowdsourcing being one of the most common. Major companies that operate in the design crowdsourcing space are generally referred to as design contest sites.]",
"title": "Occupations"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Graphic design is essential for advertising, branding, and marketing, influencing how people act. Good graphic design builds strong, recognizable brands, communicates messages clearly, and shapes how consumers see and react to things.",
"title": "The role of Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "One way that graphic design influences consumer behavior is through the use of visual elements, such as color, typography, and imagery. Studies have shown that certain colors can evoke specific emotions and behaviors in consumers, and that typography can influence how information is perceived and remembered. For example, serif fonts are often associated with tradition and elegance, while sans-serif fonts are seen as modern and minimalistic. These factors can all impact the way consumers perceive a brand and its messaging.",
"title": "The role of Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Another way that graphic design impacts consumer behavior is through its ability to communicate complex information in a clear and accessible way. For example, infographics and data visualizations can help to distill complex information into a format that is easy to understand and engaging for consumers. This can help to build trust and credibility with consumers, and encourage them to take action.",
"title": "The role of Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Ethics are an important consideration in graphic design, particularly when it comes to accurately representing information and avoiding harmful stereotypes. Graphic designers have a responsibility to ensure that their work is truthful, accurate, and free from any misleading or deceptive elements. This requires a commitment to honesty, integrity, and transparency in all aspects of the design process.",
"title": "Ethical consideration in Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "One of the key ethical considerations in graphic design is the responsibility to accurately represent information. This means ensuring that any claims or statements made in advertising or marketing materials are true and supported by evidence. For example, a company should not use misleading statistics to promote their product or service, or make false claims about its benefits. Graphic designers must take care to accurately represent information in all visual elements, such as graphs, charts, and images, and avoid distorting or misrepresenting data.",
"title": "Ethical consideration in Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Another important ethical consideration in graphic design is the need to avoid harmful stereotypes. This means avoiding any images or messaging that perpetuate negative or harmful stereotypes based on race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. Graphic designers should strive to create designs that are inclusive and respectful of all individuals and communities, and avoid reinforcing negative attitudes or biases.",
"title": "Ethical consideration in Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The future of graphic design is likely to be heavily influenced by emerging technologies and social trends. Advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and automation are likely to transform the way that graphic designers work and create designs. Social trends, such as a greater focus on sustainability and inclusivity, are also likely to impact the future of graphic design.",
"title": "The future of Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "One area where emerging technologies are likely to have a significant impact on graphic design is in the automation of certain tasks. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can analyze large datasets and create designs based on patterns and trends, freeing up designers to focus on more complex and creative tasks. Virtual and augmented reality technologies may also allow designers to create immersive and interactive experiences for users, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds.",
"title": "The future of Graphic design"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Social trends are also likely to shape the future of graphic design. As consumers become more conscious of environmental issues, for example, there may be a greater demand for designs that prioritize sustainability and minimize waste. Similarly, there is likely to be a growing focus on inclusivity and diversity in design, with designers seeking to create designs that are accessible and representative of a wide range of individuals and communities.",
"title": "The future of Graphic design"
}
]
| Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually. The role of the graphic designer in the communication process is that of encoder or interpreter of the message. They work on the interpretation, ordering, and presentation of visual messages. Usually, graphic design uses the aesthetics of typography and the compositional arrangement of the text, ornamentation, and imagery to convey ideas, feelings, and attitudes beyond what language alone expresses. The design work can be based on a customer's demand, a demand that ends up being established linguistically, either orally or in writing, that is, that graphic design transforms a linguistic message into a graphic manifestation. Graphic design has, as a field of application, different areas of knowledge focused on any visual communication system. For example, it can be applied in advertising strategies, or it can also be applied in the aviation world or space exploration. In this sense, in some countries graphic design is related as only associated with the production of sketches and drawings, this is incorrect, since visual communication is a small part of a huge range of types and classes where it can be applied. With origins in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, graphic design as applied art was initially linked to the boom of rise of printing in Europe in the 15th century and the growth of consumer culture in the Industrial Revolution. From there it emerged as a distinct profession in the West, closely associated with advertising in the 19th century and its evolution allowed its consolidation in the 20th century. Given the rapid and massive growth in information exchange today, the demand for experienced designers is greater than ever, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the need to pay attention to human factors beyond the competence of the engineers who develop them. | 2001-11-03T03:53:50Z | 2023-12-14T20:58:24Z | [
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Visualization",
"Template:Design",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Main article",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:OCLC",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Isbn",
"Template:Wikibooks",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Pp",
"Template:Expand section",
"Template:Further",
"Template:Cn",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design |
12,800 | Great Rift Valley | The Great Rift Valley (Bonde la ufa, in Swahili) is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault systems.
This valley extends northward for 5,950 km through the eastern part of Africa, through the Red Sea, and into Western Asia. Several deep, elongated lakes, called ribbon lakes, exist on the floor of this rift valley: Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika are examples of such lakes. The region has a unique ecosystem and contains a number of Africa's wildlife parks.
The term Great Rift Valley is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward through eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new and separate plates. Geologists generally refer to these evolving plates as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.
Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected, but originally, the Great Rift Valley was thought to be a single feature that extended from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, where it constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East African mountains. It included what today is called the Lebanese section of the Dead Sea Transform, the Jordan Rift Valley, Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift. These rifts and faults were formed 35 million years ago.
The northernmost part of the Rift corresponds to the central section of what is called today the Dead Sea Transform (DST) or Rift. This midsection of the DST forms the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, separating the Mount Lebanon range from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Further south it is known as the Hula Valley separating the Galilee mountains and the Golan Heights.
The Jordan River begins here and flows southward through Lake Hula into the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The Rift then continues south through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea on the Israeli-Jordanian border. From the Dead Sea southwards, the Rift is occupied by the Wadi Arabah, then the Gulf of Aqaba, and then the Red Sea.
Off the southern tip of Sinai in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea Transform meets the Red Sea Rift which runs the length of the Red Sea. The Red Sea Rift comes ashore to meet the East African Rift and the Aden Ridge in the Afar Depression of East Africa. The junction of these three rifts is called the Afar Triple Junction.
The East African Rift follows the Red Sea to the end before turning inland into the Ethiopian highlands, dividing the country into two large and adjacent but separate mountainous regions. In Kenya, Uganda, and the fringes of South Sudan, the Great Rift runs along two separate branches that are joined to each other only at their southern end, in Southern Tanzania along its border with Zambia. The two branches are called the Western Rift Valley and the Eastern Rift Valley.
The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range. It contains the Rift Valley lakes, which include some of the deepest lakes in the world (up to 1,470 metres (4,820 ft) deep at Lake Tanganyika).
Much of this area lies within the boundaries of national parks such as Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwenzori National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Lake Victoria is considered to be part of the rift valley system although it actually lies between the two branches. All of the African Great Lakes were formed as the result of the rift, and most lie in territories within the rift.
In Kenya, the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi. As the lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outlet to the sea and tend to be shallow, they have a high mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind. For example, Lake Magadi has high concentrations of soda (sodium carbonate) and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while the freshwater springs supplying Lake Naivasha are essential to support its current biological variety.
The southern section of the Rift Valley includes Lake Malawi, the third-deepest freshwater body in the world, which reaches 706 metres (2,316 ft) in depth and separates the Nyassa plateau of Northern Mozambique from Malawi. The rift extends southwards from Lake Malawi as the valley of the Shire River, which flows from the lake into the Zambezi River. The rift continues south of the Zambezi as the Urema Valley of central Mozambique. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Great Rift Valley (Bonde la ufa, in Swahili) is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault systems.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "This valley extends northward for 5,950 km through the eastern part of Africa, through the Red Sea, and into Western Asia. Several deep, elongated lakes, called ribbon lakes, exist on the floor of this rift valley: Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika are examples of such lakes. The region has a unique ecosystem and contains a number of Africa's wildlife parks.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "The term Great Rift Valley is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward through eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new and separate plates. Geologists generally refer to these evolving plates as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected, but originally, the Great Rift Valley was thought to be a single feature that extended from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, where it constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East African mountains. It included what today is called the Lebanese section of the Dead Sea Transform, the Jordan Rift Valley, Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift. These rifts and faults were formed 35 million years ago.",
"title": "Theoretical extent"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "The northernmost part of the Rift corresponds to the central section of what is called today the Dead Sea Transform (DST) or Rift. This midsection of the DST forms the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, separating the Mount Lebanon range from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Further south it is known as the Hula Valley separating the Galilee mountains and the Golan Heights.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "The Jordan River begins here and flows southward through Lake Hula into the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The Rift then continues south through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea on the Israeli-Jordanian border. From the Dead Sea southwards, the Rift is occupied by the Wadi Arabah, then the Gulf of Aqaba, and then the Red Sea.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Off the southern tip of Sinai in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea Transform meets the Red Sea Rift which runs the length of the Red Sea. The Red Sea Rift comes ashore to meet the East African Rift and the Aden Ridge in the Afar Depression of East Africa. The junction of these three rifts is called the Afar Triple Junction.",
"title": "Asia"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "The East African Rift follows the Red Sea to the end before turning inland into the Ethiopian highlands, dividing the country into two large and adjacent but separate mountainous regions. In Kenya, Uganda, and the fringes of South Sudan, the Great Rift runs along two separate branches that are joined to each other only at their southern end, in Southern Tanzania along its border with Zambia. The two branches are called the Western Rift Valley and the Eastern Rift Valley.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range. It contains the Rift Valley lakes, which include some of the deepest lakes in the world (up to 1,470 metres (4,820 ft) deep at Lake Tanganyika).",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Much of this area lies within the boundaries of national parks such as Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwenzori National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Lake Victoria is considered to be part of the rift valley system although it actually lies between the two branches. All of the African Great Lakes were formed as the result of the rift, and most lie in territories within the rift.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In Kenya, the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi. As the lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outlet to the sea and tend to be shallow, they have a high mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind. For example, Lake Magadi has high concentrations of soda (sodium carbonate) and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while the freshwater springs supplying Lake Naivasha are essential to support its current biological variety.",
"title": "Africa"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "The southern section of the Rift Valley includes Lake Malawi, the third-deepest freshwater body in the world, which reaches 706 metres (2,316 ft) in depth and separates the Nyassa plateau of Northern Mozambique from Malawi. The rift extends southwards from Lake Malawi as the valley of the Shire River, which flows from the lake into the Zambezi River. The rift continues south of the Zambezi as the Urema Valley of central Mozambique.",
"title": "Africa"
}
]
| The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault systems. This valley extends northward for 5,950 km through the eastern part of Africa, through the Red Sea, and into Western Asia. Several deep, elongated lakes, called ribbon lakes, exist on the floor of this rift valley: Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika are examples of such lakes. The region has a unique ecosystem and contains a number of Africa's wildlife parks. The term Great Rift Valley is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward through eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new and separate plates. Geologists generally refer to these evolving plates as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate. | 2001-11-05T15:28:12Z | 2023-11-02T23:29:16Z | [
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Regions of the world",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Refimprove",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite NIE",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:Further",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:OCLC",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Kenya topics",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_Valley |
12,804 | Grigori Rasputin | Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (/ræˈspjuːtɪn/; Russian: Григорий Ефимович Распутин [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ rɐˈsputʲɪn]; 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic and holy man. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.
Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna.
In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family.
Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye, along the Tura River in the Tobolsk Governorate (now Tyumen Oblast) in the Russian Empire. According to official records, he was born on 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 and christened the following day. He was named for St. Gregory of Nyssa, whose feast was celebrated on 10 January.
There are few records of Rasputin's parents. His father, Yefim (1842 – 1916), was a peasant farmer and church elder who had been born in Pokrovskoye and married Rasputin's mother, Anna Parshukova (c. 1840 – 1906), in 1863. Yefim also worked as a government courier, ferrying people and goods between Tobolsk and Tyumen. The couple had seven other children, all of whom died in infancy and early childhood; there may have been a ninth child, Feodosiya. According to historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin was certainly close to Feodosiya and was godfather to her children, but "the records that have survived do not permit us to say more than that".
According to historian Douglas Smith, Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are "a black hole about which we know almost nothing", though the lack of reliable sources and information did not stop others from fabricating stories about Rasputin's parents and his youth after his rise to prominence. Historians agree, however, that like most Siberian peasants, including his mother and father, Rasputin was not formally educated and remained illiterate well into his early adulthood. Local archival records suggest that he had a somewhat unruly youth—possibly involving drinking, small thefts and disrespect for local authorities—but contain no evidence of his being charged with stealing horses, blasphemy or bearing false witness, all major crimes later imputed to him as a young man.
In 1886, Rasputin traveled to Abalak, some 250 km east-northeast of Tyumen and 2,800 km east of Moscow, where he met a peasant girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. After a courtship of several months, they married in February 1887. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye throughout Rasputin's later travels and rise to prominence, and remained devoted to him until his death. The couple had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: Dmitry (b. 1895), Maria (b. 1898) and Varvara (b. 1900).
In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and left Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage. His reasons are unclear; according to some sources, he left the village to escape punishment for his role in horse theft. Other sources suggest Rasputin had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, while still others suggest that his pilgrimage was inspired by a young theological student, Melity Zaborovsky. Whatever his reasons, Rasputin cast off his old life: he was 28 years old, married ten years, with an infant son and another child on the way. According to Smith, his decision "could only have been occasioned by some sort of emotional or spiritual crisis".
Rasputin had undertaken earlier, shorter pilgrimages to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and to Tobolsk's cathedral, but his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897 transformed him. There, he met and was "profoundly humbled" by a starets (elder) known as Makary. Rasputin may have spent several months at Verkhoturye, and it was perhaps here that he learned to read and write. However, he later claimed that some of the monks at Verkhotuyre engaged in homosexuality and criticized monastic life as too coercive. He returned to Pokrovskoye a changed man, looking disheveled and behaving differently. He became a vegetarian, swore off alcohol, and prayed and sang much more fervently than he had in the past.
Rasputin spent the years that followed as a strannik (a holy wanderer or pilgrim), leaving Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit a variety of holy sites. It is possible he wandered as far as Mount Athos—the center of Eastern Orthodox monastic life—in 1900.
By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a small circle of followers, primarily family members and other local peasants, who prayed with him on Sundays and other holy days when he was in Pokrovskoye. Building a makeshift chapel in Yefim's root cellar—Rasputin was still living within his father's household at the time—the group held secret prayer meetings there. These meetings were the subject of some suspicion and hostility from the village priest and other villagers. It was rumored that female followers were ceremonially washing Rasputin before each meeting, that the group sang strange songs, and even that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty, a religious sect whose ecstatic rituals were rumored to include self-flagellation and sexual orgies. According to Fuhrmann, however, "repeated investigations failed to establish that Rasputin was ever a member of the sect", and rumors that he was a Khlyst appear to have been unfounded.
Word of Rasputin's activity and charisma began to spread in Siberia during the early 1900s. At some point during 1904 or 1905, he traveled to the city of Kazan, where he acquired a reputation as a wise starets who could help people resolve their spiritual crises and anxieties. Despite rumors that Rasputin was having sex with female followers, he made a favorable impression on several local religious leaders. Among these were Archimandrite Andrei and Bishop Chrysthanos, who gave Rasputin a letter of recommendation to Bishop Sergei, the rector of the theological seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and arranged for him to travel to Saint Petersburg.
Upon arriving at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Rasputin was introduced to church leaders, including Archimandrite Theofan, inspector of the theological seminary, who was well-connected in Saint Petersburg society and later served as confessor to the imperial family. Theofan was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home; he went on to become one of Rasputin's most important friends in Saint Petersburg, gaining him entry to many of the influential salons where the local aristocracy gathered for religious discussions. It was through these meetings that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers—many of whom would later turn against him.
Alternative religious movements such as spiritualism and theosophy had become popular among Saint Petersburg's aristocracy before Rasputin's arrival, and many of the aristocracy were intensely curious about the occult and the supernatural. Rasputin's ideas and "strange manners" made him the subject of intense curiosity among the city's elite, who according to Fuhrmann were "bored, cynical, and seeking new experiences" during this period. Rasputin's appeal may have been enhanced by the fact that he was also a native Russian, unlike other self-described "holy men" such as Nizier Anthelme Philippe and Gérard Encausse, who had previously been popular in Saint Petersburg.
According to Fuhrmann, Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg for only a few months on his first visit and returned to Pokrovskoye in the fall of 1903. Smith, however, argues that it is impossible to know whether Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg or returned to Pokrovskoye at some point between his first arrival and 1905. Regardless, by 1905 Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the "Black Princesses", Militsa and Anastasia of Montenegro, who had married cousins of Tsar Nicholas II (Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky) and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to the tsar and his family.
Rasputin first met Nicholas on 1 November 1905, at the Peterhof Palace. The tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, had "made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province". Rasputin returned to Pokrovskoye shortly after their first meeting and did not return to Saint Petersburg until July 1906. On his return, he sent Nicholas a telegram asking to present the tsar with an icon of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye. He met with Nicholas and Alexandra on 18 July and again in October, when he first met their children.
At some point, Nicholas and Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed the miraculous power to heal their only son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. Historians disagree over when this happened: according to Orlando Figes, Rasputin was first introduced to the tsar and tsarina as a healer who could help their son in November 1905, while Joseph T. Fuhrmann has speculated that it was in October 1906 that Rasputin was first asked to pray for the health of Alexei.
Much of Rasputin's influence with the imperial family stemmed from the belief by Alexandra and others that he had on several occasions eased Alexei's pain and stopped his bleeding. According to historian Marc Ferro, the tsarina had a "passionate attachment" to Rasputin, believing he could heal her son's affliction. Harold Shukman wrote that Rasputin became "an indispensable member of the royal entourage". It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei's haemophilia, or when he first acted as a healer. He may have been aware of Alexei's condition as early as October 1906, and was summoned by Alexandra to pray for the tsarevich when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning. Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter and became one of his most influential advocates.
In November 1906, Rasputin suddenly paid a visit to the Baratynsky family in Kazan and told them he could read people's minds. Olga Ilyin's description of Rasputin and his behavior in "Visits to the Imperial Court" is a small but no doubt valuable contribution to history.
At the very beginning of dinner, when Nastya was about to put a plate of soup in front of Rasputin, he wanted to get out a comb, and he began to run it through his oily hair. The plate was quickly cleared away, and Nastya waited with stony disdain for him to finish his task.
During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the imperial hunting grounds at Spała, which caused a large hematoma. In severe pain and delirious with fever, the tsarevich appeared close to death. In desperation, Alexandra asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei. Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the tsarina that "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much." The next morning, Alexei's condition was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that he would survive. His bleeding stopped the following day. Dr. S. P. Fedorov, one of the physicians who attended Alexei, admitted that "the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view." Later, Dr. Fedorov admitted that Alexandra could not be blamed for seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: "Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time.... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?"
Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery "one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend". The cause of his recovery is unclear: Massie speculated that Rasputin's suggestion not to let doctors disturb Alexei had aided his recovery by allowing him to rest and heal, or that his message may have aided Alexei's recovery by calming his mother and reducing the tsarevich's emotional stress. Alexandra believed that Rasputin had performed a miracle, and concluded that he was essential to Alexei's survival. Some writers and historians, such as Ferro, claim that Rasputin stopped Alexei's bleeding on other occasions through hypnosis. Still other historians–including memoirist Pierre Gilliard, Alexei's French-language tutor–have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexei's bleeding by disallowing the administration of aspirin, then widely used to relieve pain, but unknown as an anti-clotting agent until the 1950s.
Alexei and his siblings were also taught to view Rasputin as "our friend" and to share confidences with him. In the autumn of 1907, their aunt, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, was escorted to the nursery by Nicholas to meet Rasputin. Maria, her sisters and brother Alexei were all wearing their long white nightgowns. "All the children seemed to like him," Olga Alexandrovna recalled. "They were completely at ease with him."
Rasputin's friendship with the tsar's children was evident in the messages he sent to them. "My Dear Pearl M!" Rasputin wrote the nine-year-old Maria in one telegram in 1908. "Tell me how you talked with the sea, with nature! I miss your simple soul. We will see each other soon! A big kiss." In a second telegram, Rasputin told the child, "My Dear M! My Little Friend! May the Lord help you to carry your cross with wisdom and joy in Christ. This world is like the day, look it's already evening. So it is with the cares of the world." In February 1909, Rasputin sent all of the children a telegram, advising them to, "Love the whole of God's nature, the whole of His creation in particular this earth. The Mother of God was always occupied with flowers and needlework."
One of the girls' governesses, Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, was horrified in 1910 when Rasputin was permitted access to the nursery when the four girls were in their nightgowns. Tyutcheva wanted Rasputin barred from the nurseries. In response to her complaints, Nicholas asked Rasputin to end his nursery visits. "I am so afr(aid) that S.I. [Tyutcheva] can speak ... about our friend something bad," Maria's twelve-year-old sister Tatiana wrote to her mother on 8 March 1910, after begging Alexandra to forgive her for doing something she did not like. "I hope our nurse will be nice to our friend now." Alexandra eventually had Tyutcheva fired.
Tyutcheva took her story to other members of the imperial family, who were scandalized by the reports, though Rasputin's contacts with the children were by all accounts completely innocent. Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, was horrified by Tyutcheva's story. Xenia wrote on 15 March 1910 that she could not understand "...the attitude of Alix and the children to that sinister Grigory (whom they consider to be almost a saint, when in fact he's only a khlyst!) He's always there, goes into the nursery, visits Olga and Tatiana while they are getting ready for bed, sits there talking to them and caressing them. They are careful to hide him from Sofia Ivanovna, and the children don't dare talk to her about him. It's all quite unbelievable and beyond understanding."
Another of the nursery governesses claimed in the spring of 1910 that she was raped by Rasputin. Maria Ivanovna Vishnyakova had at first been a devotee of Rasputin, but later was disillusioned by him. Alexandra refused to believe Vishnyakova "and said that everything Rasputin does is holy". Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was told that Vishnyakova's claim had been immediately investigated, but "they caught the young woman in bed with a Cossack of the Imperial Guard." Vishnyakova was dismissed from her post in 1913.
It was whispered in society that Rasputin had seduced not only Alexandra but also the four grand duchesses. Rasputin had released ardent letters written to him by the tsarina and the grand duchesses, which circulated throughout society and fueled the rumors. Pornographic cartoons also circulated that depicted Rasputin having sexual relations with the tsarina, with her four daughters and Anna Vyrubova nude in the background. Nicholas ordered Rasputin to leave Saint Petersburg for a time, much to Alexandra's displeasure, and Rasputin went on a pilgrimage to Palestine.
Despite the scandal, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on 17 December 1916. "Our Friend is so contented with our girlies, says they have gone through heavy 'courses' for their age and their souls have much developed," Alexandra wrote to Nicholas on 6 December 1916. In his memoirs, A. A. Mordvinov reported that the four grand duchesses appeared "cold and visibly terribly upset" by Rasputin's death and sat "huddled up closely together" on a sofa in one of their bedrooms on the night they received the news. Mordvinov reported that the young women were in a gloomy mood and seemed to sense the political upheaval that was about to be unleashed. Rasputin was buried with an icon signed on its reverse side by the grand duchesses and their mother.
The imperial family's belief in Rasputin's healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court. Nicholas appointed Rasputin his lampadnik (lamplighter), charged with keeping the lamps lit before religious icons in the palace, which gained him regular access to the palace and imperial family. By December 1906, Rasputin had become close enough to ask a special favor of the tsar: that he be permitted to change his surname to Rasputin-Noviy (Rasputin-New). Nicholas granted the request and the name change was speedily processed, suggesting that Rasputin already had the tsar's favor at that early date. Rasputin used his position to full effect, accepting bribes and sexual favors from admirers and working diligently to expand his influence.
Rasputin soon became a controversial figure; he was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, was suspected of exerting undue political influence over the tsar and was even rumored to be having an affair with the tsarina. Opposition to Rasputin's influence grew within the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1907, the local clergy in Pokrovskoye denounced Rasputin as a heretic, and the Bishop of Tobolsk launched an inquest into his activities, accusing him of "spreading false, Khlyst-like doctrines". In Saint Petersburg, Rasputin faced opposition from even more prominent critics, including Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and the Okhrana, the tsar's secret police. Having ordered an investigation into Rasputin's activities, Stolypin confronted Nicholas but did not succeed in reining in Rasputin's influence or exiling him from Saint Petersburg. In 1909, Kehioniya Berlatskaya, one of Rasputin's early supporters, accused him of rape. Betlatskaya sought aid from Theofan, who became convinced that Rasputin was a danger to the monarchy. Rumors multiplied that Rasputin had assaulted female followers and behaved inappropriately on visits with the imperial family—and particularly with Nicholas's teenage daughters Olga and Tatiana.
During this period the First World War, the dissolution of feudalism and a meddling government bureaucracy all contributed to Russia's rapid economic decline. Many laid the blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. One outspoken member of the Duma, far-right politician Vladimir Purishkevich, stated in November 1916 that he held the tsar's ministers had "been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna—the evil genius of Russia and the Tsarina… who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to the country and its people". (The tsarina had been born a German princess.)
On 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1914, a 33-year-old peasant woman named Chionya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear if he would survive. After surgery and some time in a hospital in Tyumen, he recovered.
Guseva was a follower of Iliodor, a former priest who had supported Rasputin before denouncing his sexual escapades and self-aggrandizement in December 1911. A radical conservative and anti-semite, Iliodor had been part of a group of establishment figures who had attempted to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the imperial family in 1911. When this effort failed, Iliodor was banished from Saint Petersburg and was ultimately defrocked. Guseva claimed to have acted alone, having read about Rasputin in the newspapers and believing him to be a "false prophet and even an Antichrist". Both the police and Rasputin, however, believed that Iliodor had instigated the assassination attempt. Iliodor fled the country before he could be questioned, and Guseva was found to be not responsible for her actions by reason of insanity.
A group of nobles led by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Yusupov decided that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra threatened the Russian Empire. They concocted a plan in December 1916 to kill Rasputin, apparently by luring him to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace.
Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916 at the home of Prince Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Little is certain about his death beyond this, and the circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation. According to Smith, "what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known". The story that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events.
According to Yusupov's account, Rasputin was invited to his palace shortly after midnight and ushered into the basement. Yusupov offered tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. After initially refusing the cakes, Rasputin began to eat them and, to Yusupov's surprise, appeared unaffected by the poison. Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took a revolver from Pavlovich, then returned to the basement and told Rasputin that he'd "better look at the crucifix and say a prayer", referring to a crucifix in the room, then shot him once in the chest. The conspirators then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night. Upon returning to his palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin leaped up and attacked Yusupov, who freed himself with some effort and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed Yusupov into the palace's courtyard, where he was shot by Purishkevich. He collapsed into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped his body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Little Nevka river.
In an unsubstantiated claim, Grand Duchess Tatiana, who was earlier alleged to have been raped by Rasputin, was present at the site of Rasputin's murder, "disguised as a lieutenant of the Chevaliers-Gardes, so that she could revenge herself on Rasputin who had tried to violate her". Maurice Paléologue, the French ambassador to Russia, wrote that Tatiana had supposedly witnessed Rasputin's castration, but he doubted the credibility of the rumor.
In a modern analysis of Rasputin's death, published on the 100th anniversary of the event, Dr Carolyn Harris of the University of Toronto notes that the actual circumstances were apparently less dramatic than Yusupov's account. Rasputin's daughter recorded that her father disliked sweet food and would not have eaten the supposedly poisoned cakes. An autopsy account by the official surgeon involved has no record of poisoning or drowning but simply records death by a single bullet fired into the head at close range.
News of Rasputin's murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. According to Smith, Purishkevich spoke openly about the murder to two soldiers and to a policeman who was investigating reports of shots shortly after the event, but urged them not to tell anyone else. An investigation was launched the next morning. The Stock Exchange Gazette ran a report of Rasputin's death "after a party in one of the most aristocratic homes in the center of the city" on the afternoon of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916.
After two workmen discovered blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge and a boot on the ice below, police began searching the area. Rasputin's body was found under the river ice on 1 January (O.S. 19 December) approximately 200 meters downstream from the bridge. Dmitry Kosorotov, the city's senior autopsy surgeon, examined the body. Kosorotov's report was lost, but he later stated that Rasputin's body had shown signs of severe trauma, including three gunshot wounds (one at close range to the forehead), a slice wound to his left side and other injuries, many of which Kosorotov felt had been sustained post-mortem. Kosorotov found a single bullet in Rasputin's body but stated that it was too badly deformed and of a type too widely used to trace. He found no evidence that Rasputin had been poisoned. According to both Smith and Fuhrmann, Kosorotov found no water in Rasputin's lungs and reports that Rasputin had been thrown into the water alive were incorrect. Some later accounts claimed that Rasputin's penis had been severed, but Kosorotov found his genitals intact.
Rasputin was buried on 2 January (O.S. 21 December) at a small church that Vyrubova had been building at Tsarskoye Selo. The funeral was attended only by the imperial family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin's wife, mistress and children were not invited, although his daughters met with the imperial family at Vyrubova's home later that day. The imperial family planned to build a church over Rasputin's grave site. However, his body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers on the orders of Alexander Kerensky shortly after Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917, so that his grave would not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.
Rasputin's daughter, Maria Rasputin (born Matryona Rasputina; 1898–1977), emigrated to France after the October Revolution and then to the United States. There, she worked as a dancer and then a lion tamer in a circus. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (/ræˈspjuːtɪn/; Russian: Григорий Ефимович Распутин [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ rɐˈsputʲɪn]; 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic and holy man. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye, along the Tura River in the Tobolsk Governorate (now Tyumen Oblast) in the Russian Empire. According to official records, he was born on 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 and christened the following day. He was named for St. Gregory of Nyssa, whose feast was celebrated on 10 January.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "There are few records of Rasputin's parents. His father, Yefim (1842 – 1916), was a peasant farmer and church elder who had been born in Pokrovskoye and married Rasputin's mother, Anna Parshukova (c. 1840 – 1906), in 1863. Yefim also worked as a government courier, ferrying people and goods between Tobolsk and Tyumen. The couple had seven other children, all of whom died in infancy and early childhood; there may have been a ninth child, Feodosiya. According to historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin was certainly close to Feodosiya and was godfather to her children, but \"the records that have survived do not permit us to say more than that\".",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "According to historian Douglas Smith, Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are \"a black hole about which we know almost nothing\", though the lack of reliable sources and information did not stop others from fabricating stories about Rasputin's parents and his youth after his rise to prominence. Historians agree, however, that like most Siberian peasants, including his mother and father, Rasputin was not formally educated and remained illiterate well into his early adulthood. Local archival records suggest that he had a somewhat unruly youth—possibly involving drinking, small thefts and disrespect for local authorities—but contain no evidence of his being charged with stealing horses, blasphemy or bearing false witness, all major crimes later imputed to him as a young man.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In 1886, Rasputin traveled to Abalak, some 250 km east-northeast of Tyumen and 2,800 km east of Moscow, where he met a peasant girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. After a courtship of several months, they married in February 1887. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye throughout Rasputin's later travels and rise to prominence, and remained devoted to him until his death. The couple had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: Dmitry (b. 1895), Maria (b. 1898) and Varvara (b. 1900).",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and left Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage. His reasons are unclear; according to some sources, he left the village to escape punishment for his role in horse theft. Other sources suggest Rasputin had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, while still others suggest that his pilgrimage was inspired by a young theological student, Melity Zaborovsky. Whatever his reasons, Rasputin cast off his old life: he was 28 years old, married ten years, with an infant son and another child on the way. According to Smith, his decision \"could only have been occasioned by some sort of emotional or spiritual crisis\".",
"title": "Religious conversion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Rasputin had undertaken earlier, shorter pilgrimages to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and to Tobolsk's cathedral, but his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897 transformed him. There, he met and was \"profoundly humbled\" by a starets (elder) known as Makary. Rasputin may have spent several months at Verkhoturye, and it was perhaps here that he learned to read and write. However, he later claimed that some of the monks at Verkhotuyre engaged in homosexuality and criticized monastic life as too coercive. He returned to Pokrovskoye a changed man, looking disheveled and behaving differently. He became a vegetarian, swore off alcohol, and prayed and sang much more fervently than he had in the past.",
"title": "Religious conversion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Rasputin spent the years that followed as a strannik (a holy wanderer or pilgrim), leaving Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit a variety of holy sites. It is possible he wandered as far as Mount Athos—the center of Eastern Orthodox monastic life—in 1900.",
"title": "Religious conversion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a small circle of followers, primarily family members and other local peasants, who prayed with him on Sundays and other holy days when he was in Pokrovskoye. Building a makeshift chapel in Yefim's root cellar—Rasputin was still living within his father's household at the time—the group held secret prayer meetings there. These meetings were the subject of some suspicion and hostility from the village priest and other villagers. It was rumored that female followers were ceremonially washing Rasputin before each meeting, that the group sang strange songs, and even that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty, a religious sect whose ecstatic rituals were rumored to include self-flagellation and sexual orgies. According to Fuhrmann, however, \"repeated investigations failed to establish that Rasputin was ever a member of the sect\", and rumors that he was a Khlyst appear to have been unfounded.",
"title": "Religious conversion"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Word of Rasputin's activity and charisma began to spread in Siberia during the early 1900s. At some point during 1904 or 1905, he traveled to the city of Kazan, where he acquired a reputation as a wise starets who could help people resolve their spiritual crises and anxieties. Despite rumors that Rasputin was having sex with female followers, he made a favorable impression on several local religious leaders. Among these were Archimandrite Andrei and Bishop Chrysthanos, who gave Rasputin a letter of recommendation to Bishop Sergei, the rector of the theological seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and arranged for him to travel to Saint Petersburg.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Upon arriving at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Rasputin was introduced to church leaders, including Archimandrite Theofan, inspector of the theological seminary, who was well-connected in Saint Petersburg society and later served as confessor to the imperial family. Theofan was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home; he went on to become one of Rasputin's most important friends in Saint Petersburg, gaining him entry to many of the influential salons where the local aristocracy gathered for religious discussions. It was through these meetings that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers—many of whom would later turn against him.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Alternative religious movements such as spiritualism and theosophy had become popular among Saint Petersburg's aristocracy before Rasputin's arrival, and many of the aristocracy were intensely curious about the occult and the supernatural. Rasputin's ideas and \"strange manners\" made him the subject of intense curiosity among the city's elite, who according to Fuhrmann were \"bored, cynical, and seeking new experiences\" during this period. Rasputin's appeal may have been enhanced by the fact that he was also a native Russian, unlike other self-described \"holy men\" such as Nizier Anthelme Philippe and Gérard Encausse, who had previously been popular in Saint Petersburg.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "According to Fuhrmann, Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg for only a few months on his first visit and returned to Pokrovskoye in the fall of 1903. Smith, however, argues that it is impossible to know whether Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg or returned to Pokrovskoye at some point between his first arrival and 1905. Regardless, by 1905 Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the \"Black Princesses\", Militsa and Anastasia of Montenegro, who had married cousins of Tsar Nicholas II (Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky) and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to the tsar and his family.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Rasputin first met Nicholas on 1 November 1905, at the Peterhof Palace. The tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, had \"made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province\". Rasputin returned to Pokrovskoye shortly after their first meeting and did not return to Saint Petersburg until July 1906. On his return, he sent Nicholas a telegram asking to present the tsar with an icon of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye. He met with Nicholas and Alexandra on 18 July and again in October, when he first met their children.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "At some point, Nicholas and Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed the miraculous power to heal their only son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. Historians disagree over when this happened: according to Orlando Figes, Rasputin was first introduced to the tsar and tsarina as a healer who could help their son in November 1905, while Joseph T. Fuhrmann has speculated that it was in October 1906 that Rasputin was first asked to pray for the health of Alexei.",
"title": "Rise to prominence"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Much of Rasputin's influence with the imperial family stemmed from the belief by Alexandra and others that he had on several occasions eased Alexei's pain and stopped his bleeding. According to historian Marc Ferro, the tsarina had a \"passionate attachment\" to Rasputin, believing he could heal her son's affliction. Harold Shukman wrote that Rasputin became \"an indispensable member of the royal entourage\". It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei's haemophilia, or when he first acted as a healer. He may have been aware of Alexei's condition as early as October 1906, and was summoned by Alexandra to pray for the tsarevich when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning. Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter and became one of his most influential advocates.",
"title": "Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "In November 1906, Rasputin suddenly paid a visit to the Baratynsky family in Kazan and told them he could read people's minds. Olga Ilyin's description of Rasputin and his behavior in \"Visits to the Imperial Court\" is a small but no doubt valuable contribution to history.",
"title": "Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "At the very beginning of dinner, when Nastya was about to put a plate of soup in front of Rasputin, he wanted to get out a comb, and he began to run it through his oily hair. The plate was quickly cleared away, and Nastya waited with stony disdain for him to finish his task.",
"title": "Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the imperial hunting grounds at Spała, which caused a large hematoma. In severe pain and delirious with fever, the tsarevich appeared close to death. In desperation, Alexandra asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei. Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the tsarina that \"God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much.\" The next morning, Alexei's condition was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that he would survive. His bleeding stopped the following day. Dr. S. P. Fedorov, one of the physicians who attended Alexei, admitted that \"the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view.\" Later, Dr. Fedorov admitted that Alexandra could not be blamed for seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: \"Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time.... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?\"",
"title": "Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery \"one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend\". The cause of his recovery is unclear: Massie speculated that Rasputin's suggestion not to let doctors disturb Alexei had aided his recovery by allowing him to rest and heal, or that his message may have aided Alexei's recovery by calming his mother and reducing the tsarevich's emotional stress. Alexandra believed that Rasputin had performed a miracle, and concluded that he was essential to Alexei's survival. Some writers and historians, such as Ferro, claim that Rasputin stopped Alexei's bleeding on other occasions through hypnosis. Still other historians–including memoirist Pierre Gilliard, Alexei's French-language tutor–have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexei's bleeding by disallowing the administration of aspirin, then widely used to relieve pain, but unknown as an anti-clotting agent until the 1950s.",
"title": "Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Alexei and his siblings were also taught to view Rasputin as \"our friend\" and to share confidences with him. In the autumn of 1907, their aunt, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, was escorted to the nursery by Nicholas to meet Rasputin. Maria, her sisters and brother Alexei were all wearing their long white nightgowns. \"All the children seemed to like him,\" Olga Alexandrovna recalled. \"They were completely at ease with him.\"",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Rasputin's friendship with the tsar's children was evident in the messages he sent to them. \"My Dear Pearl M!\" Rasputin wrote the nine-year-old Maria in one telegram in 1908. \"Tell me how you talked with the sea, with nature! I miss your simple soul. We will see each other soon! A big kiss.\" In a second telegram, Rasputin told the child, \"My Dear M! My Little Friend! May the Lord help you to carry your cross with wisdom and joy in Christ. This world is like the day, look it's already evening. So it is with the cares of the world.\" In February 1909, Rasputin sent all of the children a telegram, advising them to, \"Love the whole of God's nature, the whole of His creation in particular this earth. The Mother of God was always occupied with flowers and needlework.\"",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "One of the girls' governesses, Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, was horrified in 1910 when Rasputin was permitted access to the nursery when the four girls were in their nightgowns. Tyutcheva wanted Rasputin barred from the nurseries. In response to her complaints, Nicholas asked Rasputin to end his nursery visits. \"I am so afr(aid) that S.I. [Tyutcheva] can speak ... about our friend something bad,\" Maria's twelve-year-old sister Tatiana wrote to her mother on 8 March 1910, after begging Alexandra to forgive her for doing something she did not like. \"I hope our nurse will be nice to our friend now.\" Alexandra eventually had Tyutcheva fired.",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Tyutcheva took her story to other members of the imperial family, who were scandalized by the reports, though Rasputin's contacts with the children were by all accounts completely innocent. Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, was horrified by Tyutcheva's story. Xenia wrote on 15 March 1910 that she could not understand \"...the attitude of Alix and the children to that sinister Grigory (whom they consider to be almost a saint, when in fact he's only a khlyst!) He's always there, goes into the nursery, visits Olga and Tatiana while they are getting ready for bed, sits there talking to them and caressing them. They are careful to hide him from Sofia Ivanovna, and the children don't dare talk to her about him. It's all quite unbelievable and beyond understanding.\"",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Another of the nursery governesses claimed in the spring of 1910 that she was raped by Rasputin. Maria Ivanovna Vishnyakova had at first been a devotee of Rasputin, but later was disillusioned by him. Alexandra refused to believe Vishnyakova \"and said that everything Rasputin does is holy\". Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was told that Vishnyakova's claim had been immediately investigated, but \"they caught the young woman in bed with a Cossack of the Imperial Guard.\" Vishnyakova was dismissed from her post in 1913.",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "It was whispered in society that Rasputin had seduced not only Alexandra but also the four grand duchesses. Rasputin had released ardent letters written to him by the tsarina and the grand duchesses, which circulated throughout society and fueled the rumors. Pornographic cartoons also circulated that depicted Rasputin having sexual relations with the tsarina, with her four daughters and Anna Vyrubova nude in the background. Nicholas ordered Rasputin to leave Saint Petersburg for a time, much to Alexandra's displeasure, and Rasputin went on a pilgrimage to Palestine.",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Despite the scandal, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on 17 December 1916. \"Our Friend is so contented with our girlies, says they have gone through heavy 'courses' for their age and their souls have much developed,\" Alexandra wrote to Nicholas on 6 December 1916. In his memoirs, A. A. Mordvinov reported that the four grand duchesses appeared \"cold and visibly terribly upset\" by Rasputin's death and sat \"huddled up closely together\" on a sofa in one of their bedrooms on the night they received the news. Mordvinov reported that the young women were in a gloomy mood and seemed to sense the political upheaval that was about to be unleashed. Rasputin was buried with an icon signed on its reverse side by the grand duchesses and their mother.",
"title": "Relationship with royalty's children"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The imperial family's belief in Rasputin's healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court. Nicholas appointed Rasputin his lampadnik (lamplighter), charged with keeping the lamps lit before religious icons in the palace, which gained him regular access to the palace and imperial family. By December 1906, Rasputin had become close enough to ask a special favor of the tsar: that he be permitted to change his surname to Rasputin-Noviy (Rasputin-New). Nicholas granted the request and the name change was speedily processed, suggesting that Rasputin already had the tsar's favor at that early date. Rasputin used his position to full effect, accepting bribes and sexual favors from admirers and working diligently to expand his influence.",
"title": "Controversies"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Rasputin soon became a controversial figure; he was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, was suspected of exerting undue political influence over the tsar and was even rumored to be having an affair with the tsarina. Opposition to Rasputin's influence grew within the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1907, the local clergy in Pokrovskoye denounced Rasputin as a heretic, and the Bishop of Tobolsk launched an inquest into his activities, accusing him of \"spreading false, Khlyst-like doctrines\". In Saint Petersburg, Rasputin faced opposition from even more prominent critics, including Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and the Okhrana, the tsar's secret police. Having ordered an investigation into Rasputin's activities, Stolypin confronted Nicholas but did not succeed in reining in Rasputin's influence or exiling him from Saint Petersburg. In 1909, Kehioniya Berlatskaya, one of Rasputin's early supporters, accused him of rape. Betlatskaya sought aid from Theofan, who became convinced that Rasputin was a danger to the monarchy. Rumors multiplied that Rasputin had assaulted female followers and behaved inappropriately on visits with the imperial family—and particularly with Nicholas's teenage daughters Olga and Tatiana.",
"title": "Controversies"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "During this period the First World War, the dissolution of feudalism and a meddling government bureaucracy all contributed to Russia's rapid economic decline. Many laid the blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. One outspoken member of the Duma, far-right politician Vladimir Purishkevich, stated in November 1916 that he held the tsar's ministers had \"been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna—the evil genius of Russia and the Tsarina… who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to the country and its people\". (The tsarina had been born a German princess.)",
"title": "Controversies"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "On 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1914, a 33-year-old peasant woman named Chionya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear if he would survive. After surgery and some time in a hospital in Tyumen, he recovered.",
"title": "Failed assassination attempt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Guseva was a follower of Iliodor, a former priest who had supported Rasputin before denouncing his sexual escapades and self-aggrandizement in December 1911. A radical conservative and anti-semite, Iliodor had been part of a group of establishment figures who had attempted to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the imperial family in 1911. When this effort failed, Iliodor was banished from Saint Petersburg and was ultimately defrocked. Guseva claimed to have acted alone, having read about Rasputin in the newspapers and believing him to be a \"false prophet and even an Antichrist\". Both the police and Rasputin, however, believed that Iliodor had instigated the assassination attempt. Iliodor fled the country before he could be questioned, and Guseva was found to be not responsible for her actions by reason of insanity.",
"title": "Failed assassination attempt"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "A group of nobles led by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Yusupov decided that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra threatened the Russian Empire. They concocted a plan in December 1916 to kill Rasputin, apparently by luring him to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916 at the home of Prince Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Little is certain about his death beyond this, and the circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation. According to Smith, \"what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known\". The story that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "According to Yusupov's account, Rasputin was invited to his palace shortly after midnight and ushered into the basement. Yusupov offered tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. After initially refusing the cakes, Rasputin began to eat them and, to Yusupov's surprise, appeared unaffected by the poison. Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took a revolver from Pavlovich, then returned to the basement and told Rasputin that he'd \"better look at the crucifix and say a prayer\", referring to a crucifix in the room, then shot him once in the chest. The conspirators then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night. Upon returning to his palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin leaped up and attacked Yusupov, who freed himself with some effort and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed Yusupov into the palace's courtyard, where he was shot by Purishkevich. He collapsed into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped his body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Little Nevka river.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "In an unsubstantiated claim, Grand Duchess Tatiana, who was earlier alleged to have been raped by Rasputin, was present at the site of Rasputin's murder, \"disguised as a lieutenant of the Chevaliers-Gardes, so that she could revenge herself on Rasputin who had tried to violate her\". Maurice Paléologue, the French ambassador to Russia, wrote that Tatiana had supposedly witnessed Rasputin's castration, but he doubted the credibility of the rumor.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "In a modern analysis of Rasputin's death, published on the 100th anniversary of the event, Dr Carolyn Harris of the University of Toronto notes that the actual circumstances were apparently less dramatic than Yusupov's account. Rasputin's daughter recorded that her father disliked sweet food and would not have eaten the supposedly poisoned cakes. An autopsy account by the official surgeon involved has no record of poisoning or drowning but simply records death by a single bullet fired into the head at close range.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "News of Rasputin's murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. According to Smith, Purishkevich spoke openly about the murder to two soldiers and to a policeman who was investigating reports of shots shortly after the event, but urged them not to tell anyone else. An investigation was launched the next morning. The Stock Exchange Gazette ran a report of Rasputin's death \"after a party in one of the most aristocratic homes in the center of the city\" on the afternoon of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "After two workmen discovered blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge and a boot on the ice below, police began searching the area. Rasputin's body was found under the river ice on 1 January (O.S. 19 December) approximately 200 meters downstream from the bridge. Dmitry Kosorotov, the city's senior autopsy surgeon, examined the body. Kosorotov's report was lost, but he later stated that Rasputin's body had shown signs of severe trauma, including three gunshot wounds (one at close range to the forehead), a slice wound to his left side and other injuries, many of which Kosorotov felt had been sustained post-mortem. Kosorotov found a single bullet in Rasputin's body but stated that it was too badly deformed and of a type too widely used to trace. He found no evidence that Rasputin had been poisoned. According to both Smith and Fuhrmann, Kosorotov found no water in Rasputin's lungs and reports that Rasputin had been thrown into the water alive were incorrect. Some later accounts claimed that Rasputin's penis had been severed, but Kosorotov found his genitals intact.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Rasputin was buried on 2 January (O.S. 21 December) at a small church that Vyrubova had been building at Tsarskoye Selo. The funeral was attended only by the imperial family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin's wife, mistress and children were not invited, although his daughters met with the imperial family at Vyrubova's home later that day. The imperial family planned to build a church over Rasputin's grave site. However, his body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers on the orders of Alexander Kerensky shortly after Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917, so that his grave would not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.",
"title": "Assassination"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Rasputin's daughter, Maria Rasputin (born Matryona Rasputina; 1898–1977), emigrated to France after the October Revolution and then to the United States. There, she worked as a dancer and then a lion tamer in a circus.",
"title": "Prominent children"
}
]
| Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic and holy man. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire. Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate. He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik, though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna. In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family. Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture. | 2001-11-06T00:27:49Z | 2023-11-29T20:26:05Z | [
"Template:Wikiquote",
"Template:Pp-move-indef",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:See",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:OldStyleDate",
"Template:Ndash",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:EB1922 Poster",
"Template:Nbsp",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:OL author",
"Template:Internet Archive author",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Family name hatnote",
"Template:IPAc-en",
"Template:Lang-ru",
"Template:IPA-ru",
"Template:ISBN?",
"Template:Refn",
"Template:Commons",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Pp-semi-indef",
"Template:Infobox Christian leader",
"Template:Blockquote",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:PM20"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin |
12,806 | Gemstone | A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones.
Found all over the world, the industry of coloured gemstones (this meaning anything other than diamonds) is currently estimated to be around 10–12 billion US dollars.
Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire.
The traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious; similar distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern use, the precious stones are emerald, ruby, sapphire and diamond, with all other gemstones being semi-precious. This distinction reflects the rarity of the respective stones in ancient times, as well as their quality: all are translucent with fine color in their purest forms, except for the colorless diamond, and very hard, with hardnesses of 8 to 10 on the Mohs scale. Other stones are classified by their color, translucency, and hardness. The traditional distinction does not necessarily reflect modern values; for example, while garnets are relatively inexpensive, a green garnet called tsavorite can be far more valuable than a mid-quality emerald. Another traditional term for semi-precious gemstones used in art history and archaeology is hardstone. Use of the terms 'precious' and 'semi-precious' in a commercial context is, arguably, misleading in that it suggests certain stones are more valuable than others when this is not reflected in the actual market value, although it would generally be correct if referring to desirability.
In modern times gemstones are identified by gemologists, who describe gems and their characteristics using technical terminology specific to the field of gemology. The first characteristic a gemologist uses to identify a gemstone is its chemical composition. For example, diamonds are made of carbon (C) and rubies of aluminium oxide (Al2O3). Many gems are crystals which are classified by their crystal system such as cubic or trigonal or monoclinic. Another term used is habit, the form the gem is usually found in. For example, diamonds, which have a cubic crystal system, are often found as octahedrons.
Gemstones are classified into different groups, species, and varieties. For example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the emerald (green), aquamarine (blue), red beryl (red), goshenite (colorless), heliodor (yellow), and morganite (pink), which are all varieties of the mineral species beryl.
Gems are characterized in terms of refractive index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture and luster. They may exhibit pleochroism or double refraction. They may have luminescence and a distinctive absorption spectrum.
Material or flaws within a stone may be present as inclusions.
Gemstones may also be classified in terms of their "water". This is a recognized grading of the gem's luster, transparency, or "brilliance". Very transparent gems are considered "first water", while "second" or "third water" gems are those of a lesser transparency.
Gemstones have no universally accepted grading system. Diamonds are graded using a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in the early 1950s. Historically, all gemstones were graded using the naked eye. The GIA system included a major innovation: the introduction of 10x magnification as the standard for grading clarity. Other gemstones are still graded using the naked eye (assuming 20/20 vision).
A mnemonic device, the "four Cs" (color, cut, clarity, and carats), has been introduced to help describe the factors used to grade a diamond. With modification, these categories can be useful in understanding the grading of all gemstones. The four criteria carry different weights depending upon whether they are applied to colored gemstones or to colorless diamonds. In diamonds, the cut is the primary determinant of value, followed by clarity and color. The ideal cut diamond will sparkle, to break down light into its constituent rainbow colors (dispersion), chop it up into bright little pieces (scintillation), and deliver it to the eye (brilliance). In its rough crystalline form, a diamond will do none of these things; it requires proper fashioning and this is called "cut". In gemstones that have color, including colored diamonds, the purity, and beauty of that color is the primary determinant of quality.
Physical characteristics that make a colored stone valuable are color, clarity to a lesser extent (emeralds will always have a number of inclusions), cut, unusual optical phenomena within the stone such as color zoning (the uneven distribution of coloring within a gem) and asteria (star effects). Ancient Greeks, for example, greatly valued asteria gemstones, which they regarded as powerful love charms, and Helen of Troy was supposed to have worn star-corundum.
Aside from the diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald, the pearl (not, strictly speaking, a gemstone) and opal have also been considered to be precious. Up to the discoveries of bulk amethyst in Brazil in the 19th century, amethyst was considered a "precious stone" as well, going back to ancient Greece. Even in the last century certain stones such as aquamarine, peridot and cat's eye (cymophane) have been popular and hence been regarded as precious.
Today the gemstone trade no longer makes such a distinction. Many gemstones are used in even the most expensive jewelry, depending on the brand-name of the designer, fashion trends, market supply, treatments, etc. Nevertheless, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds still have a reputation that exceeds those of other gemstones.
Rare or unusual gemstones, generally understood to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are scarcely known except to connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite and red beryl.
Gemstone pricing and value are governed by factors and characteristics in the quality of the stone. These characteristics include clarity, rarity, freedom from defects, the beauty of the stone, as well as the demand for such stones. There are different pricing influencers for both colored gemstones, and for diamonds. The pricing on colored stones is determined by market supply-and-demand, but diamonds are more intricate. Diamond value can change based on location, time, and on the evaluations of diamond vendors.
Proponents of energy medicine also value gemstones on the basis of alleged healing powers.
There are a number of laboratories which grade and provide reports on gemstones.
Each laboratory has its own methodology to evaluate gemstones. A stone can be called "pink" by one lab while another lab calls it "padparadscha". One lab can conclude a stone is untreated, while another lab might conclude that it is heat-treated. To minimize such differences, seven of the most respected labs, AGTA-GTL (New York), CISGEM (Milano), GAAJ-ZENHOKYO (Tokyo), GIA (Carlsbad), GIT (Bangkok), Gübelin (Lucerne) and SSEF (Basel), have established the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC), for the standardization of wording reports, promotion of certain analytical methods and interpretation of results. Country of origin has sometimes been difficult to determine, due to the constant discovery of new source locations. Determining a "country of origin" is thus much more difficult than determining other aspects of a gem (such as cut, clarity, etc.).
Another important new gemstone that has been rising in popularity is Cuprian Elbaite Tourmaline which are also called "Paraiba Tourmaline". Paraiba tourmaline were first discovered in early 1990 and recently in 2007 in Mozambique, Africa. They are famous for their Glowing Neon Blue Color. Paraiba Tourmaline have become one of the most popular gemstones in recent times thanks to their unique color and recently considered to be one of the important gemstones after Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire according to Gübelin Gemlab. Even though it is a tourmaline, paraiba are considered to be one of the most expensive gemstones.
Gem dealers are aware of the differences between gem laboratories and will make use of the discrepancies to obtain the best possible certificate.
A few gemstones are used as gems in the crystal or other forms in which they are found. Most, however, are cut and polished for usage as jewelry. The two main classifications are stones cut as smooth, dome-shaped stones called cabochons, and stones which are cut with a faceting machine by polishing small flat windows called facets at regular intervals at exact angles.
Stones which are opaque or semi-opaque such as opal, turquoise, variscite, etc. are commonly cut as cabochons. These gems are designed to show the stone's color or surface properties as in opal and star sapphires. Grinding wheels and polishing agents are used to grind, shape and polish the smooth dome shape of the stones.
Gems that are transparent are normally faceted, a method that shows the optical properties of the stone's interior to its best advantage by maximizing reflected light which is perceived by the viewer as sparkle. There are many commonly used shapes for faceted stones. The facets must be cut at the proper angles, which varies depending on the optical properties of the gem. If the angles are too steep or too shallow, the light will pass through and not be reflected back toward the viewer. The faceting machine is used to hold the stone onto a flat lap for cutting and polishing the flat facets. Rarely, some cutters use special curved laps to cut and polish curved facets.
The color of any material is due to the nature of light itself. Daylight, often called white light, is all of the colors of the spectrum combined. When light strikes a material, most of the light is absorbed while a smaller amount of a particular frequency or wavelength is reflected. The part that is reflected reaches the eye as the perceived color. A ruby appears red because it absorbs all the other colors of white light while reflecting the red.
A material which is mostly the same can exhibit different colors. For example, ruby and sapphire have the same primary chemical composition (both are corundum) but exhibit different colors because of impurities. Even the same named gemstone can occur in many different colors: sapphires show different shades of blue and pink and "fancy sapphires" exhibit a whole range of other colors from yellow to orange-pink, the latter called "padparadscha sapphire".
This difference in color is based on the atomic structure of the stone. Although the different stones formally have the same chemical composition and structure, they are not exactly the same. Every now and then an atom is replaced by a completely different atom, sometimes as few as one in a million atoms. These so-called impurities are sufficient to absorb certain colors and leave the other colors unaffected.
For example, beryl, which is colorless in its pure mineral form, becomes emerald with chromium impurities. If manganese is added instead of chromium, beryl becomes pink morganite. With iron, it becomes aquamarine.
Some gemstone treatments make use of the fact that these impurities can be "manipulated", thus changing the color of the gem.
Gemstones are often treated to enhance the color or clarity of the stone. In some cases, the treatment applied to the gemstone can also increase its durability. Even though natural gemstones can be transformed using the traditional method of cutting and polishing, other treatment options allow the stone's appearance to be enhanced. Depending on the type and extent of treatment, they can affect the value of the stone. Some treatments are used widely because the resulting gem is stable, while others are not accepted most commonly because the gem color is unstable and may revert to the original tone.
Before the innovation of modern-day tools, thousands of years ago, people were recorded to use a variety of techniques to treat and enhance gemstones. Some of the earliest methods of gemstone treatment date back to the Minoan Age, for example, foiling, which is where metal foil is used to enhance a gemstone's colour. Other methods that were recorded 2000 years ago in the book Natural History written by Pliny the Elder include oiling and dyeing/staining.
Heat can either improve or spoil gemstone color or clarity. The heating process has been well known to gem miners and cutters for centuries, and in many stone types heating is a common practice. Most citrine is made by heating amethyst, and partial heating with a strong gradient results in "ametrine" – a stone partly amethyst and partly citrine. Aquamarine is often heated to remove yellow tones, or to change green colors into the more desirable blue, or enhance its existing blue color to a deeper blue.
Nearly all tanzanite is heated at low temperatures to remove brown undertones and give a more desirable blue / purple color. A considerable portion of all sapphire and ruby is treated with a variety of heat treatments to improve both color and clarity.
When jewelry containing diamonds is heated for repairs, the diamond should be protected with boric acid; otherwise, the diamond, which is pure carbon, could be burned on the surface or even burned completely up. When jewelry containing sapphires or rubies is heated, those stones should not be coated with boric acid (which can etch the surface) or any other substance. They do not have to be protected from burning, like a diamond (although the stones do need to be protected from heat stress fracture by immersing the part of the jewelry with stones in the water when metal parts are heated).
The irradiation process is widely practiced in jewelry industry and enabled the creation of gemstone colors that do not exist or are extremely rare in nature. However, particularly when done in a nuclear reactor, the processes can make gemstones radioactive. Health risks related to the residual radioactivity of the treated gemstones have led to government regulations in many countries.
Virtually all blue topaz, both the lighter and the darker blue shades such as "London" blue, has been irradiated to change the color from white to blue. Most green quartz (Oro Verde) are also irradiated to achieve the yellow-green color. Diamonds are mainly irradiated to become blue-green or green, although other colors are possible. When light-to-medium-yellow diamonds are treated with gamma rays they may become green; with a high-energy electron beam, blue.
Emeralds containing natural fissures are sometimes filled with wax or oil to disguise them. This wax or oil is also colored to make the emerald appear of better color as well as clarity. Turquoise is also commonly treated in a similar manner.
Fracture filling has been in use with different gemstones such as diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. In 2006 "glass-filled rubies" received publicity. Rubies over 10 carats (2 g) with large fractures were filled with lead glass, thus dramatically improving the appearance (of larger rubies in particular). Such treatments are fairly easy to detect.
Another treatment method that is commonly used to treat gemstones is bleaching. This method uses a chemical in order to reduce the colour of the gem. After bleaching, a combination treatment can be done by dying the gemstone once the unwanted colours are removed. Hydrogen peroxide is the most commonly used product used to alter gemstones and have notably been used to treat jade and pearls. The treatment of bleaching can also be followed by impregnation, which allows the gemstone's durability to be increased.
Synthetic gemstones are distinct from imitation or simulated gems.
Synthetic gems are physically, optically, and chemically identical to the natural stone, but are created in a laboratory. Imitation or simulated stones are chemically different from the natural stone, but may appear quite similar to it; they can be more easily manufactured synthetic gemstones of a different mineral (spinel), glass, plastic, resins, or other compounds.
Examples of simulated or imitation stones include cubic zirconia, composed of zirconium oxide, synthetic moissanite, and uncolored, synthetic corundum or spinels; all of which are diamond simulants. The simulants imitate the look and color of the real stone but possess neither their chemical nor physical characteristics. In general, all are less hard than diamond. Moissanite actually has a higher refractive index than diamond, and when presented beside an equivalently sized and cut diamond will show more "fire".
Cultured, synthetic, or "lab-created" gemstones are not imitations: The bulk mineral and trace coloring elements are the same in both. For example, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds have been manufactured in labs that possess chemical and physical characteristics identical to the naturally occurring variety. Synthetic (lab created) corundum, including ruby and sapphire, is very common and costs much less than the natural stones. Small synthetic diamonds have been manufactured in large quantities as industrial abrasives, although larger gem-quality synthetic diamonds are becoming available in multiple carats.
Whether a gemstone is a natural stone or synthetic, the chemical, physical, and optical characteristics are the same: They are composed of the same mineral and are colored by the same trace materials, have the same hardness and density and strength, and show the same color spectrum, refractive index, and birefringence (if any). Lab-created stones tend to have a more vivid color since impurities common in natural stones are not present in the synthetic stone. Synthetics are made free of common naturally occurring impurities that reduce gem clarity or color unless intentionally added in order to provide a more drab, natural appearance, or to deceive an assayer. On the other hand, synthetics often show flaws not seen in natural stones, such as minute particles of corroded metal from lab trays used during synthesis.
Some gemstones are more difficult to synthesize than others and not all stones are commercially viable to attempt to synthesize. These are the most common on the market currently.
Includes ruby (red variation) and sapphire (other color variations) both of which are considered highly desired and valued. Ruby was the first gemstone to be synthesized by Auguste Verneuil with his development of the flame-fusion process in 1902. Synthetic corundum continues to be made typically by flame-fusion as it is most cost-effective, but can also be produced through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.
The most common synthesized beryl is emerald (green). Yellow, red and blue beryls are possible but much more rare. Synthetic emerald became possible with the development of the flux growth process and is produced in this way and well as hydrothermal growth.
Types of synthetic quartz include citrine, rose quartz, and amethyst. Natural occurring quartz is not rare is synthetically produced as it has practical application outside of aesthetic purposes. Quartz generates an electric current when under pressure and is used in watches, clocks, and oscillators.
Synthetic spinel was first produced by accident. It can be created in any color making it popular to simulate various natural gemstones. It is created through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.
There are mainly two categories for creation of these minerals, melt or solution processes.
Flame fusion process was the first process used which successfully created large quantities of synthetic gemstones to be sold on the market. This remains the most cost effective and common method of creating corundums today.
The flame fusion process is completed in a Verneuil furnace. The furnace consists of an inverted blowpipe burner which produces an extremely hot oxyhydrogen flame, a powder dispenser, and a ceramic pedestal. A chemical powder which corresponds to the desired gemstone is passed through this flames. This melts the ingredients which drop on to a plate and solidify into a crystal called a Boule. For corundum the flame must be 2000 °C. This process takes hours and yields a crystal with the same properties as its natural counterpart.
To produce corundum, a pure aluminium powder is used with different additives to achieve different colors.
In 1918 this process was developed by J. Czocharalski and is also referred to as the "crystal pulling" method. In this process, the required gemstone materials are added to a crucible. A seed stone is placed into the melt in the crucible. As the gem begins to crystallize on the seed, the seed is pulled away and the gem continues to grow. This is used for corundum but is currently the least popular method.
Flux growth process was the first process which was able to synthesize emerald. Flux growth begins with a crucible which can withstand high heat; either graphite or platinum which is filled with a molten liquid referred to as flux. The specific gem ingredients are added and dissolved in this fluid and recrystallize to form the desired gemstone.This is a longer process compared to the flame fusion process and can take two months up to a year depending on the desired final size.
Hydrothermal growth process attempts to imitate the natural growth process of minerals. The required gem materials are sealed in a container of water and placed under extreme pressure. The water is heated beyond its boiling point which allows normally insoluble materials to dissolve. As more material cannot be added once the container is sealed, in order to create a larger gem the process would begin with a "seed" stone from a previous batch which the new material will crystallize on. This process takes a few weeks to complete.
Synthetic gemstones share chemical and physical properties with natural gemstones but there are some slight differences that can be used to discern synthetic from real. These differences are slight and often require microscopy as a tool to distinguish differences. Undetectable synthetics pose a threat to the market if they are able to be sold as real rare gemstones. Because of this there are certain characteristic gemologists look for. Each crystal is characteristic to the environment and growth process under which it was created.
Gemstones created from the flame-fusion process may have
Gemstones created from flux melt process may have
Gemstones created from hydrothermal growth may have
Prior to development of synthesising processes the alternatives on the market to natural gemstones were imitations or fake. It was in 1837 that the first successful synthesis of ruby occurred. French chemist Marc Gaudin managed to produce small crystals of ruby from melting together potassium aluminium sulphate and potassium chromate through what would later be known as the flux melt process. Following this, another French chemist Fremy was able to grow large quantities of small ruby crystals using a lead flux.
A few years later an alternative to flux melt was developed which led to the introduction of what was labeled "reconstructed ruby" to the market. Reconstructed ruby was sold as a process which produced larger rubies from melting together bits of natural ruby. In later attempts to recreate this process it was found to not be possible and is believed reconstructed rubies were most likely created using a multi-step method of melting of ruby powder.
Auguste Verneuil a student of Fremy went on to develop flame-fusion as an alternative to the flux-melt method. He developed large furnaces which were able to produce large quantities of corundums more efficiently and shifted the gemstone market dramatically. This process is still used today and the furnaces have not changed much from the original design. World production of corundum using this method reaches 1000 million carats a year.
French singer-songwriter Nolwenn Leroy was inspired by the gemstones for her 2017 album Gemme (meaning gemstone in French) and the single of the same name.
Land of the Lustrous is an anime and manga series whose main characters are depicted as humanoid gemstones. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Found all over the world, the industry of coloured gemstones (this meaning anything other than diamonds) is currently estimated to be around 10–12 billion US dollars.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "The traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious; similar distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern use, the precious stones are emerald, ruby, sapphire and diamond, with all other gemstones being semi-precious. This distinction reflects the rarity of the respective stones in ancient times, as well as their quality: all are translucent with fine color in their purest forms, except for the colorless diamond, and very hard, with hardnesses of 8 to 10 on the Mohs scale. Other stones are classified by their color, translucency, and hardness. The traditional distinction does not necessarily reflect modern values; for example, while garnets are relatively inexpensive, a green garnet called tsavorite can be far more valuable than a mid-quality emerald. Another traditional term for semi-precious gemstones used in art history and archaeology is hardstone. Use of the terms 'precious' and 'semi-precious' in a commercial context is, arguably, misleading in that it suggests certain stones are more valuable than others when this is not reflected in the actual market value, although it would generally be correct if referring to desirability.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "In modern times gemstones are identified by gemologists, who describe gems and their characteristics using technical terminology specific to the field of gemology. The first characteristic a gemologist uses to identify a gemstone is its chemical composition. For example, diamonds are made of carbon (C) and rubies of aluminium oxide (Al2O3). Many gems are crystals which are classified by their crystal system such as cubic or trigonal or monoclinic. Another term used is habit, the form the gem is usually found in. For example, diamonds, which have a cubic crystal system, are often found as octahedrons.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Gemstones are classified into different groups, species, and varieties. For example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the emerald (green), aquamarine (blue), red beryl (red), goshenite (colorless), heliodor (yellow), and morganite (pink), which are all varieties of the mineral species beryl.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Gems are characterized in terms of refractive index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture and luster. They may exhibit pleochroism or double refraction. They may have luminescence and a distinctive absorption spectrum.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "Material or flaws within a stone may be present as inclusions.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "Gemstones may also be classified in terms of their \"water\". This is a recognized grading of the gem's luster, transparency, or \"brilliance\". Very transparent gems are considered \"first water\", while \"second\" or \"third water\" gems are those of a lesser transparency.",
"title": "Characteristics and classification"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Gemstones have no universally accepted grading system. Diamonds are graded using a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in the early 1950s. Historically, all gemstones were graded using the naked eye. The GIA system included a major innovation: the introduction of 10x magnification as the standard for grading clarity. Other gemstones are still graded using the naked eye (assuming 20/20 vision).",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "A mnemonic device, the \"four Cs\" (color, cut, clarity, and carats), has been introduced to help describe the factors used to grade a diamond. With modification, these categories can be useful in understanding the grading of all gemstones. The four criteria carry different weights depending upon whether they are applied to colored gemstones or to colorless diamonds. In diamonds, the cut is the primary determinant of value, followed by clarity and color. The ideal cut diamond will sparkle, to break down light into its constituent rainbow colors (dispersion), chop it up into bright little pieces (scintillation), and deliver it to the eye (brilliance). In its rough crystalline form, a diamond will do none of these things; it requires proper fashioning and this is called \"cut\". In gemstones that have color, including colored diamonds, the purity, and beauty of that color is the primary determinant of quality.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Physical characteristics that make a colored stone valuable are color, clarity to a lesser extent (emeralds will always have a number of inclusions), cut, unusual optical phenomena within the stone such as color zoning (the uneven distribution of coloring within a gem) and asteria (star effects). Ancient Greeks, for example, greatly valued asteria gemstones, which they regarded as powerful love charms, and Helen of Troy was supposed to have worn star-corundum.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Aside from the diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald, the pearl (not, strictly speaking, a gemstone) and opal have also been considered to be precious. Up to the discoveries of bulk amethyst in Brazil in the 19th century, amethyst was considered a \"precious stone\" as well, going back to ancient Greece. Even in the last century certain stones such as aquamarine, peridot and cat's eye (cymophane) have been popular and hence been regarded as precious.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Today the gemstone trade no longer makes such a distinction. Many gemstones are used in even the most expensive jewelry, depending on the brand-name of the designer, fashion trends, market supply, treatments, etc. Nevertheless, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds still have a reputation that exceeds those of other gemstones.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "Rare or unusual gemstones, generally understood to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are scarcely known except to connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite and red beryl.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "Gemstone pricing and value are governed by factors and characteristics in the quality of the stone. These characteristics include clarity, rarity, freedom from defects, the beauty of the stone, as well as the demand for such stones. There are different pricing influencers for both colored gemstones, and for diamonds. The pricing on colored stones is determined by market supply-and-demand, but diamonds are more intricate. Diamond value can change based on location, time, and on the evaluations of diamond vendors.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Proponents of energy medicine also value gemstones on the basis of alleged healing powers.",
"title": "Value"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "There are a number of laboratories which grade and provide reports on gemstones.",
"title": "Grading"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "Each laboratory has its own methodology to evaluate gemstones. A stone can be called \"pink\" by one lab while another lab calls it \"padparadscha\". One lab can conclude a stone is untreated, while another lab might conclude that it is heat-treated. To minimize such differences, seven of the most respected labs, AGTA-GTL (New York), CISGEM (Milano), GAAJ-ZENHOKYO (Tokyo), GIA (Carlsbad), GIT (Bangkok), Gübelin (Lucerne) and SSEF (Basel), have established the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC), for the standardization of wording reports, promotion of certain analytical methods and interpretation of results. Country of origin has sometimes been difficult to determine, due to the constant discovery of new source locations. Determining a \"country of origin\" is thus much more difficult than determining other aspects of a gem (such as cut, clarity, etc.).",
"title": "Grading"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "Another important new gemstone that has been rising in popularity is Cuprian Elbaite Tourmaline which are also called \"Paraiba Tourmaline\". Paraiba tourmaline were first discovered in early 1990 and recently in 2007 in Mozambique, Africa. They are famous for their Glowing Neon Blue Color. Paraiba Tourmaline have become one of the most popular gemstones in recent times thanks to their unique color and recently considered to be one of the important gemstones after Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire according to Gübelin Gemlab. Even though it is a tourmaline, paraiba are considered to be one of the most expensive gemstones.",
"title": "Grading"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Gem dealers are aware of the differences between gem laboratories and will make use of the discrepancies to obtain the best possible certificate.",
"title": "Grading"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "A few gemstones are used as gems in the crystal or other forms in which they are found. Most, however, are cut and polished for usage as jewelry. The two main classifications are stones cut as smooth, dome-shaped stones called cabochons, and stones which are cut with a faceting machine by polishing small flat windows called facets at regular intervals at exact angles.",
"title": "Cutting and polishing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "Stones which are opaque or semi-opaque such as opal, turquoise, variscite, etc. are commonly cut as cabochons. These gems are designed to show the stone's color or surface properties as in opal and star sapphires. Grinding wheels and polishing agents are used to grind, shape and polish the smooth dome shape of the stones.",
"title": "Cutting and polishing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "Gems that are transparent are normally faceted, a method that shows the optical properties of the stone's interior to its best advantage by maximizing reflected light which is perceived by the viewer as sparkle. There are many commonly used shapes for faceted stones. The facets must be cut at the proper angles, which varies depending on the optical properties of the gem. If the angles are too steep or too shallow, the light will pass through and not be reflected back toward the viewer. The faceting machine is used to hold the stone onto a flat lap for cutting and polishing the flat facets. Rarely, some cutters use special curved laps to cut and polish curved facets.",
"title": "Cutting and polishing"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "The color of any material is due to the nature of light itself. Daylight, often called white light, is all of the colors of the spectrum combined. When light strikes a material, most of the light is absorbed while a smaller amount of a particular frequency or wavelength is reflected. The part that is reflected reaches the eye as the perceived color. A ruby appears red because it absorbs all the other colors of white light while reflecting the red.",
"title": "Colors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "A material which is mostly the same can exhibit different colors. For example, ruby and sapphire have the same primary chemical composition (both are corundum) but exhibit different colors because of impurities. Even the same named gemstone can occur in many different colors: sapphires show different shades of blue and pink and \"fancy sapphires\" exhibit a whole range of other colors from yellow to orange-pink, the latter called \"padparadscha sapphire\".",
"title": "Colors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "This difference in color is based on the atomic structure of the stone. Although the different stones formally have the same chemical composition and structure, they are not exactly the same. Every now and then an atom is replaced by a completely different atom, sometimes as few as one in a million atoms. These so-called impurities are sufficient to absorb certain colors and leave the other colors unaffected.",
"title": "Colors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "For example, beryl, which is colorless in its pure mineral form, becomes emerald with chromium impurities. If manganese is added instead of chromium, beryl becomes pink morganite. With iron, it becomes aquamarine.",
"title": "Colors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Some gemstone treatments make use of the fact that these impurities can be \"manipulated\", thus changing the color of the gem.",
"title": "Colors"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "Gemstones are often treated to enhance the color or clarity of the stone. In some cases, the treatment applied to the gemstone can also increase its durability. Even though natural gemstones can be transformed using the traditional method of cutting and polishing, other treatment options allow the stone's appearance to be enhanced. Depending on the type and extent of treatment, they can affect the value of the stone. Some treatments are used widely because the resulting gem is stable, while others are not accepted most commonly because the gem color is unstable and may revert to the original tone.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "Before the innovation of modern-day tools, thousands of years ago, people were recorded to use a variety of techniques to treat and enhance gemstones. Some of the earliest methods of gemstone treatment date back to the Minoan Age, for example, foiling, which is where metal foil is used to enhance a gemstone's colour. Other methods that were recorded 2000 years ago in the book Natural History written by Pliny the Elder include oiling and dyeing/staining.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "Heat can either improve or spoil gemstone color or clarity. The heating process has been well known to gem miners and cutters for centuries, and in many stone types heating is a common practice. Most citrine is made by heating amethyst, and partial heating with a strong gradient results in \"ametrine\" – a stone partly amethyst and partly citrine. Aquamarine is often heated to remove yellow tones, or to change green colors into the more desirable blue, or enhance its existing blue color to a deeper blue.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Nearly all tanzanite is heated at low temperatures to remove brown undertones and give a more desirable blue / purple color. A considerable portion of all sapphire and ruby is treated with a variety of heat treatments to improve both color and clarity.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "When jewelry containing diamonds is heated for repairs, the diamond should be protected with boric acid; otherwise, the diamond, which is pure carbon, could be burned on the surface or even burned completely up. When jewelry containing sapphires or rubies is heated, those stones should not be coated with boric acid (which can etch the surface) or any other substance. They do not have to be protected from burning, like a diamond (although the stones do need to be protected from heat stress fracture by immersing the part of the jewelry with stones in the water when metal parts are heated).",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "The irradiation process is widely practiced in jewelry industry and enabled the creation of gemstone colors that do not exist or are extremely rare in nature. However, particularly when done in a nuclear reactor, the processes can make gemstones radioactive. Health risks related to the residual radioactivity of the treated gemstones have led to government regulations in many countries.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "Virtually all blue topaz, both the lighter and the darker blue shades such as \"London\" blue, has been irradiated to change the color from white to blue. Most green quartz (Oro Verde) are also irradiated to achieve the yellow-green color. Diamonds are mainly irradiated to become blue-green or green, although other colors are possible. When light-to-medium-yellow diamonds are treated with gamma rays they may become green; with a high-energy electron beam, blue.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Emeralds containing natural fissures are sometimes filled with wax or oil to disguise them. This wax or oil is also colored to make the emerald appear of better color as well as clarity. Turquoise is also commonly treated in a similar manner.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "Fracture filling has been in use with different gemstones such as diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. In 2006 \"glass-filled rubies\" received publicity. Rubies over 10 carats (2 g) with large fractures were filled with lead glass, thus dramatically improving the appearance (of larger rubies in particular). Such treatments are fairly easy to detect.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Another treatment method that is commonly used to treat gemstones is bleaching. This method uses a chemical in order to reduce the colour of the gem. After bleaching, a combination treatment can be done by dying the gemstone once the unwanted colours are removed. Hydrogen peroxide is the most commonly used product used to alter gemstones and have notably been used to treat jade and pearls. The treatment of bleaching can also be followed by impregnation, which allows the gemstone's durability to be increased.",
"title": "Treatment"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Synthetic gemstones are distinct from imitation or simulated gems.",
"title": "Synthetic and artificial gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "Synthetic gems are physically, optically, and chemically identical to the natural stone, but are created in a laboratory. Imitation or simulated stones are chemically different from the natural stone, but may appear quite similar to it; they can be more easily manufactured synthetic gemstones of a different mineral (spinel), glass, plastic, resins, or other compounds.",
"title": "Synthetic and artificial gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Examples of simulated or imitation stones include cubic zirconia, composed of zirconium oxide, synthetic moissanite, and uncolored, synthetic corundum or spinels; all of which are diamond simulants. The simulants imitate the look and color of the real stone but possess neither their chemical nor physical characteristics. In general, all are less hard than diamond. Moissanite actually has a higher refractive index than diamond, and when presented beside an equivalently sized and cut diamond will show more \"fire\".",
"title": "Synthetic and artificial gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Cultured, synthetic, or \"lab-created\" gemstones are not imitations: The bulk mineral and trace coloring elements are the same in both. For example, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds have been manufactured in labs that possess chemical and physical characteristics identical to the naturally occurring variety. Synthetic (lab created) corundum, including ruby and sapphire, is very common and costs much less than the natural stones. Small synthetic diamonds have been manufactured in large quantities as industrial abrasives, although larger gem-quality synthetic diamonds are becoming available in multiple carats.",
"title": "Synthetic and artificial gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "Whether a gemstone is a natural stone or synthetic, the chemical, physical, and optical characteristics are the same: They are composed of the same mineral and are colored by the same trace materials, have the same hardness and density and strength, and show the same color spectrum, refractive index, and birefringence (if any). Lab-created stones tend to have a more vivid color since impurities common in natural stones are not present in the synthetic stone. Synthetics are made free of common naturally occurring impurities that reduce gem clarity or color unless intentionally added in order to provide a more drab, natural appearance, or to deceive an assayer. On the other hand, synthetics often show flaws not seen in natural stones, such as minute particles of corroded metal from lab trays used during synthesis.",
"title": "Synthetic and artificial gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Some gemstones are more difficult to synthesize than others and not all stones are commercially viable to attempt to synthesize. These are the most common on the market currently.",
"title": "Types of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "Includes ruby (red variation) and sapphire (other color variations) both of which are considered highly desired and valued. Ruby was the first gemstone to be synthesized by Auguste Verneuil with his development of the flame-fusion process in 1902. Synthetic corundum continues to be made typically by flame-fusion as it is most cost-effective, but can also be produced through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.",
"title": "Types of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "The most common synthesized beryl is emerald (green). Yellow, red and blue beryls are possible but much more rare. Synthetic emerald became possible with the development of the flux growth process and is produced in this way and well as hydrothermal growth.",
"title": "Types of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "Types of synthetic quartz include citrine, rose quartz, and amethyst. Natural occurring quartz is not rare is synthetically produced as it has practical application outside of aesthetic purposes. Quartz generates an electric current when under pressure and is used in watches, clocks, and oscillators.",
"title": "Types of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Synthetic spinel was first produced by accident. It can be created in any color making it popular to simulate various natural gemstones. It is created through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.",
"title": "Types of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "There are mainly two categories for creation of these minerals, melt or solution processes.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "Flame fusion process was the first process used which successfully created large quantities of synthetic gemstones to be sold on the market. This remains the most cost effective and common method of creating corundums today.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "The flame fusion process is completed in a Verneuil furnace. The furnace consists of an inverted blowpipe burner which produces an extremely hot oxyhydrogen flame, a powder dispenser, and a ceramic pedestal. A chemical powder which corresponds to the desired gemstone is passed through this flames. This melts the ingredients which drop on to a plate and solidify into a crystal called a Boule. For corundum the flame must be 2000 °C. This process takes hours and yields a crystal with the same properties as its natural counterpart.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "To produce corundum, a pure aluminium powder is used with different additives to achieve different colors.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "In 1918 this process was developed by J. Czocharalski and is also referred to as the \"crystal pulling\" method. In this process, the required gemstone materials are added to a crucible. A seed stone is placed into the melt in the crucible. As the gem begins to crystallize on the seed, the seed is pulled away and the gem continues to grow. This is used for corundum but is currently the least popular method.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Flux growth process was the first process which was able to synthesize emerald. Flux growth begins with a crucible which can withstand high heat; either graphite or platinum which is filled with a molten liquid referred to as flux. The specific gem ingredients are added and dissolved in this fluid and recrystallize to form the desired gemstone.This is a longer process compared to the flame fusion process and can take two months up to a year depending on the desired final size.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Hydrothermal growth process attempts to imitate the natural growth process of minerals. The required gem materials are sealed in a container of water and placed under extreme pressure. The water is heated beyond its boiling point which allows normally insoluble materials to dissolve. As more material cannot be added once the container is sealed, in order to create a larger gem the process would begin with a \"seed\" stone from a previous batch which the new material will crystallize on. This process takes a few weeks to complete.",
"title": "Creation process of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Synthetic gemstones share chemical and physical properties with natural gemstones but there are some slight differences that can be used to discern synthetic from real. These differences are slight and often require microscopy as a tool to distinguish differences. Undetectable synthetics pose a threat to the market if they are able to be sold as real rare gemstones. Because of this there are certain characteristic gemologists look for. Each crystal is characteristic to the environment and growth process under which it was created.",
"title": "Characteristics of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "Gemstones created from the flame-fusion process may have",
"title": "Characteristics of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Gemstones created from flux melt process may have",
"title": "Characteristics of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "Gemstones created from hydrothermal growth may have",
"title": "Characteristics of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Prior to development of synthesising processes the alternatives on the market to natural gemstones were imitations or fake. It was in 1837 that the first successful synthesis of ruby occurred. French chemist Marc Gaudin managed to produce small crystals of ruby from melting together potassium aluminium sulphate and potassium chromate through what would later be known as the flux melt process. Following this, another French chemist Fremy was able to grow large quantities of small ruby crystals using a lead flux.",
"title": "History of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "A few years later an alternative to flux melt was developed which led to the introduction of what was labeled \"reconstructed ruby\" to the market. Reconstructed ruby was sold as a process which produced larger rubies from melting together bits of natural ruby. In later attempts to recreate this process it was found to not be possible and is believed reconstructed rubies were most likely created using a multi-step method of melting of ruby powder.",
"title": "History of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Auguste Verneuil a student of Fremy went on to develop flame-fusion as an alternative to the flux-melt method. He developed large furnaces which were able to produce large quantities of corundums more efficiently and shifted the gemstone market dramatically. This process is still used today and the furnaces have not changed much from the original design. World production of corundum using this method reaches 1000 million carats a year.",
"title": "History of synthetic gemstones"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "French singer-songwriter Nolwenn Leroy was inspired by the gemstones for her 2017 album Gemme (meaning gemstone in French) and the single of the same name.",
"title": "In popular culture"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Land of the Lustrous is an anime and manga series whose main characters are depicted as humanoid gemstones.",
"title": "In popular culture"
}
]
| A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones. Found all over the world, the industry of coloured gemstones is currently estimated to be around 10–12 billion US dollars. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire. | 2001-11-06T02:51:25Z | 2023-12-28T12:24:36Z | [
"Template:Cvt",
"Template:Clarification needed",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Chem",
"Template:Commons category-inline",
"Template:Jewellery",
"Template:Failed verification",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Wikiquote-inline",
"Template:Wikivoyage inline",
"Template:Redirect-several",
"Template:By whom",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Wiktionary-inline",
"Template:Main",
"Template:USGovernment",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Full citation needed",
"Template:Gemstones",
"Template:Use mdy dates",
"Template:Anchor",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Authority control"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone |
12,807 | Gerard David | Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester gheraet van brugghe who became a master of the Antwerp guild in 1515. He was very successful in his lifetime and probably ran two workshops, in Antwerp and Bruges. Like many painters of his period, his reputation diminished in the 17th century until he was rediscovered in the 19th century.
He was born in Oudewater, now located in the province of Utrecht. His year of birth is approximated as c. 1450–1460 on the basis that he looks to be around 50 years in the 1509 self-portrait found in his Virgin among the Virgins. He is believed to have spent time in Italy from 1470 to 1480, where he was influenced by the Italian Renaissance. He formed his early style under Albert van Oudewater in Haarlem, and moved to Bruges in 1483, where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke in 1484. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges' leading painter. He became dean of the guild in 1501, and in 1496 married Cornelia Cnoop, daughter of the dean of the goldsmiths' guild. David was one of the town's leading citizens.
Ambrosius Benson served his apprenticeship with David, but they came into dispute around 1519 over a number of paintings and drawings Benson had collected from other artists. Because of a large debt owed to him by Benson, David had refused to return the material. Benson pursued the matter legally and won, leading to David serving time in prison.
He died on 13 August 1523 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady at Bruges.
David's surviving work mainly consists of religious scenes. They are characterised by an atmospheric, timeless, and almost dream like serenity, achieved through soft, warm and subtle colourisation, and masterful handling of light and shadow. He is innovative in his recasting of traditional themes and in his approach to landscape, which was then only an emerging genre in northern European painting. His ability with landscape can be seen in the detailed foliage of his Triptych of the Baptism and the forest scene in the New York Nativity.
Many of the art historians of the early 20th century, including Erwin Panofsky and Max Jakob Friedländer saw him as a painter who did little but distill the style of others and painted in an archaic and unimaginative style. However today most view him as a master colourist, and a painter who according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, worked in a "progressive, even enterprising, mode, casting off his late medieval heritage and proceeding with a certain purity of vision in an age of transition."
In his early work David followed Haarlem artists such as Dirk Bouts, Albert van Oudewater, and Geertgen tot Sint Jans, though he had already given evidence of superior power as a colourist. To this early period belong the St John of the Richard von Kaufmann collection in Berlin and the Salting's St Jerome. In Bruges he came directly under the influence of Memling, the master whom he followed most closely. It was from him that David acquired a solemnity of treatment, greater realism in the rendering of human form, and an orderly arrangement of figures.
He visited Antwerp in 1515 and was impressed with the work of Quentin Matsys, who had introduced a greater vitality and intimacy in the conception of sacred themes. Together they worked to preserve the traditions of the Bruges school against influences of the Italian Renaissance.
The works for which David is best known are the altarpieces painted before his visit to Antwerp: the Marriage of St Catherine at the National Gallery, London; the triptych of the Madonna Enthroned and Saints of the Brignole-Sale collection in Genoa; the Annunciation of the Sigmaringen collection; and above all, the Madonna with Angels and Saints (usually titled The Virgin among the Virgins), which he donated to the Carmelite Nuns of Sion at Bruges, and which is now in the Rouen museum.
Only a few of his works have remained in Bruges: The Judgment of Cambyses, The Flaying of Sisamnes and the Baptism of Christ in the Groeningemuseum, and the Transfiguration in the Church of Our Lady.
The rest were scattered around the world, and to this may be due the oblivion into which his very name had fallen; this, and the fact that, some believed that for all the beauty and the soulfulness of his work, he had nothing innovative to add to the history of art.
Even in his best work he had only given newer variations of the art of his predecessors and contemporaries. His rank among the masters was renewed, however, when a number of his paintings were assembled at the seminal 1902 Gruuthusemuseum, Bruges exhibition of early Flemish painters.
He also worked closely with the leading manuscript illuminators of the day, and seems to have been brought in to paint specific important miniatures himself, among them a Virgin among the Virgins in the Morgan Library, a Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon in the Rothschild Prayerbook, and a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian in Vienna. Several of his drawings also survive, and elements from these appear in the works of other painters and illuminators for several decades after his death.
Less known but also of high quality are the works of David found in Spanish public collections. The Prado Museum in Madrid owns a table "Rest on the flight into Egypt" resembling the one in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The Prado also holds another two Works by the painter, one of them only attributed. Another one of the Spanish capital's Museums, The Thyssen-Bornemisza holds a "Crucifixión" from 1475.
At the time of David's death, the glory of Bruges and its painters was on the wane: Antwerp had become the leader in art as well as in political and commercial importance. Of David's pupils in Bruges, only Adriaen Isenbrandt, Albert Cornelis, and Ambrosius Benson achieved importance. Among other Flemish painters, Joachim Patinir and Jan Mabuse were to some degree influenced by him.
David's name had been completely forgotten when in 1866 William Henry James Weale discovered documents about him in the archives of Bruges; these brought to light the main facts of the painter's life and led to the reconstruction of David's artistic personality, beginning with the recognition of David's only documented work, the Virgin Among Virgins at Rouen.
Media related to Gerard David at Wikimedia Commons | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester gheraet van brugghe who became a master of the Antwerp guild in 1515. He was very successful in his lifetime and probably ran two workshops, in Antwerp and Bruges. Like many painters of his period, his reputation diminished in the 17th century until he was rediscovered in the 19th century.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "He was born in Oudewater, now located in the province of Utrecht. His year of birth is approximated as c. 1450–1460 on the basis that he looks to be around 50 years in the 1509 self-portrait found in his Virgin among the Virgins. He is believed to have spent time in Italy from 1470 to 1480, where he was influenced by the Italian Renaissance. He formed his early style under Albert van Oudewater in Haarlem, and moved to Bruges in 1483, where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke in 1484. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges' leading painter. He became dean of the guild in 1501, and in 1496 married Cornelia Cnoop, daughter of the dean of the goldsmiths' guild. David was one of the town's leading citizens.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Ambrosius Benson served his apprenticeship with David, but they came into dispute around 1519 over a number of paintings and drawings Benson had collected from other artists. Because of a large debt owed to him by Benson, David had refused to return the material. Benson pursued the matter legally and won, leading to David serving time in prison.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "He died on 13 August 1523 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady at Bruges.",
"title": "Life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "David's surviving work mainly consists of religious scenes. They are characterised by an atmospheric, timeless, and almost dream like serenity, achieved through soft, warm and subtle colourisation, and masterful handling of light and shadow. He is innovative in his recasting of traditional themes and in his approach to landscape, which was then only an emerging genre in northern European painting. His ability with landscape can be seen in the detailed foliage of his Triptych of the Baptism and the forest scene in the New York Nativity.",
"title": "Style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "Many of the art historians of the early 20th century, including Erwin Panofsky and Max Jakob Friedländer saw him as a painter who did little but distill the style of others and painted in an archaic and unimaginative style. However today most view him as a master colourist, and a painter who according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, worked in a \"progressive, even enterprising, mode, casting off his late medieval heritage and proceeding with a certain purity of vision in an age of transition.\"",
"title": "Style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In his early work David followed Haarlem artists such as Dirk Bouts, Albert van Oudewater, and Geertgen tot Sint Jans, though he had already given evidence of superior power as a colourist. To this early period belong the St John of the Richard von Kaufmann collection in Berlin and the Salting's St Jerome. In Bruges he came directly under the influence of Memling, the master whom he followed most closely. It was from him that David acquired a solemnity of treatment, greater realism in the rendering of human form, and an orderly arrangement of figures.",
"title": "Style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "He visited Antwerp in 1515 and was impressed with the work of Quentin Matsys, who had introduced a greater vitality and intimacy in the conception of sacred themes. Together they worked to preserve the traditions of the Bruges school against influences of the Italian Renaissance.",
"title": "Style"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "The works for which David is best known are the altarpieces painted before his visit to Antwerp: the Marriage of St Catherine at the National Gallery, London; the triptych of the Madonna Enthroned and Saints of the Brignole-Sale collection in Genoa; the Annunciation of the Sigmaringen collection; and above all, the Madonna with Angels and Saints (usually titled The Virgin among the Virgins), which he donated to the Carmelite Nuns of Sion at Bruges, and which is now in the Rouen museum.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Only a few of his works have remained in Bruges: The Judgment of Cambyses, The Flaying of Sisamnes and the Baptism of Christ in the Groeningemuseum, and the Transfiguration in the Church of Our Lady.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "The rest were scattered around the world, and to this may be due the oblivion into which his very name had fallen; this, and the fact that, some believed that for all the beauty and the soulfulness of his work, he had nothing innovative to add to the history of art.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "Even in his best work he had only given newer variations of the art of his predecessors and contemporaries. His rank among the masters was renewed, however, when a number of his paintings were assembled at the seminal 1902 Gruuthusemuseum, Bruges exhibition of early Flemish painters.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "He also worked closely with the leading manuscript illuminators of the day, and seems to have been brought in to paint specific important miniatures himself, among them a Virgin among the Virgins in the Morgan Library, a Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon in the Rothschild Prayerbook, and a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian in Vienna. Several of his drawings also survive, and elements from these appear in the works of other painters and illuminators for several decades after his death.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "Less known but also of high quality are the works of David found in Spanish public collections. The Prado Museum in Madrid owns a table \"Rest on the flight into Egypt\" resembling the one in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The Prado also holds another two Works by the painter, one of them only attributed. Another one of the Spanish capital's Museums, The Thyssen-Bornemisza holds a \"Crucifixión\" from 1475.",
"title": "Works"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "At the time of David's death, the glory of Bruges and its painters was on the wane: Antwerp had become the leader in art as well as in political and commercial importance. Of David's pupils in Bruges, only Adriaen Isenbrandt, Albert Cornelis, and Ambrosius Benson achieved importance. Among other Flemish painters, Joachim Patinir and Jan Mabuse were to some degree influenced by him.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "David's name had been completely forgotten when in 1866 William Henry James Weale discovered documents about him in the archives of Bruges; these brought to light the main facts of the painter's life and led to the reconstruction of David's artistic personality, beginning with the recognition of David's only documented work, the Virgin Among Virgins at Rouen.",
"title": "Legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Media related to Gerard David at Wikimedia Commons",
"title": "External links"
}
]
| Gerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester gheraet van brugghe who became a master of the Antwerp guild in 1515. He was very successful in his lifetime and probably ran two workshops, in Antwerp and Bruges. Like many painters of his period, his reputation diminished in the 17th century until he was rediscovered in the 19th century. | 2002-02-25T15:51:15Z | 2023-11-28T01:04:29Z | [
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Refend",
"Template:Early Netherlandish painting",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Hatnote group",
"Template:Infobox artist",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Commons-inline",
"Template:External media",
"Template:C.",
"Template:Circa",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:See also",
"Template:Refbegin",
"Template:Gerard David",
"Template:ACArt",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:EB1911"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_David |
12,808 | GSM | The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets. GSM is also a trade mark owned by the GSM Association. GSM may also refer to the Full Rate voice codec.
It was first implemented in Finland in December 1991. By the mid-2010s, it became a global standard for mobile communications achieving over 90% market share, and operating in over 193 countries and territories.
2G networks developed as a replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks. The GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit-switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony. This expanded over time to include data communications, first by circuit-switched transport, then by packet data transport via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).
Subsequently, the 3GPP developed third-generation (3G) UMTS standards, followed by the fourth-generation (4G) LTE Advanced and the fifth-generation 5G standards, which do not form part of the ETSI GSM standard.
Beginning in the late 2010s, various carriers worldwide started to shut down their GSM networks. Nevertheless, as a result of the network's widespread use, the acronym "GSM" is still used as a generic term for the plethora of G mobile phone technologies evolved from it.
In 1983, work began to develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telecommunications when the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) set up the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) committee and later provided a permanent technical-support group based in Paris. Five years later, in 1987, 15 representatives from 13 European countries signed a memorandum of understanding in Copenhagen to develop and deploy a common cellular telephone system across Europe, and EU rules were passed to make GSM a mandatory standard. The decision to develop a continental standard eventually resulted in a unified, open, standard-based network which was larger than that in the United States.
In February 1987 Europe produced the first agreed GSM Technical Specification. Ministers from the four big EU countries cemented their political support for GSM with the Bonn Declaration on Global Information Networks in May and the GSM MoU was tabled for signature in September. The MoU drew in mobile operators from across Europe to pledge to invest in new GSM networks to an ambitious common date.
In this short 38-week period the whole of Europe (countries and industries) had been brought behind GSM in a rare unity and speed guided by four public officials: Armin Silberhorn (Germany), Stephen Temple (UK), Philippe Dupuis (France), and Renzo Failli (Italy). In 1989 the Groupe Spécial Mobile committee was transferred from CEPT to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The IEEE/RSE awarded to Thomas Haug and Philippe Dupuis the 2018 James Clerk Maxwell medal for their "leadership in the development of the first international mobile communications standard with subsequent evolution into worldwide smartphone data communication". The GSM (2G) has evolved into 3G, 4G and 5G.
In parallel France and Germany signed a joint development agreement in 1984 and were joined by Italy and the UK in 1986. In 1986, the European Commission proposed reserving the 900 MHz spectrum band for GSM. It was long believed that the former Finnish prime minister Harri Holkeri made the world's first GSM call on 1 July 1991, calling Kaarina Suonio (deputy mayor of the city of Tampere) using a network built by Nokia and Siemens and operated by Radiolinja. In 2021 a former Nokia engineer Pekka Lonka revealed to Helsingin Sanomat making a test call just a couple of hours earlier. "World's first GSM call was actually made by me. I called Marjo Jousinen, in Salo.", Lonka informed. The following year saw the sending of the first short messaging service (SMS or "text message") message, and Vodafone UK and Telecom Finland signed the first international roaming agreement.
Work began in 1991 to expand the GSM standard to the 1800 MHz frequency band and the first 1800 MHz network became operational in the UK by 1993, called and DCS 1800. Also that year, Telstra became the first network operator to deploy a GSM network outside Europe and the first practical hand-held GSM mobile phone became available.
In 1995 fax, data and SMS messaging services were launched commercially, the first 1900 MHz GSM network became operational in the United States and GSM subscribers worldwide exceeded 10 million. In the same year, the GSM Association formed. Pre-paid GSM SIM cards were launched in 1996 and worldwide GSM subscribers passed 100 million in 1998.
In 2000 the first commercial General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) services were launched and the first GPRS-compatible handsets became available for sale. In 2001, the first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched, a 3G technology that is not part of GSM. Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million. In 2002, the first Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was introduced and the first GSM network in the 800 MHz frequency band became operational. Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) services first became operational in a network in 2003, and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004.
By 2005 GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide cellular network market, serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005, the first HSDPA-capable network also became operational. The first HSUPA network launched in 2007. (High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and its uplink and downlink versions are 3G technologies, not part of GSM.) Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded three billion in 2008.
The GSM Association estimated in 2011 that technologies defined in the GSM standard served 80% of the mobile market, encompassing more than 5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.
GSM is a second-generation (2G) standard employing time-division multiple-access (TDMA) spectrum-sharing, issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The GSM standard does not include the 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology, nor the 4G LTE orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) technology standards issued by the 3GPP.
GSM, for the first time, set a common standard for Europe for wireless networks. It was also adopted by many countries outside Europe. This allowed subscribers to use other GSM networks that have roaming agreements with each other. The common standard reduced research and development costs, since hardware and software could be sold with only minor adaptations for the local market.
Telstra in Australia shut down its 2G GSM network on 1 December 2016, the first mobile network operator to decommission a GSM network. The second mobile provider to shut down its GSM network (on 1 January 2017) was AT&T Mobility from the United States. Optus in Australia completed the shut down of its 2G GSM network on 1 August 2017, part of the Optus GSM network covering Western Australia and the Northern Territory had earlier in the year been shut down in April 2017. Singapore shut down 2G services entirely in April 2017.
The network is structured into several discrete sections:
GSM utilizes a cellular network, meaning that cell phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM network:
The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base-station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average rooftop level. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average rooftop level; they are typically deployed in urban areas. Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen meters; they are mainly used indoors. Femtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small-business environments and connect to a telecommunications service provider's network via a broadband-internet connection. Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and to fill in gaps in coverage between those cells.
Cell horizontal radius varies – depending on antenna height, antenna gain, and propagation conditions – from a couple of hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. The longest distance the GSM specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometres (22 mi). There are also several implementations of the concept of an extended cell, where the cell radius could be double or even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain, and the timing advance.
GSM supports indoor coverage – achievable by using an indoor picocell base station, or an indoor repeater with distributed indoor antennas fed through power splitters – to deliver the radio signals from an antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system. Picocells are typically deployed when significant call capacity is needed indoors, as in shopping centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by in-building penetration of radio signals from any nearby cell.
GSM networks operate in a number of different carrier frequency ranges (separated into GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS frequency bands for 3G), with most 2G GSM networks operating in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Where these bands were already allocated, the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands were used instead (for example in Canada and the United States). In rare cases the 400 and 450 MHz frequency bands are assigned in some countries because they were previously used for first-generation systems.
For comparison, most 3G networks in Europe operate in the 2100 MHz frequency band. For more information on worldwide GSM frequency usage, see GSM frequency bands.
Regardless of the frequency selected by an operator, it is divided into timeslots for individual phones. This allows eight full-rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency. These eight radio timeslots (or burst periods) are grouped into a TDMA frame. Half-rate channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data rate for all 8 channels is 270.833 kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms.
The transmission power in the handset is limited to a maximum of 2 watts in GSM 850/900 and 1 watt in GSM 1800/1900.
GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to squeeze 3.1 kHz audio into between 7 and 13 kbit/s. Originally, two codecs, named after the types of data channel they were allocated, were used, called Half Rate (6.5 kbit/s) and Full Rate (13 kbit/s). These used a system based on linear predictive coding (LPC). In addition to being efficient with bitrates, these codecs also made it easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allowing the air interface layer to prioritize and better protect these parts of the signal. GSM was further enhanced in 1997 with the enhanced full rate (EFR) codec, a 12.2 kbit/s codec that uses a full-rate channel. Finally, with the development of UMTS, EFR was refactored into a variable-rate codec called AMR-Narrowband, which is high quality and robust against interference when used on full-rate channels, or less robust but still relatively high quality when used in good radio conditions on half-rate channel.
One of the key features of GSM is the Subscriber Identity Module, commonly known as a SIM card. The SIM is a detachable smart card containing a user's subscription information and phone book. This allows users to retain their information after switching handsets. Alternatively, users can change networks or network identities without switching handsets - simply by changing the SIM.
Sometimes mobile network operators restrict handsets that they sell for exclusive use in their own network. This is called SIM locking and is implemented by a software feature of the phone. A subscriber may usually contact the provider to remove the lock for a fee, utilize private services to remove the lock, or use software and websites to unlock the handset themselves. It is possible to hack past a phone locked by a network operator.
In some countries and regions (e.g. Brazil and Germany) all phones are sold unlocked due to the abundance of dual-SIM handsets and operators.
GSM was intended to be a secure wireless system. It has considered the user authentication using a pre-shared key and challenge–response, and over-the-air encryption. However, GSM is vulnerable to different types of attack, each of them aimed at a different part of the network.
The development of UMTS introduced an optional Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), that uses a longer authentication key to give greater security, as well as mutually authenticating the network and the user, whereas GSM only authenticates the user to the network (and not vice versa). The security model therefore offers confidentiality and authentication, but limited authorization capabilities, and no non-repudiation.
GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1, A5/2, and A5/3 stream ciphers are used for ensuring over-the-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first and is a stronger algorithm used within Europe and the United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other countries. Serious weaknesses have been found in both algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in real-time with a ciphertext-only attack, and in January 2007, The Hacker's Choice started the A5/1 cracking project with plans to use FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a rainbow table attack. The system supports multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher with a stronger one.
Since 2000, different efforts have been made in order to crack the A5 encryption algorithms. Both A5/1 and A5/2 algorithms have been broken, and their cryptanalysis has been revealed in the literature. As an example, Karsten Nohl developed a number of rainbow tables (static values which reduce the time needed to carry out an attack) and have found new sources for known plaintext attacks. He said that it is possible to build "a full GSM interceptor ... from open-source components" but that they had not done so because of legal concerns. Nohl claimed that he was able to intercept voice and text conversations by impersonating another user to listen to voicemail, make calls, or send text messages using a seven-year-old Motorola cellphone and decryption software available for free online.
GSM uses General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for data transmissions like browsing the web. The most commonly deployed GPRS ciphers were publicly broken in 2011.
The researchers revealed flaws in the commonly used GEA/1 and GEA/2 (standing for GPRS Encryption Algorithms 1 and 2) ciphers and published the open-source "gprsdecode" software for sniffing GPRS networks. They also noted that some carriers do not encrypt the data (i.e., using GEA/0) in order to detect the use of traffic or protocols they do not like (e.g., Skype), leaving customers unprotected. GEA/3 seems to remain relatively hard to break and is said to be in use on some more modern networks. If used with USIM to prevent connections to fake base stations and downgrade attacks, users will be protected in the medium term, though migration to 128-bit GEA/4 is still recommended.
The first public cryptanalysis of GEA/1 and GEA/2 (also written GEA-1 and GEA-2) was done in 2021. It concluded that although using a 64-bit key, the GEA-1 algorithm actually provides only 40 bits of security, due to a relationship between two parts of the algorithm. The researchers found that this relationship was very unlikely to have happened if it wasn't intentional. This may have been done in order to satisfy European controls on export of cryptographic programs.
The GSM systems and services are described in a set of standards governed by ETSI, where a full list is maintained.
Several open-source software projects exist that provide certain GSM features:
Patents remain a problem for any open-source GSM implementation, because it is not possible for GNU or any other free software distributor to guarantee immunity from all lawsuits by the patent holders against the users. Furthermore, new features are being added to the standard all the time which means they have patent protection for a number of years.
The original GSM implementations from 1991 may now be entirely free of patent encumbrances, however patent freedom is not certain due to the United States' "first to invent" system that was in place until 2012. The "first to invent" system, coupled with "patent term adjustment" can extend the life of a U.S. patent far beyond 20 years from its priority date. It is unclear at this time whether OpenBTS will be able to implement features of that initial specification without limit. As patents subsequently expire, however, those features can be added into the open-source version. As of 2011, there have been no lawsuits against users of OpenBTS over GSM use. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets. GSM is also a trade mark owned by the GSM Association. GSM may also refer to the Full Rate voice codec.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "It was first implemented in Finland in December 1991. By the mid-2010s, it became a global standard for mobile communications achieving over 90% market share, and operating in over 193 countries and territories.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "2G networks developed as a replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks. The GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit-switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony. This expanded over time to include data communications, first by circuit-switched transport, then by packet data transport via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Subsequently, the 3GPP developed third-generation (3G) UMTS standards, followed by the fourth-generation (4G) LTE Advanced and the fifth-generation 5G standards, which do not form part of the ETSI GSM standard.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Beginning in the late 2010s, various carriers worldwide started to shut down their GSM networks. Nevertheless, as a result of the network's widespread use, the acronym \"GSM\" is still used as a generic term for the plethora of G mobile phone technologies evolved from it.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "In 1983, work began to develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telecommunications when the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) set up the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) committee and later provided a permanent technical-support group based in Paris. Five years later, in 1987, 15 representatives from 13 European countries signed a memorandum of understanding in Copenhagen to develop and deploy a common cellular telephone system across Europe, and EU rules were passed to make GSM a mandatory standard. The decision to develop a continental standard eventually resulted in a unified, open, standard-based network which was larger than that in the United States.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "In February 1987 Europe produced the first agreed GSM Technical Specification. Ministers from the four big EU countries cemented their political support for GSM with the Bonn Declaration on Global Information Networks in May and the GSM MoU was tabled for signature in September. The MoU drew in mobile operators from across Europe to pledge to invest in new GSM networks to an ambitious common date.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "In this short 38-week period the whole of Europe (countries and industries) had been brought behind GSM in a rare unity and speed guided by four public officials: Armin Silberhorn (Germany), Stephen Temple (UK), Philippe Dupuis (France), and Renzo Failli (Italy). In 1989 the Groupe Spécial Mobile committee was transferred from CEPT to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The IEEE/RSE awarded to Thomas Haug and Philippe Dupuis the 2018 James Clerk Maxwell medal for their \"leadership in the development of the first international mobile communications standard with subsequent evolution into worldwide smartphone data communication\". The GSM (2G) has evolved into 3G, 4G and 5G.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In parallel France and Germany signed a joint development agreement in 1984 and were joined by Italy and the UK in 1986. In 1986, the European Commission proposed reserving the 900 MHz spectrum band for GSM. It was long believed that the former Finnish prime minister Harri Holkeri made the world's first GSM call on 1 July 1991, calling Kaarina Suonio (deputy mayor of the city of Tampere) using a network built by Nokia and Siemens and operated by Radiolinja. In 2021 a former Nokia engineer Pekka Lonka revealed to Helsingin Sanomat making a test call just a couple of hours earlier. \"World's first GSM call was actually made by me. I called Marjo Jousinen, in Salo.\", Lonka informed. The following year saw the sending of the first short messaging service (SMS or \"text message\") message, and Vodafone UK and Telecom Finland signed the first international roaming agreement.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "Work began in 1991 to expand the GSM standard to the 1800 MHz frequency band and the first 1800 MHz network became operational in the UK by 1993, called and DCS 1800. Also that year, Telstra became the first network operator to deploy a GSM network outside Europe and the first practical hand-held GSM mobile phone became available.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "In 1995 fax, data and SMS messaging services were launched commercially, the first 1900 MHz GSM network became operational in the United States and GSM subscribers worldwide exceeded 10 million. In the same year, the GSM Association formed. Pre-paid GSM SIM cards were launched in 1996 and worldwide GSM subscribers passed 100 million in 1998.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "In 2000 the first commercial General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) services were launched and the first GPRS-compatible handsets became available for sale. In 2001, the first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched, a 3G technology that is not part of GSM. Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million. In 2002, the first Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was introduced and the first GSM network in the 800 MHz frequency band became operational. Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) services first became operational in a network in 2003, and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "By 2005 GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide cellular network market, serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005, the first HSDPA-capable network also became operational. The first HSUPA network launched in 2007. (High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and its uplink and downlink versions are 3G technologies, not part of GSM.) Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded three billion in 2008.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "The GSM Association estimated in 2011 that technologies defined in the GSM standard served 80% of the mobile market, encompassing more than 5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "GSM is a second-generation (2G) standard employing time-division multiple-access (TDMA) spectrum-sharing, issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The GSM standard does not include the 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology, nor the 4G LTE orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) technology standards issued by the 3GPP.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "GSM, for the first time, set a common standard for Europe for wireless networks. It was also adopted by many countries outside Europe. This allowed subscribers to use other GSM networks that have roaming agreements with each other. The common standard reduced research and development costs, since hardware and software could be sold with only minor adaptations for the local market.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Telstra in Australia shut down its 2G GSM network on 1 December 2016, the first mobile network operator to decommission a GSM network. The second mobile provider to shut down its GSM network (on 1 January 2017) was AT&T Mobility from the United States. Optus in Australia completed the shut down of its 2G GSM network on 1 August 2017, part of the Optus GSM network covering Western Australia and the Northern Territory had earlier in the year been shut down in April 2017. Singapore shut down 2G services entirely in April 2017.",
"title": "History"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The network is structured into several discrete sections:",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "GSM utilizes a cellular network, meaning that cell phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM network:",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base-station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average rooftop level. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average rooftop level; they are typically deployed in urban areas. Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen meters; they are mainly used indoors. Femtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small-business environments and connect to a telecommunications service provider's network via a broadband-internet connection. Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and to fill in gaps in coverage between those cells.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "Cell horizontal radius varies – depending on antenna height, antenna gain, and propagation conditions – from a couple of hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. The longest distance the GSM specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometres (22 mi). There are also several implementations of the concept of an extended cell, where the cell radius could be double or even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain, and the timing advance.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "GSM supports indoor coverage – achievable by using an indoor picocell base station, or an indoor repeater with distributed indoor antennas fed through power splitters – to deliver the radio signals from an antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system. Picocells are typically deployed when significant call capacity is needed indoors, as in shopping centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by in-building penetration of radio signals from any nearby cell.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "GSM networks operate in a number of different carrier frequency ranges (separated into GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS frequency bands for 3G), with most 2G GSM networks operating in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Where these bands were already allocated, the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands were used instead (for example in Canada and the United States). In rare cases the 400 and 450 MHz frequency bands are assigned in some countries because they were previously used for first-generation systems.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "For comparison, most 3G networks in Europe operate in the 2100 MHz frequency band. For more information on worldwide GSM frequency usage, see GSM frequency bands.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Regardless of the frequency selected by an operator, it is divided into timeslots for individual phones. This allows eight full-rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency. These eight radio timeslots (or burst periods) are grouped into a TDMA frame. Half-rate channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data rate for all 8 channels is 270.833 kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "The transmission power in the handset is limited to a maximum of 2 watts in GSM 850/900 and 1 watt in GSM 1800/1900.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to squeeze 3.1 kHz audio into between 7 and 13 kbit/s. Originally, two codecs, named after the types of data channel they were allocated, were used, called Half Rate (6.5 kbit/s) and Full Rate (13 kbit/s). These used a system based on linear predictive coding (LPC). In addition to being efficient with bitrates, these codecs also made it easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allowing the air interface layer to prioritize and better protect these parts of the signal. GSM was further enhanced in 1997 with the enhanced full rate (EFR) codec, a 12.2 kbit/s codec that uses a full-rate channel. Finally, with the development of UMTS, EFR was refactored into a variable-rate codec called AMR-Narrowband, which is high quality and robust against interference when used on full-rate channels, or less robust but still relatively high quality when used in good radio conditions on half-rate channel.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "One of the key features of GSM is the Subscriber Identity Module, commonly known as a SIM card. The SIM is a detachable smart card containing a user's subscription information and phone book. This allows users to retain their information after switching handsets. Alternatively, users can change networks or network identities without switching handsets - simply by changing the SIM.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "Sometimes mobile network operators restrict handsets that they sell for exclusive use in their own network. This is called SIM locking and is implemented by a software feature of the phone. A subscriber may usually contact the provider to remove the lock for a fee, utilize private services to remove the lock, or use software and websites to unlock the handset themselves. It is possible to hack past a phone locked by a network operator.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In some countries and regions (e.g. Brazil and Germany) all phones are sold unlocked due to the abundance of dual-SIM handsets and operators.",
"title": "Technical details"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "GSM was intended to be a secure wireless system. It has considered the user authentication using a pre-shared key and challenge–response, and over-the-air encryption. However, GSM is vulnerable to different types of attack, each of them aimed at a different part of the network.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The development of UMTS introduced an optional Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), that uses a longer authentication key to give greater security, as well as mutually authenticating the network and the user, whereas GSM only authenticates the user to the network (and not vice versa). The security model therefore offers confidentiality and authentication, but limited authorization capabilities, and no non-repudiation.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1, A5/2, and A5/3 stream ciphers are used for ensuring over-the-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first and is a stronger algorithm used within Europe and the United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other countries. Serious weaknesses have been found in both algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in real-time with a ciphertext-only attack, and in January 2007, The Hacker's Choice started the A5/1 cracking project with plans to use FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a rainbow table attack. The system supports multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher with a stronger one.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Since 2000, different efforts have been made in order to crack the A5 encryption algorithms. Both A5/1 and A5/2 algorithms have been broken, and their cryptanalysis has been revealed in the literature. As an example, Karsten Nohl developed a number of rainbow tables (static values which reduce the time needed to carry out an attack) and have found new sources for known plaintext attacks. He said that it is possible to build \"a full GSM interceptor ... from open-source components\" but that they had not done so because of legal concerns. Nohl claimed that he was able to intercept voice and text conversations by impersonating another user to listen to voicemail, make calls, or send text messages using a seven-year-old Motorola cellphone and decryption software available for free online.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "GSM uses General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for data transmissions like browsing the web. The most commonly deployed GPRS ciphers were publicly broken in 2011.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "The researchers revealed flaws in the commonly used GEA/1 and GEA/2 (standing for GPRS Encryption Algorithms 1 and 2) ciphers and published the open-source \"gprsdecode\" software for sniffing GPRS networks. They also noted that some carriers do not encrypt the data (i.e., using GEA/0) in order to detect the use of traffic or protocols they do not like (e.g., Skype), leaving customers unprotected. GEA/3 seems to remain relatively hard to break and is said to be in use on some more modern networks. If used with USIM to prevent connections to fake base stations and downgrade attacks, users will be protected in the medium term, though migration to 128-bit GEA/4 is still recommended.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "The first public cryptanalysis of GEA/1 and GEA/2 (also written GEA-1 and GEA-2) was done in 2021. It concluded that although using a 64-bit key, the GEA-1 algorithm actually provides only 40 bits of security, due to a relationship between two parts of the algorithm. The researchers found that this relationship was very unlikely to have happened if it wasn't intentional. This may have been done in order to satisfy European controls on export of cryptographic programs.",
"title": "GSM security"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "The GSM systems and services are described in a set of standards governed by ETSI, where a full list is maintained.",
"title": "Standards information"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Several open-source software projects exist that provide certain GSM features:",
"title": "GSM open-source software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Patents remain a problem for any open-source GSM implementation, because it is not possible for GNU or any other free software distributor to guarantee immunity from all lawsuits by the patent holders against the users. Furthermore, new features are being added to the standard all the time which means they have patent protection for a number of years.",
"title": "GSM open-source software"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "The original GSM implementations from 1991 may now be entirely free of patent encumbrances, however patent freedom is not certain due to the United States' \"first to invent\" system that was in place until 2012. The \"first to invent\" system, coupled with \"patent term adjustment\" can extend the life of a U.S. patent far beyond 20 years from its priority date. It is unclear at this time whether OpenBTS will be able to implement features of that initial specification without limit. As patents subsequently expire, however, those features can be added into the open-source version. As of 2011, there have been no lawsuits against users of OpenBTS over GSM use.",
"title": "GSM open-source software"
}
]
| The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets. GSM is also a trade mark owned by the GSM Association. GSM may also refer to the Full Rate voice codec. It was first implemented in Finland in December 1991. By the mid-2010s, it became a global standard for mobile communications achieving over 90% market share, and operating in over 193 countries and territories. 2G networks developed as a replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks. The GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit-switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony. This expanded over time to include data communications, first by circuit-switched transport, then by packet data transport via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). Subsequently, the 3GPP developed third-generation (3G) UMTS standards, followed by the fourth-generation (4G) LTE Advanced and the fifth-generation 5G standards, which do not form part of the ETSI GSM standard. Beginning in the late 2010s, various carriers worldwide started to shut down their GSM networks. Nevertheless, as a result of the network's widespread use, the acronym "GSM" is still used as a generic term for the plethora of G mobile phone technologies evolved from it. | 2001-11-06T10:03:44Z | 2023-12-14T23:43:40Z | [
"Template:Div col end",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Infobox company",
"Template:Convert",
"Template:Nbsp",
"Template:Citation needed",
"Template:Div col",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Arxiv",
"Template:Other uses",
"Template:See also",
"Template:As of",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Commons category",
"Template:Cellular network standards",
"Template:Nowrap",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Channel access methods",
"Template:Telecommunications"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM |
12,810 | Garry Kasparov | Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).
Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed world champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He defended the title against Karpov three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1990. Kasparov held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicised match. He continued to hold the "Classical" world title until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the PCA title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player at the time of his official retirement. Kasparov coached Carlsen in 2009–10, during which time Carlsen rose to world no. 1. Kasparov stood unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014.
Since retiring from chess, Kasparov has devoted his time to writing and politics. His book series My Great Predecessors, first published in 2003, details the history and games of the world champion chess players who preceded him. He formed the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew. In the wake of the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution. Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split.
Kasparov is chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and chairs its International Council. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organisation promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov is also a security ambassador for the software company Avast.
Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein (Russian: Гарик Кимович Вайнштейн, romanized: Garik Kimovich Vainshtein) in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR (now Azerbaijan), Soviet Union. His father, Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, was Jewish and his mother, Klara Shagenovna Kasparova, was Armenian. Both of his mother's parents were Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. Kasparov has described himself as a "self-appointed Christian", although "very indifferent" and identifying as Russian: "[A]lthough I'm half-Armenian, half-Jewish, I consider myself Russian because Russian is my native tongue, and I grew up with Russian culture." Kasparov and his family had to "flee anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku in January 1990 that were coordinated by local leaders with Soviet acquiescence".
According to Kasparov himself, he was named after United States President Harry Truman, "whom my father admired for taking a strong stand against communism. It was a rare name in Russia, until Harry Potter came along."
Kasparov began the serious study of chess after he came across a problem set up by his parents and proposed a solution. When he was seven years old, his father died of leukaemia. At the age of twelve, Kasparov, upon the request of his mother Klara and with the consent of the family, adopted Klara's surname Kasparov, which was done to avoid possible anti-Semitic tensions common in the USSR at the time.
From age seven, Kasparov attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku and, at ten, began training at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school under coach Vladimir Makogonov. Makogonov helped develop Kasparov's positional skills and taught him to play the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship in Tbilisi in 1976, scoring 7/9 points, at age thirteen. He repeated the feat the following year, winning with a score of 8.5/9. He was being coached by Alexander Shakarov during this time.
In 1978, Kasparov participated in the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk. He had received a special invitation to enter the tournament but took first place and became a chess master. Kasparov has stressed that this event was a turning point in his life and that it convinced him to choose chess as his career: "I will remember the Sokolsky Memorial as long as I live", he wrote. He has also said that after the victory, he thought he had a very good shot at the world championship.
He first qualified for the USSR Chess Championship at age 15 in 1978, the youngest-ever player at that level. He won the 64-player Swiss system tournament at Daugavpils on a tie-break over Igor V. Ivanov to capture the sole qualifying place.
Kasparov rose quickly through the FIDE world rankings. Due to an oversight by the Russian Chess Federation, which believed that a grandmaster tournament in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia, was for juniors, he participated in that event in 1979 while still unrated. He was a replacement for the Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi, who was originally invited but withdrew due to the threat of a boycott from the Soviets. Kasparov won this high-class tournament, emerging with a provisional rating of 2595, enough to catapult him to the top group of chess players (at the time, number 15 in the world). The next year, 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany. Later that year, he made his debut as the second reserve for the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad at Valletta, Malta, and became a Grandmaster.
As a teenager, Kasparov shared the USSR Chess Championship in 1981 with Lev Psakhis (12.5/17), although Psakhis won their game. His first win in a superclass-level international tournament was scored at Bugojno, Yugoslavia, in 1982. He earned a place in the 1982 Moscow Interzonal tournament, which he won, to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. At age 19, he was the youngest Candidate since Bobby Fischer, who was 15 when he qualified in 1958. At this stage, he was already the No. 2-rated player in the world, trailing only world champion Karpov on the January 1983 list.
Kasparov's first (quarter-final) Candidates match was against Alexander Beliavsky, whom he defeated 6–3 (four wins, one loss). Politics threatened Kasparov's semi-final against Korchnoi, which was scheduled to be played in Pasadena, California. Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and was at that time the strongest active non-Soviet player. The Soviet authorities would not allow Kasparov to travel to the United States, meaning that Korchnoi could have had a walkover. This decision was met with disapproval by the chess world, and Korchnoi agreed to the match to being played in London instead, along with the previously scheduled match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltán Ribli. The Kasparov-Korchnoi match was put together on short notice by Raymond Keene. Kasparov lost the first game but won the match 7–4 (four wins, one loss).
In January 1984, Kasparov became the No. 1 ranked player in the world, with a FIDE rating of 2710. He became the youngest-ever world No. 1, a record that lasted 12 years until being broken by Kramnik in January 1996. That same year, he won the Candidates' final 8½–4½ (four wins, no losses) against former world champion Smyslov at Vilnius, thus qualifying to play Karpov for the world championship.
The World Chess Championship 1984 match between Kasparov and Karpov had many ups and downs and a very controversial finish. Karpov started in very good form, and after nine games Kasparov was down 4–0 in a "first to six wins" match. Fellow players predicted he would be whitewashed 6–0 within 18 games.
In an unexpected turn of events, there followed a series of 17 successive draws, some relatively short, others drawn in unsettled positions. Kasparov lost game 27 (5–0), then fought back with another series of draws until game 32, earning his first-ever win against the world champion and bringing the score to 5–1. Another 14 successive draws followed, through game 46; the previous record length for a world title match had been 34 games (José Raúl Capablanca vs. Alexander Alekhine in 1927).
Kasparov won games 47 and 48 to bring the score to 5–3 in Karpov's favour. Then the match was ended without result by FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, and a new match was announced to start a few months later. The termination was controversial, as both players stated that they preferred the match to continue. Announcing his decision, Campomanes cited the health of the players, which had been strained by the length of the match. According to grandmasters Boris Gulko and Korchnoi, and historians Vladimir Popow and Yuri Felshtinsky in their The KGB Plays Chess book, Campomanes had been a KGB agent and was tasked with preventing Karpov's defeat at all costs. The match was terminated while Karpov was still ahead to avoid the impression that the decision had been made for his benefit.
The match became the first, and so far only, world championship match to be abandoned without a result. Kasparov's relations with Campomanes and FIDE became strained, and matters came to a head in 1993 with Kasparov's complete break-away from FIDE.
The second Karpov–Kasparov match in 1985 was organised in Moscow as the best of 24 games, where the first player to win 12½ points would claim the title. The scores from the terminated match would not carry over; however, in the event of a 12–12 draw, the title would remain with Karpov. On 9 November 1985, Kasparov secured the world crown by a score of 13–11. Karpov, with White, needed to win the 24th game to retain the title but Kasparov won it with the Sicilian Defence. He was 22 years old at the time, making him the youngest-ever world champion, a record held by Mikhail Tal for over 20 years. Kasparov's win with Black in the 16th game has been recognised as one of the all-time chess masterpieces, including being voted the best game played during the first 64 issues of the magazine Chess Informant.
As part of the arrangements following the aborted 1984 match, Karpov had been granted (in the event of his defeat) a right to rematch. Another match took place in 1986, hosted jointly in London and Leningrad, with each city hosting 12 games. At one point in the match, Kasparov opened a three-point lead and looked well on his way to a decisive victory. But Karpov fought back by winning three consecutive games to level the score late in the match. At this point, Kasparov dismissed one of his seconds, grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov, accusing him of selling his opening preparation to the Karpov team (as described in Kasparov's autobiography Unlimited Challenge, chapter Stab in the Back). Kasparov scored one more win and kept his title by a score of 12½–11½.
A fourth match for the world title took place in 1987 in Seville, as Karpov had qualified through the Candidates' Matches to become the official challenger once again. This match was also very close, with neither player holding more than a one-point lead at any time. With one game left, Kasparov was down a point and needed a win to draw the match and retain his title. A long, tense game ensued in which Karpov blundered away a pawn just before the first time control. Kasparov then won a long ending to retain the title on a 12–12 scoreline.
Kasparov and Karpov met for a fifth time, on this occasion in New York City and Lyon in 1990, with each city hosting 12 games. Again the result was a close one, with Kasparov winning by a margin of 12½–11½. In their five world championship matches, Kasparov had 21 wins, 19 losses and 104 draws in 144 games.
In November 1986, Kasparov had created the Grandmasters Association (GMA) to represent professional players and give them more say in FIDE's activities. Kasparov assumed a leadership role. GMA's major achievement was in organising a series of six World Cup tournaments for the world's top players. This caused an uneasy relationship to develop between Kasparov and FIDE. The previous month Kasparov had made his feelings clear to fellow grandmaster Keene: "Campomanes must go. It is war to the death with him as far as I am concerned. I will do everything I can to remove him”.
This stand-off lasted until 1993, by which time a new challenger had qualified through the Candidates cycle: Nigel Short, a British grandmaster who had defeated Karpov in a qualifying match and then Jan Timman in the finals held in early 1993. After a confusing and compressed bidding process produced lower financial estimates than expected, the world champion and his challenger both rejected FIDE's bid for an August match in Manchester and decided to play outside FIDE's jurisdiction. Their match took place under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association (PCA), an organisation established by Kasparov and Short. At this point, a fracture occurred in the lineage of the FIDE World Championship. In an interview in 2007, Kasparov called the break with FIDE in 1993 the worst mistake of his career, as it hurt the game in the long run.
Kasparov and Short were ejected from FIDE and played their well-sponsored match in London in September 1993. Kasparov won convincingly by a score of 12½–7½. The match considerably raised the profile of chess in the UK, with a substantial level of coverage on Channel 4. Meanwhile, FIDE organised its world championship match between Timman (the defeated Candidates finalist) and former world champion Karpov (a defeated Candidates semi-finalist), which Karpov won.
FIDE removed Kasparov and Short from its rating list. Subsequently, the PCA created a rating list of its own, which featured all the world top players regardless of their relation to FIDE. There were now two world champions: PCA champion Kasparov and FIDE champion Karpov. The title remained split for 13 years.
Kasparov defended his PCA title in a 1995 match against Viswanathan Anand at the World Trade Center in New York City. Kasparov won the match by four wins to one, with thirteen draws.
Kasparov tried to organise another world championship match under a different organisation, the World Chess Association (WCA), with Linares organiser Luis Rentero. Alexei Shirov and Kramnik played a candidates match to decide the challenger, which Shirov won in an upset. But when Rentero admitted that the funds required and promised had never materialised, the WCA collapsed. Yet another body stepped in, BrainGames.com, headed by Raymond Keene. After a match with Shirov could not be agreed by BrainGames.com and talks with Anand collapsed, a match was instead arranged against Kramnik.
During this period, Kasparov was approached by Oakham School in the United Kingdom, at the time the only school in the country with a full-time chess coach, and developed an interest in the use of chess in education. In 1997, Kasparov supported a scholarship programme at the school. Kasparov also won the Marca Leyenda trophy that year.
In 1999, he played a well-known game against Topalov wherein he won after a rook sacrifice and king hunt.
The Kasparov-Kramnik match took place in London during the latter half of 2000. Kramnik had been a student of Kasparov's at the famous Botvinnik/Kasparov chess school in Russia and had served on Kasparov's team for the 1995 match with Anand.
The better-prepared Kramnik won game 2 against Kasparov's Grünfeld Defence and achieved winning positions in games 4 and 6, although Kasparov managed a draw in both games. Kasparov made a critical error in game 10 with the Nimzo-Indian Defence, which Kramnik exploited to win in 25 moves. As White, Kasparov could not crack the passive but solid Berlin Defence in the Ruy Lopez, and Kramnik managed to draw all his games as Black. Kramnik won the match 8½–6½.
Kasparov won a series of major tournaments and remained the PCA top-rated player in the world, ahead of both Kramnik and the FIDE World Champion. In 2001 he refused an invitation to the 2002 Dortmund Candidates Tournament for the Classical title, claiming his results had earned him a rematch with Kramnik.
Kasparov and Karpov played a four-game match with rapid time controls over two days in December 2002 in New York City. Kasparov suffered a surprise loss (1.5 – 2.5).
Because of Kasparov's continuing strong results and status as FIDE world No. 1, he was included in the so-called "Prague Agreement", masterminded by Yasser Seirawan and intended to reunite the two world championships. Kasparov was to play a match against the FIDE World Champion Ponomariov in September 2003. But this match was called off after Ponomariov refused to sign his contract for it without reservation. In its place, there were plans for a match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, winner of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004, to be held in January 2005 in the United Arab Emirates. These also fell through owing to a lack of funding. Plans to hold the match in Turkey instead came too late. Kasparov announced in January 2005 that he was tired of waiting for FIDE to arrange a match and had decided to stop all efforts to become undisputed world champion once more.
After winning the prestigious Linares tournament for the ninth time, Kasparov announced on 10 March 2005 that he would retire from regular competitive chess. He cited as the reason a lack of personal goals in the chess world. When winning the Russian championship in 2004, he commented that it had been the last major title he had never won outright. He also expressed frustration at the failure to reunify the world championship.
Kasparov said he might play in some rapid chess events for fun, but he intended to spend more time on his books, including the My Great Predecessors series, and work on the links between decision-making in chess and other areas of life. He also stated that he would continue to involve himself in Russian politics, which he viewed as "headed down the wrong path."
On 22 August 2006, in his first public chess games since his retirement, Kasparov played in the Lichthof Chess Champions Tournament, a blitz event played at the time control of five minutes per side and three-second increments per move. Kasparov tied for first with Karpov, scoring 4½/6.
Kasparov and Karpov played a 12-game match from 21 to 24 September 2009, in Valencia, Spain. It consisted of four rapid (or semi rapid) games, in which Kasparov won 3–1, and eight blitz games, in which Kasparov won 6–2, winning the match with a final result of 9–3. The event took place exactly 25 years after the two players' unfinished encounter at World Chess Championship 1984.
Kasparov coached Carlsen for approximately one year, beginning in February 2009. The collaboration remained secret until September 2009. Under Kasparov's tutelage, Carlsen in October 2009 became the youngest ever to achieve a FIDE rating higher than 2800, and he rose from world number four to world number one. While the pair initially planned to work together throughout 2010, in March of that year it was announced that Carlsen had split from Kasparov and would no longer be using him as a trainer. According to an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Carlsen indicated that he would remain in contact and that he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov; however, no further training sessions were held, and the cooperation fizzled out over the course of the spring. In 2011, Carlsen said: "Thanks to [Kasparov] I began to understand a whole class of positions better. ... Kasparov gave me a great deal of practical help." In 2012, when asked what he learnt from working with Kasparov, Carlsen answered: "Complex positions. That was the most important thing."
In May 2010, Kasparov played and won 30 games simultaneously against players at Tel Aviv University in Israel. In the same month, it was revealed that he had aided Anand in his preparation for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov. Anand won the match 6½–5½ to retain the title.
Kasparov began training the U.S. grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in January 2011. The first of several training sessions was held in New York just before Nakamura participated in the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. In December 2011, it was announced that their cooperation had come to an end.
Kasparov played two blitz exhibition matches in the autumn of 2011. The first was in September against French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, in Clichy (France), which Kasparov won 1½–½. The second was a longer match consisting of eight blitz games played on 9 October, against English grandmaster Short. Kasparov won again by a score of 4½–3½. A little after that, in October 2011, Kasparov played and defeated fourteen opponents in a simultaneous exhibition that took place in Bratislava.
On 25 and 26 April 2015, Kasparov played a mini-match against Short. The match consisted of two rapid games and eight blitz games and was contested over the course of two days. Commentators GM Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramírez remarked how Kasparov was an 'initiative hog' throughout the match, consistently not allowing Short to gain any foothold in the games. Kasparov won the match decisively (8½–1½), winning all five games on the second day. These victories were characterised by aggressive pawn moves breaking up Short's position, thereby allowing Kasparov's pieces to achieve positional superiority.
Kasparov played and won all nineteen games of a simultaneous exhibition in Pula, Croatia on 19 August 2015. At the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on 28 and 29 April 2016, Kasparov played a 6-round exhibition blitz round-robin tournament with Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Nakamura in an event called the Ultimate Blitz Challenge. He finished the tournament third with 9.5/18, behind Nakamura (11/18) and So (10/18). At the post-tournament interview, Kasparov announced that he would donate his winnings from playing the next top-level blitz exhibition match to assist funding of the American Olympic Team.
On 2 June 2016, Kasparov played against fifteen chess players in a simultaneous exhibition in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle of Mönchengladbach. He won all games.
On 7 October 2013, Kasparov announced his candidacy for World Chess Federation president during a reception in Tallinn, Estonia, where the 84th FIDE Congress took place. He was supported by reigning world champion and FIDE #1 ranked player Carlsen. At the FIDE General Assembly in August 2014, Kasparov lost the presidential election to the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, with a vote of 110–61.
A few days before the election took place, the New York Times Magazine had published a report on the viciously fought campaign. Included was information about a leaked contract between Kasparov and former FIDE Secretary General Ignatius Leong from Singapore, in which the Kasparov campaign reportedly "offered to pay Leong US$500,000 and to pay $250,000 a year for four years to the ASEAN Chess Academy, an organisation Leong helped create to teach the game, specifying that Leong would be responsible for delivering 11 votes from his region [...]". In September 2015, the FIDE Ethics Commission found Kasparov and Leong guilty of violating its Code of Ethics and later suspended them for two years from all FIDE functions and meetings.
Kasparov came out of retirement to participate in the inaugural St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament from 14 to 19 August 2017, scoring 3.5/9 in the rapid and 9/18 in the blitz. He finished eighth in a strong field of ten, including Nakamura, Caruana, former world champion Anand and the eventual winner, Levon Aronian. Kasparov promised that any tournament money he earned would go towards charities to promote chess in Africa.
In 2020, he participated in 9LX, a Chess 960 tournament, and finished eighth of a field of ten players. His game against Carlsen, who tied for first place, was drawn.
He launched Kasparovchess, a subscription-based online chess community featuring documentaries, lessons, puzzles, podcasts, articles, interviews and playing zones, in 2021.
Kasparov played in the blitz section of the Grand Chess Tour 2021 event in Zagreb, Croatia. He performed poorly, however, scoring 0.5/9 on the first day and 2/9 on the second day, getting his only win against Jorden Van Foreest. He also participated in 9LX 2, finishing fifth in a field of ten players, with a score of 5/9.
Kasparov played in a total of eight Chess Olympiads. He represented the Soviet Union four times and Russia four times, following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. In his 1980 Olympiad debut, he became, at age 17, the youngest player to represent the Soviet Union or Russia at that level, a record which was broken by Kramnik in 1992. In 82 games, he scored (+50−3=29), for 78.7%, and won a total of nineteen medals, including team gold medals all eight times he competed.
For the 1994 Moscow Olympiad, he had a significant organisational role in helping to put together the event on short notice, after Thessaloniki cancelled its offer to host only a few weeks before the scheduled dates. Kasparov's detailed Olympiad record follows:
Kasparov made his international debut for the USSR at age 16 in the 1980 European Team Championship and played for Russia in the 1992 edition of that championship. He won a total of five medals. His detailed record in this event follows:
Kasparov also represented the USSR once at the Youth Olympiad in Austria (1981). He scored 9/10 (+8–0=2) on the top board and his team lifted the title.
Kasparov received a Chess Oscar eleven times as the best chess player of the year, in 1982-1983, 1985-1988, 1995-1996, 1999, and 2001-2002. Between 1981 and 1991, he won or tied for first place in every tournament he entered. In 1999, Kasparov reached an Elo rating of 2851 points, a record that stood for over thirteen years: on 10 December 2012, Carlsen achieved an unofficial rating of 2861 points, with which he topped the next release of the rating in January 2013. With the exception of the PCA period and sharing first place with Kramnik in 1997, Kasparov led the rating list from 1985 to 2006 – a total of 255 months. On 1 January 2006, Kasparov ranked first with a coefficient of 2812. However, he was excluded from the FIDE rating list of 1 April 2006 because he had not participated in tournaments for the previous twelve months.
The rivalry between Kasparov and Karpov (often referred to as the "two Ks") is one of the greatest in the history of chess. In six years they played five matches comprising 144 games. For a long time there was personal enmity between Karpov and Kasparov. The conflict between the two men also had a political connotation. Karpov was considered a representative of the Soviet nomenklatura, while Kasparov was young and popular, positioned himself as a "child of change", willingly gave candid interviews and (especially in the West) had an aura of a rebel, although he never was a dissident. Kasparov's 1985 victory coincided with the start of perestroika in the Soviet Union.
Carlsen said of Kasparov: "I've never seen someone with such a feel for dynamics in complex positions." Kramnik has opined that Kasparov's "capacity for study is second to none", adding "There is nothing in chess he has been unable to deal with."
In 2007, the international consulting company Synectics published a rating of 100 living geniuses in science, politics, art and entrepreneurship, in which Kasparov ranked 25th.
Kramnik called Kasparov a chess player with virtually no weaknesses. His games are characterised by a dynamic style of play with a focus on tactics, depth of strategy, subtle calculation and original opening ideas. Kasparov was known for his extensive opening preparation and aggressive play in it. Sergey Shipov considered Kasparov's moral and volitional qualities (impulsiveness and psychological instability) and excessive reliance on options, which can lead to overwork and mistakes, as amongst his few shortcomings.
Kasparov's attacking style of play has been compared by many to Alekhine, his chess idol since childhood. Kasparov has described his style as being influenced chiefly by Alekhine, Tal and Fischer. Other influences on Kasparov were his early coaches. At a young age, he met with experienced teachers Alexander Nikitin and Alexander Shakarov. Shakarov collected and systematised materials, and then became the keeper of Kasparov's "information bank". A revolutionary step at that time was the involvement of computer programs in analysing games, and it was Kasparov and his team who took the first steps in this direction. In 1973, Kasparov entered the Botvinnik school and immediately attracted attention. Botvinnik commented on the young schoolboy: "Garry's speed and memory capacity are amazing. He counts deep variations and finds unexpected moves. The power of combinational vision makes him similar to Alekhine himself".
Kasparov's contribution to opening theory is acknowledged. In the 1990s, he systematically developed new variants with computer programs. Kasparov's favourite opening systems were the Queen's Indian with White and variations of the Sicilian Defence with Black. He also "reanimated" the Scotch Game in top-level competitions. Kasparov successfully used this opening, which was considered outdated, in the 1990 match against Karpov and in matches with Short and Anand. One of the offshoots of the Sicilian in the Szén Variation is called the Kasparov Gambit. Kasparov used this variation in the 12th and 16th games of the match with Karpov in 1985; in the second of these games, he scored a victory.
Another well-known case of winning an important game thanks to a novelty in the opening is Kasparov's 10th game of the 1995 match against Anand. On the 14th move, in a well-known position of the open variation of the Spanish Game (Rui Lopez), Kasparov discovered a new idea with a rook sacrifice, which brought a decisive attack.
Kasparov has also co-authored several books on opening theory.
Kasparov holds the record for the longest time as the No. 1 rated player in the world—from 1984 to 2005 (Kramnik shared the No. 1 ranking with him once, in the January 1996 FIDE rating list). He headed the PCA rating list during the split from FIDE. At the time of his retirement, he was still ranked No. 1 in the world, with a rating of 2812. His rating has fallen inactive since the January 2006 rating list.
In January 1990, Kasparov achieved the (then) highest FIDE rating ever, passing 2800 and breaking Fischer's old record of 2785. By the July 1999 and January 2000 FIDE rating lists, Kasparov had reached a 2851 Elo rating, at that time the highest rating ever achieved. He held that record until Carlsen attained a new record high rating of 2861 in January 2013.
Kasparov holds the record for most consecutive professional tournament victories, placing first or equal first in fifteen individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990. The streak was broken by Vasyl Ivanchuk at Linares 1991, where Kasparov placed second, half a point behind him after losing their individual game. The details of this record winning streak follow:
Kasparov went nine years winning every super-tournament he played, in addition to contesting his series of five consecutive matches with Karpov. His only failure in this time period in either tournament or match play was the 1984 world title match against Karpov.
In the late 1990s, Kasparov went on another long streak of ten consecutive super-tournament wins.
In these tournament victories, Kasparov had a score of 53 wins, 61 draws and 1 loss in 115 games, his only defeat coming against Ivan Sokolov in Wijk aan Zee 1999.
Acorn Computers acted as one of the sponsors for Kasparov's Candidates semi-final match against Korchnoi in 1983. This was Kasparov's first introduction to computers. Kasparov was awarded a BBC Micro, which he took back with him to Baku, making it perhaps one of the first Western-made microcomputers to reach the Soviet Union at that time.
Computer chess magazine editor Frederic Friedel consulted with Kasparov in 1985 on how a chess database program would be useful preparation for competition. Friedel founded Chessbase two years later, and he gave a copy of the program to Kasparov, who started using it in his preparation. That same year, Kasparov played against thirty-two chess computers in Hamburg, winning all games. Several commercially available Kasparov computers were made in the 1980s, the Saitek Kasparov Turbo King models. On 22 October 1989, Kasparov defeated the chess computer Deep Thought in both games of a two-game match. In December 1992, Kasparov played thirty-seven blitz games against Fritz 2 in Cologne, winning 24, drawing 4 and losing 9.
Kasparov cooperated in producing video material for the computer game Kasparov's Gambit released by Electronic Arts in November 1993. In April 1994, Intel acted as a sponsor for the first Professional Chess Association Grand Prix event in Moscow, played at a time control of twenty-five minutes per game. In May, Chessbase's Fritz 3 running on an Intel Pentium PC defeated Kasparov in their first game in the Intel Express blitz tournament in Munich, but Kasparov managed to tie it for first and won the play-off (+3=2). The next day, Kasparov lost to Fritz 3 again in a game on ZDF TV. In August, Kasparov was knocked out of the London Intel Grand Prix by Richard Lang's ChessGenius 2 program in the first round. In 1995, during Kasparov's world title match with Anand, he unveiled an opening novelty that had been checked with a chess engine, an approach that would become increasingly common in subsequent years.
Kasparov played in a pair of six-game chess matches with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. The first match took place in Philadelphia in February 1996 and was won by Kasparov (4-2). The second was played in New York City in May 1997 and won by Deep Blue (3½–2½). The 1997 match was the first defeat of a reigning world champion by a computer under tournament conditions. The match was even after five games but Kasparov lost quickly in Game 6. Kasparov said that he was "not well prepared" to face Deep Blue in 1997. He said that based on his "objective strengths" his play was stronger than that of Deep Blue. Kasparov claimed that several factors weighed against him in this match. In particular, he was denied access to Deep Blue's recent games, in contrast to the computer's team, which could study hundreds of Kasparov's.
After the loss, Kasparov said that he sometimes saw deep intelligence and creativity in the machine's moves, suggesting that during the second game chess players had intervened in contravention of the rules. IBM denied that it had cheated, stating the only human intervention occurred between games. The rules provided for the developers to modify the program between games, an opportunity they said they used to shore up weaknesses in the computer's play revealed during the course of the match. Kasparov requested printouts of the machine's log files but IBM refused, although the company later published them on the Internet. Much later, it was suggested that the behaviour Kasparov noted had resulted from a glitch in the computer program. Plans for further engagement between Kasparov and IBM, including a rematch, did not come to fruition, due to the accusations of cheating.
In January 2003, he engaged in a six-game classical time control match, with a $1 million prize fund, against Deep Junior. It was billed as the FIDE "Man vs. Machine" world championship. The engine evaluated three million positions per second. After one win each and three draws, it was all up to the final game. After reaching a decent position, Kasparov offered a draw, which was accepted by the Deep Junior team. Asked why he had offered the draw, Kasparov said he feared making a blunder. Deep Junior was the first machine to beat Kasparov with Black and at a standard time control.
In June 2003, Mindscape released the computer game Kasparov Chessmate, with Kasparov himself listed as a co-designer. In November 2003, he engaged in a four-game match against the computer program X3D Fritz, using a virtual board, 3D glasses and a speech recognition system. After two draws and one win apiece, the X3D Man–Machine match ended in a draw. Kasparov received $175,000 and took home a golden trophy. He continued to regret the blunder in the second game that cost him a crucial point. He felt that he had outplayed the machine overall and performed well: "I only made one mistake but unfortunately that one mistake lost the game."
In 2021, Kasparov promoted a series of 32 NFTs that detailed important moments in his career. The top four sold for more than $11,000.
Kasparov's grandfather was a staunch communist, but the young Kasparov gradually began to have doubts about the Soviet Union's political system at age 13 when he travelled abroad for the first time in 1976 to Paris for a chess tournament. In 1981, at age 18, he read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, a copy of which he bought while abroad. Nevertheless, Kasparov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1984, and was elected to the Central Committee of Komsomol in 1987. In 1990, he left the party.
In May 1990, Kasparov took part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia. He left the party on 28 April 1991, after its conference. Kasparov was also involved with the creation of the "Choice of Russia" bloc of parties in June 1993. He took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin in 1996. In 2001 he voiced his support for the Russian television channel NTV.
After his retirement from chess in 2005, Kasparov turned to politics and created the United Civil Front, a social movement whose main goal is to "work to preserve electoral democracy in Russia". He has vowed to "restore democracy" to Russia by restoring the rule of law. A year later the United Civil Front became part of The Other Russia. Kasparov was instrumental in setting up this coalition, which opposes Putin's government and the United Russia party. The Other Russia was boycotted by the leaders of Russia's mainstream opposition parties, Yabloko and Union of Right Forces, due to its inclusion of both nationalist and radical groups. Kasparov has criticised these two parties as being secretly under the auspices of the Kremlin.
In April 2005, Kasparov was in Moscow at a promotional event when he was struck over the head with a chessboard he had just signed. The assailant was reported to have said: "I admired you as a chess player, but you gave that up for politics" immediately before the attack. Kasparov has been the subject of a number of other episodes since, including police brutality and alleged harassment from the Russian secret service.
Kasparov helped organise the Saint Petersburg Dissenters' March on 3 March 2007 and The March of the Dissenters on 24 March 2007, both involving several thousand people rallying against Putin and Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko.
Kasparov led a pro-democracy demonstration in Moscow in April 2007. Soon after it started, however, over 9,000 police descended on the group and seized almost everyone. Kasparov, who was briefly arrested, was warned by the prosecution office on the eve of the march that anyone participating risked being detained. He was held for some ten hours and then fined and released. He was later summoned by the FSB for violations of Russian anti-extremism laws.
Speaking about Kasparov in 2007, former KGB defector Oleg Kalugin remarked: "I do not talk in details – people who knew them are all dead now because they were vocal, they were open. I am quiet. There is only one man who is vocal and he may be in trouble: world chess champion Kasparov. He has been very outspoken in his attacks on Putin and I believe that he is probably next on the list."
On 30 September 2007, Kasparov entered the Russian presidential race, receiving 379 of 498 votes at a congress held in Moscow by The Other Russia. In October 2007, Kasparov announced his intention of standing for the Russian presidency as the candidate of the "Other Russia" coalition and vowed to fight for a "democratic and just Russia". Later that month he travelled to the United States, where he appeared on several popular television programmes.
In November 2007, Kasparov and other protesters were detained by police at an Other Russia rally in Moscow, which drew 3,000 demonstrators to protest against election rigging. Following an attempt by about 100 protesters to march through police lines to the electoral commission, which had barred Other Russia candidates from parliamentary elections, arrests were made. The Russian authorities stated a rally had been approved but not any marches, resulting in several demonstrators being detained. Kasparov was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and organising an unauthorised protest, and was given a jail sentence of five days. Kasparov appealed the charges, citing that he had been following orders given by the police. He was released from jail on 29 November. Putin castigated Kasparov at the rally for his use of English when speaking rather than Russian.
In December 2007, Kasparov announced that he had to withdraw his presidential candidacy due to inability to rent a meeting hall where at least 500 of his supporters could assemble. With the deadline expiring on that date, he explained it was impossible for him to run. Russian election laws required sufficient meeting hall space for assembling supporters. Kasparov's spokeswoman accused the government of using pressure to deter anyone from renting a hall for the gathering and said that the electoral commission had rejected a proposal that would have allowed for smaller gathering sizes rather than one large gathering at a meeting hall.
Kasparov was among the 34 first signatories and a key organiser of the online anti-Putin campaign "Putin must go", started on 10 March 2010. Within the text is a call to Russian law enforcement to ignore Putin's orders. By June 2011, there were 90,000 signatures. While the identity of the petition author remained anonymous, there was wide speculation that it was indeed Kasparov. On 31 January 2012, Kasparov hosted a meeting of opposition leaders planning a mass march on 4 February 2012, the third major opposition rally held since the disputed State Duma elections of December 2011. Among other opposition leaders attending were Alexey Navalny and Yevgeniya Chirikova.
Kasparov was arrested and beaten outside a Moscow court on 17 August 2012 while attending sentencing in the case involving the all-female punk band Pussy Riot. On 24 August, he was cleared of charges that he had taken part in an unauthorised protest against the conviction of three members of the band. Judge Yekaterina Veklich said there were "no grounds to believe the testimony of the police". Kasparov later thanked all the bloggers and reporters who provided video evidence that contradicted the testimony of the police. Kasparov wrote in February 2013 that "fascism has come to Russia. ...Project Putin, just like the old Project Hitler, is but the fruit of a conspiracy by the ruling elite. Fascist rule was never the result of the free will of the people. It was always the fruit of a conspiracy by the ruling elites!"
Kasparov denied rumours in April 2013 that he was planning to leave Russia for good. "I found these rumors to be deeply saddening and, moreover, surprising," he wrote. "I was unable to respond immediately because I was in such a state of shock that such an incredibly inaccurate statement, the likes of which is constantly distributed by the Kremlin's propagandists, came this time from Ilya Yashin, a fellow member of the Opposition Coordination Council (KSO) and my former colleague from the Solidarity movement." He also accused prominent Russian journalist Vladimir Posner of failing to stand up to Putin and to earlier Russian and Soviet leaders.
However, Kasparov subsequently fled Russia less than three months later. On 6 June 2013, he announced that he had left his homeland on account of fear of persecution for his political views. Further, at the 2013 Women in the World conference, Kasparov told The Daily Beast's Michael Moynihan that democracy no longer existed in what he called Russia's "dictatorship".
Kasparov said at a press conference in June 2013 that if he returned to Russia, he doubted he would be allowed to leave again, given Putin's ongoing crackdown on dissenters. "So for the time being," he said, "I refrain from returning to Russia." He explained shortly thereafter in an article for The Daily Beast that this had not been intended as "a declaration of leaving my home country, permanently or otherwise", but merely an expression of "the dark reality of the situation in Russia today, where nearly half the members of the opposition's Coordinating Council are under criminal investigation on concocted charges". He noted that the Moscow prosecutor's office was "opening an investigation that would limit my ability to travel", making it impossible for him to fulfil "professional speaking engagements" and hindering his "work for the non-profit Kasparov Chess Foundation, which has centres in New York City, Brussels and Johannesburg, to promote chess in education". Kasparov further wrote in his June 2013 Daily Beast article that the mass protests in Moscow 18 months earlier against fraudulent Russian elections had been "a proud moment for me". He recalled that after joining the opposition movement in March 2005, he had been criticised for seeking to unite "every anti-Putin element in the country to march together regardless of ideology". Therefore, the sight of "hundreds of flags representing every group from liberals to nationalists all marching together for 'Russia Without Putin' was the fulfillment of a dream." Yet most Russians, he lamented, had continued to "slumber" even as Putin had "taken off the flimsy mask of democracy to reveal himself in full as the would-be KGB dictator he has always been".
Kasparov responded with several Twitter postings to a September 2013 The New York Times op-ed by Putin. "I hope Putin has taken adequate protections," he tweeted. "Now that he is a Russian journalist his life may be in grave danger!" Also: "Now we can expect NY Times op-eds by Mugabe on fair elections, Castro on free speech, & Kim Jong-un on prison reform. The Axis of Hypocrisy."
Kasparov wrote in July 2013 about the trial in Kirov of fellow opposition leader Navalny, who had been convicted "on concocted embezzlement charges", only to see the prosecutor, surprisingly, ask for his release the next day pending appeal. "The judicial process and the democratic process in Russia," wrote Kasparov, "are both elaborate mockeries created to distract the citizenry at home and to help Western leaders avoid confronting the awkward fact that Russia has returned to a police state". Still, Kasparov felt that whatever had caused the Kirov prosecutor's about-face, "my optimism tells me it was a positive sign. After more than 13 years of predictable repression under Putin, anything different is good."
Kasparov has been outspoken regarding Putin's antigay laws, describing them as "only the most recent encroachment on the freedom of speech and association of Russia's citizens", which the international community had largely ignored. Regarding Russia's hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Kasparov explained in August 2013 that he had opposed Russia's bid from the outset, since it would "allow Vladimir Putin's cronies to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars" and "lend prestige to Putin's authoritarian regime". Kasparov did not support the proposed Sochi Olympics boycott—writing that it would "unfairly punish athletes"—but called for athletes and others to "transform Putin's self-congratulatory pet project into a spotlight that exposes his authoritarian rule" to the world. In September, Kasparov called upon politicians to refuse to attend the games and the public to pressure sponsors and the media, such that Coca-Cola, for example, could put "a rainbow flag on each Coca-Cola can" and NBC could "do interviews with Russian gay activists or with Russian political activists". Kasparov also emphasised that although he was "still a Russian citizen", he had "good reason to be concerned about my ability to leave Russia if I returned to Moscow".
Kasparov spoke out against the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and has stated that control of Crimea should be returned to Ukraine after the overthrow of Putin without additional conditions. Kasparov's website was blocked by the Russian government censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, at the behest of the public prosecutor, allegedly due to Kasparov's opinions on the Crimean crisis. Kasparov's block was made in unison with several other notable Russian sites that were accused of inciting public outrage. Reportedly, several of the blocked sites received an affidavit noting their violations. However, Kasparov stated that his site had received no such notice of violations after its block. In 2015, a whole note on Kasparov was removed from a Russian language encyclopaedia of greatest Soviet players after an intervention from "senior leadership".
In October 2015, Kasparov published a book titled Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. In the book, Kasparov likens Putin to Adolf Hitler and explains the need for the West to oppose Putin sooner, rather than appeasing him and postponing the eventual confrontation. According to his publisher, "Kasparov wants this book out fast, in a way that has potential to influence the discussion during the primary season." In 2018, he said that "anything is better than Putin because that eliminates the probability of a nuclear war. Putin is insane."
Following reports of Russian ransomware attacks against American agencies and companies in 2021, Kasparov stated that "the only language that Putin understands is power, and his power is his money," arguing that the United States should target the bank accounts of Russian oligarchs to force Russia to rein in its criminals' cyberattacks.
Kasparov spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on Twitter: "The only way this really ends is the fall of Putin's regime by collapse of Russian economy and defeat in Ukraine." He also believed that "pressure must be kept up" in terms of sanctions and condemnations against Russia's actions and joined with other prominent Russian figures-in-exile to form the Anti-War Committee of Russia. He said that Russia should be "thrown back into the Stone Age to make sure that the oil and gas industry and any other sensitive industries that are vital for survival of the regime cannot function without Western technological support."
On 20 May 2022, Kasparov was designated as "foreign agent" by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
In May 2023, along with a large group of fellow exiles, Kasparov participated in the drafting of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's "Declaration of Russia's Democratic Forces".
On August 4, 2023, Kasparov participated on the radio show Open to Debate in a debate against Charles Kupchan, where he argued for Ukrainian admission into NATO and against any form of appeasement towards Putin.
Kasparov received the Keeper of the Flame award in 1991 from the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based far-right, anti-Muslim think tank. In his acceptance speech Kasparov lauded the defeat of communism while also urging the United States to give no financial assistance to central Soviet leaders. Kasparov gave speeches at other think tanks such as the Hoover Institution.
In a 12 May 2013 op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Kasparov questioned reports that the Russian security agency, the FSB, had fully cooperated with the FBI in the matter of the Boston bombers. He noted that the elder bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had reportedly met in Russia with two known jihadists who "were killed in Dagestan by the Russian military just days before Tamerlan left Russia for the U.S." Kasparov argued, "If no intelligence was sent from Moscow to Washington" about this meeting, "all this talk of FSB cooperation cannot be taken seriously." He further observed, "This would not be the first time Russian security forces seemed strangely impotent in the face of an impending terror attack," pointing out that in both the 2002 Moscow theater siege and the 2004 Beslan school attack, "there were FSB informants in both terror groups – yet the attacks went ahead unimpeded." Given this history, he wrote, "it is impossible to overlook that the Boston bombing took place just days after the U.S. Magnitsky List was published, creating the first serious external threat to the Putin power structure by penalising Russian officials complicit in human-rights crimes." In sum, Putin's "dubious record on counterterrorism and its continued support of terror sponsors Iran and Syria mean only one thing: common ground zero".
In the 2016 United States presidential election, Kasparov described Republican Donald Trump as "a celebrity showman with racist leanings and authoritarian tendencies" and criticised him for calling for closer ties with Putin. After Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, called Putin a strong leader, Kasparov said that Putin is a strong leader "in the same way arsenic is a strong drink". He also disparaged the economic policies of Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, but showed respect for Sanders as "a charismatic speaker and a passionate believer in his cause". Kasparov opined that Henry Kissinger "was selling the Trump Administration on the idea of a mirror of 1972 [Richard Nixon's visit to China], except, instead of a Sino-U.S. alliance against the U.S.S.R., this would be a Russian-American alliance against China."
In an interview discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Kasparov stated that the Republic of Artsakh has a right to independence and that Azerbaijan has no sovereign right over it. He considers this stance to be objective and without bias, as Soviet law allowed for autonomous republics (such as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast) to vote for independence separately and were given an equal right for self-determination, a factor he felt often went ignored. Kasparov recalled that he was criticised by Armenians for not taking a strong stance when the Karabakh movement began in 1988, explaining that he was living in Baku with 200,000 other Armenians at the time and did not want to increase tensions. Kasparov and his family later fled Baku in January 1990 to escape pogroms against Armenians.
He welcomed the Velvet Revolution in Armenia in 2018. Kasparov supports Armenian genocide recognition.
During the Yugoslav Wars, Kasparov advocated for the Western world to destroy the Yugoslav People's Army and accused Slobodan Milošević of creating a "siege mentality" to maintain control over Serbia. In 1997, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina for his support of Bosnian people during the Bosnian War. Kasparov was named Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation in 2011. In addition, Kasparov was presented with the Morris B. Abram Human Rights Award, UN Watch's annual human-rights prize, in 2013. The organisation praised him as "not only one of the world's smartest men" but "also among its bravest".
Before the first Gulf War, Kasparov expressed an unconventional viewpoint, recommending the United States to consider the use of an atomic bomb against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In 2002, supporting military action against Iraq, he also recommended planning for military action against Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
In April 2013, Kasparov joined in an HRF condemnation of Kanye West for having performed for the leader of Kazakhstan in exchange for a payment of $3 million, saying that West "has entertained a brutal killer and his entourage" and that his fee "came from the loot stolen from the Kazakhstan treasury". Further, in September 2013, Kasparov wrote in Time magazine that in Syria, Putin and Bashar al-Assad "won by forfeit when President Obama, Prime Minister Cameron and the rest of the so-called leaders of the free world walked away from the table." Kasparov lamented the "new game at the negotiating table where Putin and Assad set the rules and will run the show under the protection of the U.N." Kasparov said in September 2013 that Russia was now a dictatorship. In the same month he told an interviewer that "Obama going to Russia now is dead wrong, morally and politically," because Putin's regime "is behind Assad".
Kasparov was critical of the violence unleashed by the Spanish police against the 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia and accused the Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy of "betraying" the European promise of peace. After the Catalan regional election held later the same year, Kasparov wrote: "Despite unprecedented pressure from Madrid, Catalonian separatists won a majority. Europe must speak and help find a peaceful path toward resolution and avoid more violence". Kasparov recommended that Spain look to how Britain handled the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, adding: "look only at how Turkey and Iraq have treated the separatist Kurds. That cannot be the road for Spain and Catalonia."
On the occasion of the 2015 centennial of the Armenian genocide, Kasparov reflected that in 2002 he called for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union if Turkey recognised the genocide. He condemned the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In October 2018, Kasparov wrote that President Erdoğan's regime in Turkey "has jailed more journalists than any country in the world and scores of them remain in prison in Turkey. Since 2016, Turkey's intelligence agency has abducted at least 80 people in operations in 18 countries."
In the wake of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Kasparov vigorously called on the Biden administration for the destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah. He further demanded the US to set up regime change in Russia and Iran.
Kasparov had maintained a summer home in the Croatian city of Makarska. In February 2014, he applied for citizenship by naturalisation in Croatia, according to media reports, claiming he was finding it increasingly difficult to live in Russia. According to an article in The Guardian, Kasparov was "widely perceived" as having been a vocal supporter of Croatian independence during the early 1990s. Later in February 2014, his application for naturalisation was approved and he had a meeting with Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović on 27 February. Croatian press cited his "lobbying for Croatia in 1991" as grounds for the expedited naturalisation. In an interview for a Croatian daily published in February 2022, Kasparov said he was "very grateful" to Milanović for the help rendered by him (then as prime minister) in obtaining Croatian citizenship.
Kasparov has written books on chess. He published a controversial autobiography when still in his early 20s. Originally entitled Child of Change, it was later published as Unlimited Challenge. This book was updated several times after he became world champion. Its content is mainly literary, with a small chess component of key unannotated games. He published an annotated games collection in 1983, Fighting Chess: My Games and Career, which has been updated in further editions. He also wrote a book annotating the games from his World Chess Championship 1985 victory, World Chess Championship Match: Moscow, 1985.
He has annotated his own games extensively for the Yugoslav Chess Informant series. In 1982, he co-authored Batsford Chess Openings with British grandmaster Keene. That book sold well and was updated in a second edition in 1989. He also co-authored two opening books with his trainer Alexander Nikitin in the 1980s for British publisher Batsford – on the Classical Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence and on the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence. Kasparov also contributed extensively to the five-volume openings series Encyclopedia of Chess Openings from Chess Informant, for which Kasparov also wrote personal columns called Garry's Choice.
In 2000, Kasparov co-authored Kasparov Against the World: The Story of the Greatest Online Challenge with grandmaster Daniel King. The 202-page book analyses the 1999 Kasparov versus the World game, and holds the record for the longest analysis devoted to a single chess game.
In 2003, the first volume of his five-volume work Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors was published. This volume deals with world champions Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine, and some of their strong contemporaries. It won the British Chess Federation's Book of the Year award in 2003. Volume two, covering Max Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, appeared later in 2003. Volume three, featuring Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky, was published in early 2004. In December 2004, Kasparov released volume four, which covers Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen (none of whom was world champion), but focuses on Fischer. The fifth volume, devoted to the chess careers of world champion Karpov and challenger Korchnoi, was published in March 2006.
His Revolution in the 70s (published in March 2007) covers "the openings revolution of the 1970s–1980s" and was the first work in a new venture, "Modern Chess Series", which recounted his matches with Karpov and selected games. Revolution in the 70s is about the development of opening theory witnessed in that decade. Systems like the novel "Hedgehog" opening plan of passively developing the pieces no further than the first three ranks were examined in great detail. Kasparov also analysed some of the most notable games played in that period. In a section at the end of the book, top opening theoreticians provided their opinion on progress made in opening theory in the 1980s.
From 2011–14, Kasparov published a three-volume series of his games, spanning his career in three eras until he stopped playing full time in 2005.
In October 2015, Kasparov published a book titled Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. The title is a reference to the HBO television series Game of Thrones. In the book, Kasparov writes about the need for an organisation composed solely of democratic countries to replace the United Nations. In an interview, he called the United Nations a "catwalk for dictators".
Kasparov believes that the conventional history of civilisation is incorrect. Specifically, he contends that the history of ancient civilisations is based on misdating of events and achievements that occurred in the medieval period. He has cited several aspects of ancient history that, he argues, are likely to be anachronisms.
Kasparov has written in support of the pseudohistorical New Chronology (Fomenko), although with some reservations. In 2001, he expressed a desire to devote his time to promoting the New Chronology after his chess career. "New Chronology is a great area for investing my intellect ... My analytical abilities are well placed to figure out what was right and what was wrong." "When I stop playing chess, it may well be that I concentrate on promoting these ideas... I believe they can improve our lives." Later, Kasparov renounced his support of Fomenko theories but reaffirmed his belief that mainstream historical knowledge is inconsistent.
Kasparov wrote How Life Imitates Chess, an examination of the parallels between decision-making in chess and in the business world, in 2007. In 2008, Kasparov published a sympathetic obituary for Fischer: "I am often asked if I ever met or played Bobby Fischer. The answer is no, I never had that opportunity. But even though he saw me as a member of the evil chess establishment that he felt had robbed and cheated him, I am sorry I never had a chance to thank him personally for what he did for our sport."
Kasparov is the chief advisor for the book publisher Everyman Chess. He works closely with Mig Greengard and his comments can often be found on Greengard's blog. Kasparov collaborated with Max Levchin and Peter Thiel on The Blueprint, a book calling for a revival of world innovation, planned for release in March 2013 but cancelled after the authors disagreed on its contents. In an editorial comment on Google's AlphaZero chess-playing system, Kasparov argued that chess has become the model for reasoning in the same way that the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster became a model organism for geneticists: "I was pleased to see that AlphaZero had a dynamic, open style like my own," he wrote in late 2018.
Kasparov served as a consultant for the 2020 Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit and gave an interview to Slate on his contributions. That same year, Kasparov collaborated with Matt Calkins, founder and CEO of Appian, on HYPERAUTOMATION, a book about low-code development and the future of business automation. Kasparov wrote the foreword where he discusses his experiences with human–machine relationships. The New York Times published an essay by Kasparov titled "Garry Kasparov: What We Believe About Reality" in 2021. The essay is part of a series called The Big Ideas: What Do We Believe. This work was later published in a compendium titled Question Everything: A Stone Reader.
Kasparov has lived in New York City since 2013.
He has been married three times: to Masha, with whom he had a daughter, Polina, before divorcing; to Yulia, with whom he had a son, Vadim, before their 2005 divorce; and to Daria (Dasha), with whom he has two children, daughter Aida born in 2006 and son Nickolas born in 2015. Kasparov's wife manages his business activities worldwide through Kasparov International Management Inc. | [
{
"paragraph_id": 0,
"text": "Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 1,
"text": "Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed world champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He defended the title against Karpov three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1990. Kasparov held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicised match. He continued to hold the \"Classical\" world title until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the PCA title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player at the time of his official retirement. Kasparov coached Carlsen in 2009–10, during which time Carlsen rose to world no. 1. Kasparov stood unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 2,
"text": "Since retiring from chess, Kasparov has devoted his time to writing and politics. His book series My Great Predecessors, first published in 2003, details the history and games of the world champion chess players who preceded him. He formed the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed \"official obstruction\", he withdrew. In the wake of the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution. Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 3,
"text": "Kasparov is chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and chairs its International Council. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organisation promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov is also a security ambassador for the software company Avast.",
"title": ""
},
{
"paragraph_id": 4,
"text": "Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein (Russian: Гарик Кимович Вайнштейн, romanized: Garik Kimovich Vainshtein) in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR (now Azerbaijan), Soviet Union. His father, Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, was Jewish and his mother, Klara Shagenovna Kasparova, was Armenian. Both of his mother's parents were Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. Kasparov has described himself as a \"self-appointed Christian\", although \"very indifferent\" and identifying as Russian: \"[A]lthough I'm half-Armenian, half-Jewish, I consider myself Russian because Russian is my native tongue, and I grew up with Russian culture.\" Kasparov and his family had to \"flee anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku in January 1990 that were coordinated by local leaders with Soviet acquiescence\".",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 5,
"text": "According to Kasparov himself, he was named after United States President Harry Truman, \"whom my father admired for taking a strong stand against communism. It was a rare name in Russia, until Harry Potter came along.\"",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 6,
"text": "Kasparov began the serious study of chess after he came across a problem set up by his parents and proposed a solution. When he was seven years old, his father died of leukaemia. At the age of twelve, Kasparov, upon the request of his mother Klara and with the consent of the family, adopted Klara's surname Kasparov, which was done to avoid possible anti-Semitic tensions common in the USSR at the time.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 7,
"text": "From age seven, Kasparov attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku and, at ten, began training at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school under coach Vladimir Makogonov. Makogonov helped develop Kasparov's positional skills and taught him to play the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship in Tbilisi in 1976, scoring 7/9 points, at age thirteen. He repeated the feat the following year, winning with a score of 8.5/9. He was being coached by Alexander Shakarov during this time.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 8,
"text": "In 1978, Kasparov participated in the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk. He had received a special invitation to enter the tournament but took first place and became a chess master. Kasparov has stressed that this event was a turning point in his life and that it convinced him to choose chess as his career: \"I will remember the Sokolsky Memorial as long as I live\", he wrote. He has also said that after the victory, he thought he had a very good shot at the world championship.",
"title": "Early life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 9,
"text": "He first qualified for the USSR Chess Championship at age 15 in 1978, the youngest-ever player at that level. He won the 64-player Swiss system tournament at Daugavpils on a tie-break over Igor V. Ivanov to capture the sole qualifying place.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 10,
"text": "Kasparov rose quickly through the FIDE world rankings. Due to an oversight by the Russian Chess Federation, which believed that a grandmaster tournament in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia, was for juniors, he participated in that event in 1979 while still unrated. He was a replacement for the Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi, who was originally invited but withdrew due to the threat of a boycott from the Soviets. Kasparov won this high-class tournament, emerging with a provisional rating of 2595, enough to catapult him to the top group of chess players (at the time, number 15 in the world). The next year, 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany. Later that year, he made his debut as the second reserve for the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad at Valletta, Malta, and became a Grandmaster.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 11,
"text": "As a teenager, Kasparov shared the USSR Chess Championship in 1981 with Lev Psakhis (12.5/17), although Psakhis won their game. His first win in a superclass-level international tournament was scored at Bugojno, Yugoslavia, in 1982. He earned a place in the 1982 Moscow Interzonal tournament, which he won, to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. At age 19, he was the youngest Candidate since Bobby Fischer, who was 15 when he qualified in 1958. At this stage, he was already the No. 2-rated player in the world, trailing only world champion Karpov on the January 1983 list.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 12,
"text": "Kasparov's first (quarter-final) Candidates match was against Alexander Beliavsky, whom he defeated 6–3 (four wins, one loss). Politics threatened Kasparov's semi-final against Korchnoi, which was scheduled to be played in Pasadena, California. Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and was at that time the strongest active non-Soviet player. The Soviet authorities would not allow Kasparov to travel to the United States, meaning that Korchnoi could have had a walkover. This decision was met with disapproval by the chess world, and Korchnoi agreed to the match to being played in London instead, along with the previously scheduled match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltán Ribli. The Kasparov-Korchnoi match was put together on short notice by Raymond Keene. Kasparov lost the first game but won the match 7–4 (four wins, one loss).",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 13,
"text": "In January 1984, Kasparov became the No. 1 ranked player in the world, with a FIDE rating of 2710. He became the youngest-ever world No. 1, a record that lasted 12 years until being broken by Kramnik in January 1996. That same year, he won the Candidates' final 8½–4½ (four wins, no losses) against former world champion Smyslov at Vilnius, thus qualifying to play Karpov for the world championship.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 14,
"text": "The World Chess Championship 1984 match between Kasparov and Karpov had many ups and downs and a very controversial finish. Karpov started in very good form, and after nine games Kasparov was down 4–0 in a \"first to six wins\" match. Fellow players predicted he would be whitewashed 6–0 within 18 games.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 15,
"text": "In an unexpected turn of events, there followed a series of 17 successive draws, some relatively short, others drawn in unsettled positions. Kasparov lost game 27 (5–0), then fought back with another series of draws until game 32, earning his first-ever win against the world champion and bringing the score to 5–1. Another 14 successive draws followed, through game 46; the previous record length for a world title match had been 34 games (José Raúl Capablanca vs. Alexander Alekhine in 1927).",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 16,
"text": "Kasparov won games 47 and 48 to bring the score to 5–3 in Karpov's favour. Then the match was ended without result by FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, and a new match was announced to start a few months later. The termination was controversial, as both players stated that they preferred the match to continue. Announcing his decision, Campomanes cited the health of the players, which had been strained by the length of the match. According to grandmasters Boris Gulko and Korchnoi, and historians Vladimir Popow and Yuri Felshtinsky in their The KGB Plays Chess book, Campomanes had been a KGB agent and was tasked with preventing Karpov's defeat at all costs. The match was terminated while Karpov was still ahead to avoid the impression that the decision had been made for his benefit.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 17,
"text": "The match became the first, and so far only, world championship match to be abandoned without a result. Kasparov's relations with Campomanes and FIDE became strained, and matters came to a head in 1993 with Kasparov's complete break-away from FIDE.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 18,
"text": "The second Karpov–Kasparov match in 1985 was organised in Moscow as the best of 24 games, where the first player to win 12½ points would claim the title. The scores from the terminated match would not carry over; however, in the event of a 12–12 draw, the title would remain with Karpov. On 9 November 1985, Kasparov secured the world crown by a score of 13–11. Karpov, with White, needed to win the 24th game to retain the title but Kasparov won it with the Sicilian Defence. He was 22 years old at the time, making him the youngest-ever world champion, a record held by Mikhail Tal for over 20 years. Kasparov's win with Black in the 16th game has been recognised as one of the all-time chess masterpieces, including being voted the best game played during the first 64 issues of the magazine Chess Informant.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 19,
"text": "As part of the arrangements following the aborted 1984 match, Karpov had been granted (in the event of his defeat) a right to rematch. Another match took place in 1986, hosted jointly in London and Leningrad, with each city hosting 12 games. At one point in the match, Kasparov opened a three-point lead and looked well on his way to a decisive victory. But Karpov fought back by winning three consecutive games to level the score late in the match. At this point, Kasparov dismissed one of his seconds, grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov, accusing him of selling his opening preparation to the Karpov team (as described in Kasparov's autobiography Unlimited Challenge, chapter Stab in the Back). Kasparov scored one more win and kept his title by a score of 12½–11½.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 20,
"text": "A fourth match for the world title took place in 1987 in Seville, as Karpov had qualified through the Candidates' Matches to become the official challenger once again. This match was also very close, with neither player holding more than a one-point lead at any time. With one game left, Kasparov was down a point and needed a win to draw the match and retain his title. A long, tense game ensued in which Karpov blundered away a pawn just before the first time control. Kasparov then won a long ending to retain the title on a 12–12 scoreline.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 21,
"text": "Kasparov and Karpov met for a fifth time, on this occasion in New York City and Lyon in 1990, with each city hosting 12 games. Again the result was a close one, with Kasparov winning by a margin of 12½–11½. In their five world championship matches, Kasparov had 21 wins, 19 losses and 104 draws in 144 games.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 22,
"text": "In November 1986, Kasparov had created the Grandmasters Association (GMA) to represent professional players and give them more say in FIDE's activities. Kasparov assumed a leadership role. GMA's major achievement was in organising a series of six World Cup tournaments for the world's top players. This caused an uneasy relationship to develop between Kasparov and FIDE. The previous month Kasparov had made his feelings clear to fellow grandmaster Keene: \"Campomanes must go. It is war to the death with him as far as I am concerned. I will do everything I can to remove him”.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 23,
"text": "This stand-off lasted until 1993, by which time a new challenger had qualified through the Candidates cycle: Nigel Short, a British grandmaster who had defeated Karpov in a qualifying match and then Jan Timman in the finals held in early 1993. After a confusing and compressed bidding process produced lower financial estimates than expected, the world champion and his challenger both rejected FIDE's bid for an August match in Manchester and decided to play outside FIDE's jurisdiction. Their match took place under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association (PCA), an organisation established by Kasparov and Short. At this point, a fracture occurred in the lineage of the FIDE World Championship. In an interview in 2007, Kasparov called the break with FIDE in 1993 the worst mistake of his career, as it hurt the game in the long run.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 24,
"text": "Kasparov and Short were ejected from FIDE and played their well-sponsored match in London in September 1993. Kasparov won convincingly by a score of 12½–7½. The match considerably raised the profile of chess in the UK, with a substantial level of coverage on Channel 4. Meanwhile, FIDE organised its world championship match between Timman (the defeated Candidates finalist) and former world champion Karpov (a defeated Candidates semi-finalist), which Karpov won.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 25,
"text": "FIDE removed Kasparov and Short from its rating list. Subsequently, the PCA created a rating list of its own, which featured all the world top players regardless of their relation to FIDE. There were now two world champions: PCA champion Kasparov and FIDE champion Karpov. The title remained split for 13 years.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 26,
"text": "Kasparov defended his PCA title in a 1995 match against Viswanathan Anand at the World Trade Center in New York City. Kasparov won the match by four wins to one, with thirteen draws.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 27,
"text": "Kasparov tried to organise another world championship match under a different organisation, the World Chess Association (WCA), with Linares organiser Luis Rentero. Alexei Shirov and Kramnik played a candidates match to decide the challenger, which Shirov won in an upset. But when Rentero admitted that the funds required and promised had never materialised, the WCA collapsed. Yet another body stepped in, BrainGames.com, headed by Raymond Keene. After a match with Shirov could not be agreed by BrainGames.com and talks with Anand collapsed, a match was instead arranged against Kramnik.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 28,
"text": "During this period, Kasparov was approached by Oakham School in the United Kingdom, at the time the only school in the country with a full-time chess coach, and developed an interest in the use of chess in education. In 1997, Kasparov supported a scholarship programme at the school. Kasparov also won the Marca Leyenda trophy that year.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 29,
"text": "In 1999, he played a well-known game against Topalov wherein he won after a rook sacrifice and king hunt.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 30,
"text": "The Kasparov-Kramnik match took place in London during the latter half of 2000. Kramnik had been a student of Kasparov's at the famous Botvinnik/Kasparov chess school in Russia and had served on Kasparov's team for the 1995 match with Anand.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 31,
"text": "The better-prepared Kramnik won game 2 against Kasparov's Grünfeld Defence and achieved winning positions in games 4 and 6, although Kasparov managed a draw in both games. Kasparov made a critical error in game 10 with the Nimzo-Indian Defence, which Kramnik exploited to win in 25 moves. As White, Kasparov could not crack the passive but solid Berlin Defence in the Ruy Lopez, and Kramnik managed to draw all his games as Black. Kramnik won the match 8½–6½.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 32,
"text": "Kasparov won a series of major tournaments and remained the PCA top-rated player in the world, ahead of both Kramnik and the FIDE World Champion. In 2001 he refused an invitation to the 2002 Dortmund Candidates Tournament for the Classical title, claiming his results had earned him a rematch with Kramnik.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 33,
"text": "Kasparov and Karpov played a four-game match with rapid time controls over two days in December 2002 in New York City. Kasparov suffered a surprise loss (1.5 – 2.5).",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 34,
"text": "Because of Kasparov's continuing strong results and status as FIDE world No. 1, he was included in the so-called \"Prague Agreement\", masterminded by Yasser Seirawan and intended to reunite the two world championships. Kasparov was to play a match against the FIDE World Champion Ponomariov in September 2003. But this match was called off after Ponomariov refused to sign his contract for it without reservation. In its place, there were plans for a match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, winner of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004, to be held in January 2005 in the United Arab Emirates. These also fell through owing to a lack of funding. Plans to hold the match in Turkey instead came too late. Kasparov announced in January 2005 that he was tired of waiting for FIDE to arrange a match and had decided to stop all efforts to become undisputed world champion once more.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 35,
"text": "After winning the prestigious Linares tournament for the ninth time, Kasparov announced on 10 March 2005 that he would retire from regular competitive chess. He cited as the reason a lack of personal goals in the chess world. When winning the Russian championship in 2004, he commented that it had been the last major title he had never won outright. He also expressed frustration at the failure to reunify the world championship.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 36,
"text": "Kasparov said he might play in some rapid chess events for fun, but he intended to spend more time on his books, including the My Great Predecessors series, and work on the links between decision-making in chess and other areas of life. He also stated that he would continue to involve himself in Russian politics, which he viewed as \"headed down the wrong path.\"",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 37,
"text": "On 22 August 2006, in his first public chess games since his retirement, Kasparov played in the Lichthof Chess Champions Tournament, a blitz event played at the time control of five minutes per side and three-second increments per move. Kasparov tied for first with Karpov, scoring 4½/6.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 38,
"text": "Kasparov and Karpov played a 12-game match from 21 to 24 September 2009, in Valencia, Spain. It consisted of four rapid (or semi rapid) games, in which Kasparov won 3–1, and eight blitz games, in which Kasparov won 6–2, winning the match with a final result of 9–3. The event took place exactly 25 years after the two players' unfinished encounter at World Chess Championship 1984.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 39,
"text": "Kasparov coached Carlsen for approximately one year, beginning in February 2009. The collaboration remained secret until September 2009. Under Kasparov's tutelage, Carlsen in October 2009 became the youngest ever to achieve a FIDE rating higher than 2800, and he rose from world number four to world number one. While the pair initially planned to work together throughout 2010, in March of that year it was announced that Carlsen had split from Kasparov and would no longer be using him as a trainer. According to an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Carlsen indicated that he would remain in contact and that he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov; however, no further training sessions were held, and the cooperation fizzled out over the course of the spring. In 2011, Carlsen said: \"Thanks to [Kasparov] I began to understand a whole class of positions better. ... Kasparov gave me a great deal of practical help.\" In 2012, when asked what he learnt from working with Kasparov, Carlsen answered: \"Complex positions. That was the most important thing.\"",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 40,
"text": "In May 2010, Kasparov played and won 30 games simultaneously against players at Tel Aviv University in Israel. In the same month, it was revealed that he had aided Anand in his preparation for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov. Anand won the match 6½–5½ to retain the title.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 41,
"text": "Kasparov began training the U.S. grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in January 2011. The first of several training sessions was held in New York just before Nakamura participated in the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. In December 2011, it was announced that their cooperation had come to an end.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 42,
"text": "Kasparov played two blitz exhibition matches in the autumn of 2011. The first was in September against French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, in Clichy (France), which Kasparov won 1½–½. The second was a longer match consisting of eight blitz games played on 9 October, against English grandmaster Short. Kasparov won again by a score of 4½–3½. A little after that, in October 2011, Kasparov played and defeated fourteen opponents in a simultaneous exhibition that took place in Bratislava.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 43,
"text": "On 25 and 26 April 2015, Kasparov played a mini-match against Short. The match consisted of two rapid games and eight blitz games and was contested over the course of two days. Commentators GM Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramírez remarked how Kasparov was an 'initiative hog' throughout the match, consistently not allowing Short to gain any foothold in the games. Kasparov won the match decisively (8½–1½), winning all five games on the second day. These victories were characterised by aggressive pawn moves breaking up Short's position, thereby allowing Kasparov's pieces to achieve positional superiority.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 44,
"text": "Kasparov played and won all nineteen games of a simultaneous exhibition in Pula, Croatia on 19 August 2015. At the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on 28 and 29 April 2016, Kasparov played a 6-round exhibition blitz round-robin tournament with Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Nakamura in an event called the Ultimate Blitz Challenge. He finished the tournament third with 9.5/18, behind Nakamura (11/18) and So (10/18). At the post-tournament interview, Kasparov announced that he would donate his winnings from playing the next top-level blitz exhibition match to assist funding of the American Olympic Team.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 45,
"text": "On 2 June 2016, Kasparov played against fifteen chess players in a simultaneous exhibition in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle of Mönchengladbach. He won all games.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 46,
"text": "On 7 October 2013, Kasparov announced his candidacy for World Chess Federation president during a reception in Tallinn, Estonia, where the 84th FIDE Congress took place. He was supported by reigning world champion and FIDE #1 ranked player Carlsen. At the FIDE General Assembly in August 2014, Kasparov lost the presidential election to the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, with a vote of 110–61.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 47,
"text": "A few days before the election took place, the New York Times Magazine had published a report on the viciously fought campaign. Included was information about a leaked contract between Kasparov and former FIDE Secretary General Ignatius Leong from Singapore, in which the Kasparov campaign reportedly \"offered to pay Leong US$500,000 and to pay $250,000 a year for four years to the ASEAN Chess Academy, an organisation Leong helped create to teach the game, specifying that Leong would be responsible for delivering 11 votes from his region [...]\". In September 2015, the FIDE Ethics Commission found Kasparov and Leong guilty of violating its Code of Ethics and later suspended them for two years from all FIDE functions and meetings.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 48,
"text": "Kasparov came out of retirement to participate in the inaugural St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament from 14 to 19 August 2017, scoring 3.5/9 in the rapid and 9/18 in the blitz. He finished eighth in a strong field of ten, including Nakamura, Caruana, former world champion Anand and the eventual winner, Levon Aronian. Kasparov promised that any tournament money he earned would go towards charities to promote chess in Africa.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 49,
"text": "In 2020, he participated in 9LX, a Chess 960 tournament, and finished eighth of a field of ten players. His game against Carlsen, who tied for first place, was drawn.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 50,
"text": "He launched Kasparovchess, a subscription-based online chess community featuring documentaries, lessons, puzzles, podcasts, articles, interviews and playing zones, in 2021.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 51,
"text": "Kasparov played in the blitz section of the Grand Chess Tour 2021 event in Zagreb, Croatia. He performed poorly, however, scoring 0.5/9 on the first day and 2/9 on the second day, getting his only win against Jorden Van Foreest. He also participated in 9LX 2, finishing fifth in a field of ten players, with a score of 5/9.",
"title": "Chess career"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 52,
"text": "Kasparov played in a total of eight Chess Olympiads. He represented the Soviet Union four times and Russia four times, following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. In his 1980 Olympiad debut, he became, at age 17, the youngest player to represent the Soviet Union or Russia at that level, a record which was broken by Kramnik in 1992. In 82 games, he scored (+50−3=29), for 78.7%, and won a total of nineteen medals, including team gold medals all eight times he competed.",
"title": "Olympiads and major team events"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 53,
"text": "For the 1994 Moscow Olympiad, he had a significant organisational role in helping to put together the event on short notice, after Thessaloniki cancelled its offer to host only a few weeks before the scheduled dates. Kasparov's detailed Olympiad record follows:",
"title": "Olympiads and major team events"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 54,
"text": "Kasparov made his international debut for the USSR at age 16 in the 1980 European Team Championship and played for Russia in the 1992 edition of that championship. He won a total of five medals. His detailed record in this event follows:",
"title": "Olympiads and major team events"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 55,
"text": "Kasparov also represented the USSR once at the Youth Olympiad in Austria (1981). He scored 9/10 (+8–0=2) on the top board and his team lifted the title.",
"title": "Olympiads and major team events"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 56,
"text": "Kasparov received a Chess Oscar eleven times as the best chess player of the year, in 1982-1983, 1985-1988, 1995-1996, 1999, and 2001-2002. Between 1981 and 1991, he won or tied for first place in every tournament he entered. In 1999, Kasparov reached an Elo rating of 2851 points, a record that stood for over thirteen years: on 10 December 2012, Carlsen achieved an unofficial rating of 2861 points, with which he topped the next release of the rating in January 2013. With the exception of the PCA period and sharing first place with Kramnik in 1997, Kasparov led the rating list from 1985 to 2006 – a total of 255 months. On 1 January 2006, Kasparov ranked first with a coefficient of 2812. However, he was excluded from the FIDE rating list of 1 April 2006 because he had not participated in tournaments for the previous twelve months.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 57,
"text": "The rivalry between Kasparov and Karpov (often referred to as the \"two Ks\") is one of the greatest in the history of chess. In six years they played five matches comprising 144 games. For a long time there was personal enmity between Karpov and Kasparov. The conflict between the two men also had a political connotation. Karpov was considered a representative of the Soviet nomenklatura, while Kasparov was young and popular, positioned himself as a \"child of change\", willingly gave candid interviews and (especially in the West) had an aura of a rebel, although he never was a dissident. Kasparov's 1985 victory coincided with the start of perestroika in the Soviet Union.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 58,
"text": "Carlsen said of Kasparov: \"I've never seen someone with such a feel for dynamics in complex positions.\" Kramnik has opined that Kasparov's \"capacity for study is second to none\", adding \"There is nothing in chess he has been unable to deal with.\"",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 59,
"text": "In 2007, the international consulting company Synectics published a rating of 100 living geniuses in science, politics, art and entrepreneurship, in which Kasparov ranked 25th.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 60,
"text": "Kramnik called Kasparov a chess player with virtually no weaknesses. His games are characterised by a dynamic style of play with a focus on tactics, depth of strategy, subtle calculation and original opening ideas. Kasparov was known for his extensive opening preparation and aggressive play in it. Sergey Shipov considered Kasparov's moral and volitional qualities (impulsiveness and psychological instability) and excessive reliance on options, which can lead to overwork and mistakes, as amongst his few shortcomings.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 61,
"text": "Kasparov's attacking style of play has been compared by many to Alekhine, his chess idol since childhood. Kasparov has described his style as being influenced chiefly by Alekhine, Tal and Fischer. Other influences on Kasparov were his early coaches. At a young age, he met with experienced teachers Alexander Nikitin and Alexander Shakarov. Shakarov collected and systematised materials, and then became the keeper of Kasparov's \"information bank\". A revolutionary step at that time was the involvement of computer programs in analysing games, and it was Kasparov and his team who took the first steps in this direction. In 1973, Kasparov entered the Botvinnik school and immediately attracted attention. Botvinnik commented on the young schoolboy: \"Garry's speed and memory capacity are amazing. He counts deep variations and finds unexpected moves. The power of combinational vision makes him similar to Alekhine himself\".",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 62,
"text": "Kasparov's contribution to opening theory is acknowledged. In the 1990s, he systematically developed new variants with computer programs. Kasparov's favourite opening systems were the Queen's Indian with White and variations of the Sicilian Defence with Black. He also \"reanimated\" the Scotch Game in top-level competitions. Kasparov successfully used this opening, which was considered outdated, in the 1990 match against Karpov and in matches with Short and Anand. One of the offshoots of the Sicilian in the Szén Variation is called the Kasparov Gambit. Kasparov used this variation in the 12th and 16th games of the match with Karpov in 1985; in the second of these games, he scored a victory.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 63,
"text": "Another well-known case of winning an important game thanks to a novelty in the opening is Kasparov's 10th game of the 1995 match against Anand. On the 14th move, in a well-known position of the open variation of the Spanish Game (Rui Lopez), Kasparov discovered a new idea with a rook sacrifice, which brought a decisive attack.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 64,
"text": "Kasparov has also co-authored several books on opening theory.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 65,
"text": "Kasparov holds the record for the longest time as the No. 1 rated player in the world—from 1984 to 2005 (Kramnik shared the No. 1 ranking with him once, in the January 1996 FIDE rating list). He headed the PCA rating list during the split from FIDE. At the time of his retirement, he was still ranked No. 1 in the world, with a rating of 2812. His rating has fallen inactive since the January 2006 rating list.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 66,
"text": "In January 1990, Kasparov achieved the (then) highest FIDE rating ever, passing 2800 and breaking Fischer's old record of 2785. By the July 1999 and January 2000 FIDE rating lists, Kasparov had reached a 2851 Elo rating, at that time the highest rating ever achieved. He held that record until Carlsen attained a new record high rating of 2861 in January 2013.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 67,
"text": "Kasparov holds the record for most consecutive professional tournament victories, placing first or equal first in fifteen individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990. The streak was broken by Vasyl Ivanchuk at Linares 1991, where Kasparov placed second, half a point behind him after losing their individual game. The details of this record winning streak follow:",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 68,
"text": "Kasparov went nine years winning every super-tournament he played, in addition to contesting his series of five consecutive matches with Karpov. His only failure in this time period in either tournament or match play was the 1984 world title match against Karpov.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 69,
"text": "In the late 1990s, Kasparov went on another long streak of ten consecutive super-tournament wins.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 70,
"text": "In these tournament victories, Kasparov had a score of 53 wins, 61 draws and 1 loss in 115 games, his only defeat coming against Ivan Sokolov in Wijk aan Zee 1999.",
"title": "Assessment and legacy"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 71,
"text": "Acorn Computers acted as one of the sponsors for Kasparov's Candidates semi-final match against Korchnoi in 1983. This was Kasparov's first introduction to computers. Kasparov was awarded a BBC Micro, which he took back with him to Baku, making it perhaps one of the first Western-made microcomputers to reach the Soviet Union at that time.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 72,
"text": "Computer chess magazine editor Frederic Friedel consulted with Kasparov in 1985 on how a chess database program would be useful preparation for competition. Friedel founded Chessbase two years later, and he gave a copy of the program to Kasparov, who started using it in his preparation. That same year, Kasparov played against thirty-two chess computers in Hamburg, winning all games. Several commercially available Kasparov computers were made in the 1980s, the Saitek Kasparov Turbo King models. On 22 October 1989, Kasparov defeated the chess computer Deep Thought in both games of a two-game match. In December 1992, Kasparov played thirty-seven blitz games against Fritz 2 in Cologne, winning 24, drawing 4 and losing 9.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 73,
"text": "Kasparov cooperated in producing video material for the computer game Kasparov's Gambit released by Electronic Arts in November 1993. In April 1994, Intel acted as a sponsor for the first Professional Chess Association Grand Prix event in Moscow, played at a time control of twenty-five minutes per game. In May, Chessbase's Fritz 3 running on an Intel Pentium PC defeated Kasparov in their first game in the Intel Express blitz tournament in Munich, but Kasparov managed to tie it for first and won the play-off (+3=2). The next day, Kasparov lost to Fritz 3 again in a game on ZDF TV. In August, Kasparov was knocked out of the London Intel Grand Prix by Richard Lang's ChessGenius 2 program in the first round. In 1995, during Kasparov's world title match with Anand, he unveiled an opening novelty that had been checked with a chess engine, an approach that would become increasingly common in subsequent years.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 74,
"text": "Kasparov played in a pair of six-game chess matches with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue. The first match took place in Philadelphia in February 1996 and was won by Kasparov (4-2). The second was played in New York City in May 1997 and won by Deep Blue (3½–2½). The 1997 match was the first defeat of a reigning world champion by a computer under tournament conditions. The match was even after five games but Kasparov lost quickly in Game 6. Kasparov said that he was \"not well prepared\" to face Deep Blue in 1997. He said that based on his \"objective strengths\" his play was stronger than that of Deep Blue. Kasparov claimed that several factors weighed against him in this match. In particular, he was denied access to Deep Blue's recent games, in contrast to the computer's team, which could study hundreds of Kasparov's.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 75,
"text": "After the loss, Kasparov said that he sometimes saw deep intelligence and creativity in the machine's moves, suggesting that during the second game chess players had intervened in contravention of the rules. IBM denied that it had cheated, stating the only human intervention occurred between games. The rules provided for the developers to modify the program between games, an opportunity they said they used to shore up weaknesses in the computer's play revealed during the course of the match. Kasparov requested printouts of the machine's log files but IBM refused, although the company later published them on the Internet. Much later, it was suggested that the behaviour Kasparov noted had resulted from a glitch in the computer program. Plans for further engagement between Kasparov and IBM, including a rematch, did not come to fruition, due to the accusations of cheating.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 76,
"text": "In January 2003, he engaged in a six-game classical time control match, with a $1 million prize fund, against Deep Junior. It was billed as the FIDE \"Man vs. Machine\" world championship. The engine evaluated three million positions per second. After one win each and three draws, it was all up to the final game. After reaching a decent position, Kasparov offered a draw, which was accepted by the Deep Junior team. Asked why he had offered the draw, Kasparov said he feared making a blunder. Deep Junior was the first machine to beat Kasparov with Black and at a standard time control.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 77,
"text": "In June 2003, Mindscape released the computer game Kasparov Chessmate, with Kasparov himself listed as a co-designer. In November 2003, he engaged in a four-game match against the computer program X3D Fritz, using a virtual board, 3D glasses and a speech recognition system. After two draws and one win apiece, the X3D Man–Machine match ended in a draw. Kasparov received $175,000 and took home a golden trophy. He continued to regret the blunder in the second game that cost him a crucial point. He felt that he had outplayed the machine overall and performed well: \"I only made one mistake but unfortunately that one mistake lost the game.\"",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 78,
"text": "In 2021, Kasparov promoted a series of 32 NFTs that detailed important moments in his career. The top four sold for more than $11,000.",
"title": "Chess and computers"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 79,
"text": "Kasparov's grandfather was a staunch communist, but the young Kasparov gradually began to have doubts about the Soviet Union's political system at age 13 when he travelled abroad for the first time in 1976 to Paris for a chess tournament. In 1981, at age 18, he read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, a copy of which he bought while abroad. Nevertheless, Kasparov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1984, and was elected to the Central Committee of Komsomol in 1987. In 1990, he left the party.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 80,
"text": "In May 1990, Kasparov took part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia. He left the party on 28 April 1991, after its conference. Kasparov was also involved with the creation of the \"Choice of Russia\" bloc of parties in June 1993. He took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin in 1996. In 2001 he voiced his support for the Russian television channel NTV.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 81,
"text": "After his retirement from chess in 2005, Kasparov turned to politics and created the United Civil Front, a social movement whose main goal is to \"work to preserve electoral democracy in Russia\". He has vowed to \"restore democracy\" to Russia by restoring the rule of law. A year later the United Civil Front became part of The Other Russia. Kasparov was instrumental in setting up this coalition, which opposes Putin's government and the United Russia party. The Other Russia was boycotted by the leaders of Russia's mainstream opposition parties, Yabloko and Union of Right Forces, due to its inclusion of both nationalist and radical groups. Kasparov has criticised these two parties as being secretly under the auspices of the Kremlin.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 82,
"text": "In April 2005, Kasparov was in Moscow at a promotional event when he was struck over the head with a chessboard he had just signed. The assailant was reported to have said: \"I admired you as a chess player, but you gave that up for politics\" immediately before the attack. Kasparov has been the subject of a number of other episodes since, including police brutality and alleged harassment from the Russian secret service.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 83,
"text": "Kasparov helped organise the Saint Petersburg Dissenters' March on 3 March 2007 and The March of the Dissenters on 24 March 2007, both involving several thousand people rallying against Putin and Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 84,
"text": "Kasparov led a pro-democracy demonstration in Moscow in April 2007. Soon after it started, however, over 9,000 police descended on the group and seized almost everyone. Kasparov, who was briefly arrested, was warned by the prosecution office on the eve of the march that anyone participating risked being detained. He was held for some ten hours and then fined and released. He was later summoned by the FSB for violations of Russian anti-extremism laws.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 85,
"text": "Speaking about Kasparov in 2007, former KGB defector Oleg Kalugin remarked: \"I do not talk in details – people who knew them are all dead now because they were vocal, they were open. I am quiet. There is only one man who is vocal and he may be in trouble: world chess champion Kasparov. He has been very outspoken in his attacks on Putin and I believe that he is probably next on the list.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 86,
"text": "On 30 September 2007, Kasparov entered the Russian presidential race, receiving 379 of 498 votes at a congress held in Moscow by The Other Russia. In October 2007, Kasparov announced his intention of standing for the Russian presidency as the candidate of the \"Other Russia\" coalition and vowed to fight for a \"democratic and just Russia\". Later that month he travelled to the United States, where he appeared on several popular television programmes.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 87,
"text": "In November 2007, Kasparov and other protesters were detained by police at an Other Russia rally in Moscow, which drew 3,000 demonstrators to protest against election rigging. Following an attempt by about 100 protesters to march through police lines to the electoral commission, which had barred Other Russia candidates from parliamentary elections, arrests were made. The Russian authorities stated a rally had been approved but not any marches, resulting in several demonstrators being detained. Kasparov was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and organising an unauthorised protest, and was given a jail sentence of five days. Kasparov appealed the charges, citing that he had been following orders given by the police. He was released from jail on 29 November. Putin castigated Kasparov at the rally for his use of English when speaking rather than Russian.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 88,
"text": "In December 2007, Kasparov announced that he had to withdraw his presidential candidacy due to inability to rent a meeting hall where at least 500 of his supporters could assemble. With the deadline expiring on that date, he explained it was impossible for him to run. Russian election laws required sufficient meeting hall space for assembling supporters. Kasparov's spokeswoman accused the government of using pressure to deter anyone from renting a hall for the gathering and said that the electoral commission had rejected a proposal that would have allowed for smaller gathering sizes rather than one large gathering at a meeting hall.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 89,
"text": "Kasparov was among the 34 first signatories and a key organiser of the online anti-Putin campaign \"Putin must go\", started on 10 March 2010. Within the text is a call to Russian law enforcement to ignore Putin's orders. By June 2011, there were 90,000 signatures. While the identity of the petition author remained anonymous, there was wide speculation that it was indeed Kasparov. On 31 January 2012, Kasparov hosted a meeting of opposition leaders planning a mass march on 4 February 2012, the third major opposition rally held since the disputed State Duma elections of December 2011. Among other opposition leaders attending were Alexey Navalny and Yevgeniya Chirikova.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 90,
"text": "Kasparov was arrested and beaten outside a Moscow court on 17 August 2012 while attending sentencing in the case involving the all-female punk band Pussy Riot. On 24 August, he was cleared of charges that he had taken part in an unauthorised protest against the conviction of three members of the band. Judge Yekaterina Veklich said there were \"no grounds to believe the testimony of the police\". Kasparov later thanked all the bloggers and reporters who provided video evidence that contradicted the testimony of the police. Kasparov wrote in February 2013 that \"fascism has come to Russia. ...Project Putin, just like the old Project Hitler, is but the fruit of a conspiracy by the ruling elite. Fascist rule was never the result of the free will of the people. It was always the fruit of a conspiracy by the ruling elites!\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 91,
"text": "Kasparov denied rumours in April 2013 that he was planning to leave Russia for good. \"I found these rumors to be deeply saddening and, moreover, surprising,\" he wrote. \"I was unable to respond immediately because I was in such a state of shock that such an incredibly inaccurate statement, the likes of which is constantly distributed by the Kremlin's propagandists, came this time from Ilya Yashin, a fellow member of the Opposition Coordination Council (KSO) and my former colleague from the Solidarity movement.\" He also accused prominent Russian journalist Vladimir Posner of failing to stand up to Putin and to earlier Russian and Soviet leaders.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 92,
"text": "However, Kasparov subsequently fled Russia less than three months later. On 6 June 2013, he announced that he had left his homeland on account of fear of persecution for his political views. Further, at the 2013 Women in the World conference, Kasparov told The Daily Beast's Michael Moynihan that democracy no longer existed in what he called Russia's \"dictatorship\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 93,
"text": "Kasparov said at a press conference in June 2013 that if he returned to Russia, he doubted he would be allowed to leave again, given Putin's ongoing crackdown on dissenters. \"So for the time being,\" he said, \"I refrain from returning to Russia.\" He explained shortly thereafter in an article for The Daily Beast that this had not been intended as \"a declaration of leaving my home country, permanently or otherwise\", but merely an expression of \"the dark reality of the situation in Russia today, where nearly half the members of the opposition's Coordinating Council are under criminal investigation on concocted charges\". He noted that the Moscow prosecutor's office was \"opening an investigation that would limit my ability to travel\", making it impossible for him to fulfil \"professional speaking engagements\" and hindering his \"work for the non-profit Kasparov Chess Foundation, which has centres in New York City, Brussels and Johannesburg, to promote chess in education\". Kasparov further wrote in his June 2013 Daily Beast article that the mass protests in Moscow 18 months earlier against fraudulent Russian elections had been \"a proud moment for me\". He recalled that after joining the opposition movement in March 2005, he had been criticised for seeking to unite \"every anti-Putin element in the country to march together regardless of ideology\". Therefore, the sight of \"hundreds of flags representing every group from liberals to nationalists all marching together for 'Russia Without Putin' was the fulfillment of a dream.\" Yet most Russians, he lamented, had continued to \"slumber\" even as Putin had \"taken off the flimsy mask of democracy to reveal himself in full as the would-be KGB dictator he has always been\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 94,
"text": "Kasparov responded with several Twitter postings to a September 2013 The New York Times op-ed by Putin. \"I hope Putin has taken adequate protections,\" he tweeted. \"Now that he is a Russian journalist his life may be in grave danger!\" Also: \"Now we can expect NY Times op-eds by Mugabe on fair elections, Castro on free speech, & Kim Jong-un on prison reform. The Axis of Hypocrisy.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 95,
"text": "Kasparov wrote in July 2013 about the trial in Kirov of fellow opposition leader Navalny, who had been convicted \"on concocted embezzlement charges\", only to see the prosecutor, surprisingly, ask for his release the next day pending appeal. \"The judicial process and the democratic process in Russia,\" wrote Kasparov, \"are both elaborate mockeries created to distract the citizenry at home and to help Western leaders avoid confronting the awkward fact that Russia has returned to a police state\". Still, Kasparov felt that whatever had caused the Kirov prosecutor's about-face, \"my optimism tells me it was a positive sign. After more than 13 years of predictable repression under Putin, anything different is good.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 96,
"text": "Kasparov has been outspoken regarding Putin's antigay laws, describing them as \"only the most recent encroachment on the freedom of speech and association of Russia's citizens\", which the international community had largely ignored. Regarding Russia's hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Kasparov explained in August 2013 that he had opposed Russia's bid from the outset, since it would \"allow Vladimir Putin's cronies to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars\" and \"lend prestige to Putin's authoritarian regime\". Kasparov did not support the proposed Sochi Olympics boycott—writing that it would \"unfairly punish athletes\"—but called for athletes and others to \"transform Putin's self-congratulatory pet project into a spotlight that exposes his authoritarian rule\" to the world. In September, Kasparov called upon politicians to refuse to attend the games and the public to pressure sponsors and the media, such that Coca-Cola, for example, could put \"a rainbow flag on each Coca-Cola can\" and NBC could \"do interviews with Russian gay activists or with Russian political activists\". Kasparov also emphasised that although he was \"still a Russian citizen\", he had \"good reason to be concerned about my ability to leave Russia if I returned to Moscow\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 97,
"text": "Kasparov spoke out against the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and has stated that control of Crimea should be returned to Ukraine after the overthrow of Putin without additional conditions. Kasparov's website was blocked by the Russian government censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, at the behest of the public prosecutor, allegedly due to Kasparov's opinions on the Crimean crisis. Kasparov's block was made in unison with several other notable Russian sites that were accused of inciting public outrage. Reportedly, several of the blocked sites received an affidavit noting their violations. However, Kasparov stated that his site had received no such notice of violations after its block. In 2015, a whole note on Kasparov was removed from a Russian language encyclopaedia of greatest Soviet players after an intervention from \"senior leadership\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 98,
"text": "In October 2015, Kasparov published a book titled Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. In the book, Kasparov likens Putin to Adolf Hitler and explains the need for the West to oppose Putin sooner, rather than appeasing him and postponing the eventual confrontation. According to his publisher, \"Kasparov wants this book out fast, in a way that has potential to influence the discussion during the primary season.\" In 2018, he said that \"anything is better than Putin because that eliminates the probability of a nuclear war. Putin is insane.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 99,
"text": "Following reports of Russian ransomware attacks against American agencies and companies in 2021, Kasparov stated that \"the only language that Putin understands is power, and his power is his money,\" arguing that the United States should target the bank accounts of Russian oligarchs to force Russia to rein in its criminals' cyberattacks.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 100,
"text": "Kasparov spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on Twitter: \"The only way this really ends is the fall of Putin's regime by collapse of Russian economy and defeat in Ukraine.\" He also believed that \"pressure must be kept up\" in terms of sanctions and condemnations against Russia's actions and joined with other prominent Russian figures-in-exile to form the Anti-War Committee of Russia. He said that Russia should be \"thrown back into the Stone Age to make sure that the oil and gas industry and any other sensitive industries that are vital for survival of the regime cannot function without Western technological support.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 101,
"text": "On 20 May 2022, Kasparov was designated as \"foreign agent\" by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 102,
"text": "In May 2023, along with a large group of fellow exiles, Kasparov participated in the drafting of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's \"Declaration of Russia's Democratic Forces\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 103,
"text": "On August 4, 2023, Kasparov participated on the radio show Open to Debate in a debate against Charles Kupchan, where he argued for Ukrainian admission into NATO and against any form of appeasement towards Putin.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 104,
"text": "Kasparov received the Keeper of the Flame award in 1991 from the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based far-right, anti-Muslim think tank. In his acceptance speech Kasparov lauded the defeat of communism while also urging the United States to give no financial assistance to central Soviet leaders. Kasparov gave speeches at other think tanks such as the Hoover Institution.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 105,
"text": "In a 12 May 2013 op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Kasparov questioned reports that the Russian security agency, the FSB, had fully cooperated with the FBI in the matter of the Boston bombers. He noted that the elder bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had reportedly met in Russia with two known jihadists who \"were killed in Dagestan by the Russian military just days before Tamerlan left Russia for the U.S.\" Kasparov argued, \"If no intelligence was sent from Moscow to Washington\" about this meeting, \"all this talk of FSB cooperation cannot be taken seriously.\" He further observed, \"This would not be the first time Russian security forces seemed strangely impotent in the face of an impending terror attack,\" pointing out that in both the 2002 Moscow theater siege and the 2004 Beslan school attack, \"there were FSB informants in both terror groups – yet the attacks went ahead unimpeded.\" Given this history, he wrote, \"it is impossible to overlook that the Boston bombing took place just days after the U.S. Magnitsky List was published, creating the first serious external threat to the Putin power structure by penalising Russian officials complicit in human-rights crimes.\" In sum, Putin's \"dubious record on counterterrorism and its continued support of terror sponsors Iran and Syria mean only one thing: common ground zero\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 106,
"text": "In the 2016 United States presidential election, Kasparov described Republican Donald Trump as \"a celebrity showman with racist leanings and authoritarian tendencies\" and criticised him for calling for closer ties with Putin. After Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, called Putin a strong leader, Kasparov said that Putin is a strong leader \"in the same way arsenic is a strong drink\". He also disparaged the economic policies of Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, but showed respect for Sanders as \"a charismatic speaker and a passionate believer in his cause\". Kasparov opined that Henry Kissinger \"was selling the Trump Administration on the idea of a mirror of 1972 [Richard Nixon's visit to China], except, instead of a Sino-U.S. alliance against the U.S.S.R., this would be a Russian-American alliance against China.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 107,
"text": "In an interview discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Kasparov stated that the Republic of Artsakh has a right to independence and that Azerbaijan has no sovereign right over it. He considers this stance to be objective and without bias, as Soviet law allowed for autonomous republics (such as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast) to vote for independence separately and were given an equal right for self-determination, a factor he felt often went ignored. Kasparov recalled that he was criticised by Armenians for not taking a strong stance when the Karabakh movement began in 1988, explaining that he was living in Baku with 200,000 other Armenians at the time and did not want to increase tensions. Kasparov and his family later fled Baku in January 1990 to escape pogroms against Armenians.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 108,
"text": "He welcomed the Velvet Revolution in Armenia in 2018. Kasparov supports Armenian genocide recognition.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 109,
"text": "During the Yugoslav Wars, Kasparov advocated for the Western world to destroy the Yugoslav People's Army and accused Slobodan Milošević of creating a \"siege mentality\" to maintain control over Serbia. In 1997, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina for his support of Bosnian people during the Bosnian War. Kasparov was named Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation in 2011. In addition, Kasparov was presented with the Morris B. Abram Human Rights Award, UN Watch's annual human-rights prize, in 2013. The organisation praised him as \"not only one of the world's smartest men\" but \"also among its bravest\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 110,
"text": "Before the first Gulf War, Kasparov expressed an unconventional viewpoint, recommending the United States to consider the use of an atomic bomb against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In 2002, supporting military action against Iraq, he also recommended planning for military action against Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 111,
"text": "In April 2013, Kasparov joined in an HRF condemnation of Kanye West for having performed for the leader of Kazakhstan in exchange for a payment of $3 million, saying that West \"has entertained a brutal killer and his entourage\" and that his fee \"came from the loot stolen from the Kazakhstan treasury\". Further, in September 2013, Kasparov wrote in Time magazine that in Syria, Putin and Bashar al-Assad \"won by forfeit when President Obama, Prime Minister Cameron and the rest of the so-called leaders of the free world walked away from the table.\" Kasparov lamented the \"new game at the negotiating table where Putin and Assad set the rules and will run the show under the protection of the U.N.\" Kasparov said in September 2013 that Russia was now a dictatorship. In the same month he told an interviewer that \"Obama going to Russia now is dead wrong, morally and politically,\" because Putin's regime \"is behind Assad\".",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 112,
"text": "Kasparov was critical of the violence unleashed by the Spanish police against the 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia and accused the Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy of \"betraying\" the European promise of peace. After the Catalan regional election held later the same year, Kasparov wrote: \"Despite unprecedented pressure from Madrid, Catalonian separatists won a majority. Europe must speak and help find a peaceful path toward resolution and avoid more violence\". Kasparov recommended that Spain look to how Britain handled the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, adding: \"look only at how Turkey and Iraq have treated the separatist Kurds. That cannot be the road for Spain and Catalonia.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 113,
"text": "On the occasion of the 2015 centennial of the Armenian genocide, Kasparov reflected that in 2002 he called for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union if Turkey recognised the genocide. He condemned the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In October 2018, Kasparov wrote that President Erdoğan's regime in Turkey \"has jailed more journalists than any country in the world and scores of them remain in prison in Turkey. Since 2016, Turkey's intelligence agency has abducted at least 80 people in operations in 18 countries.\"",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 114,
"text": "In the wake of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Kasparov vigorously called on the Biden administration for the destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah. He further demanded the US to set up regime change in Russia and Iran.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 115,
"text": "Kasparov had maintained a summer home in the Croatian city of Makarska. In February 2014, he applied for citizenship by naturalisation in Croatia, according to media reports, claiming he was finding it increasingly difficult to live in Russia. According to an article in The Guardian, Kasparov was \"widely perceived\" as having been a vocal supporter of Croatian independence during the early 1990s. Later in February 2014, his application for naturalisation was approved and he had a meeting with Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović on 27 February. Croatian press cited his \"lobbying for Croatia in 1991\" as grounds for the expedited naturalisation. In an interview for a Croatian daily published in February 2022, Kasparov said he was \"very grateful\" to Milanović for the help rendered by him (then as prime minister) in obtaining Croatian citizenship.",
"title": "Politics and political views"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 116,
"text": "Kasparov has written books on chess. He published a controversial autobiography when still in his early 20s. Originally entitled Child of Change, it was later published as Unlimited Challenge. This book was updated several times after he became world champion. Its content is mainly literary, with a small chess component of key unannotated games. He published an annotated games collection in 1983, Fighting Chess: My Games and Career, which has been updated in further editions. He also wrote a book annotating the games from his World Chess Championship 1985 victory, World Chess Championship Match: Moscow, 1985.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 117,
"text": "He has annotated his own games extensively for the Yugoslav Chess Informant series. In 1982, he co-authored Batsford Chess Openings with British grandmaster Keene. That book sold well and was updated in a second edition in 1989. He also co-authored two opening books with his trainer Alexander Nikitin in the 1980s for British publisher Batsford – on the Classical Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence and on the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence. Kasparov also contributed extensively to the five-volume openings series Encyclopedia of Chess Openings from Chess Informant, for which Kasparov also wrote personal columns called Garry's Choice.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 118,
"text": "In 2000, Kasparov co-authored Kasparov Against the World: The Story of the Greatest Online Challenge with grandmaster Daniel King. The 202-page book analyses the 1999 Kasparov versus the World game, and holds the record for the longest analysis devoted to a single chess game.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 119,
"text": "In 2003, the first volume of his five-volume work Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors was published. This volume deals with world champions Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine, and some of their strong contemporaries. It won the British Chess Federation's Book of the Year award in 2003. Volume two, covering Max Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov and Tal, appeared later in 2003. Volume three, featuring Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky, was published in early 2004. In December 2004, Kasparov released volume four, which covers Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen (none of whom was world champion), but focuses on Fischer. The fifth volume, devoted to the chess careers of world champion Karpov and challenger Korchnoi, was published in March 2006.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 120,
"text": "His Revolution in the 70s (published in March 2007) covers \"the openings revolution of the 1970s–1980s\" and was the first work in a new venture, \"Modern Chess Series\", which recounted his matches with Karpov and selected games. Revolution in the 70s is about the development of opening theory witnessed in that decade. Systems like the novel \"Hedgehog\" opening plan of passively developing the pieces no further than the first three ranks were examined in great detail. Kasparov also analysed some of the most notable games played in that period. In a section at the end of the book, top opening theoreticians provided their opinion on progress made in opening theory in the 1980s.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 121,
"text": "From 2011–14, Kasparov published a three-volume series of his games, spanning his career in three eras until he stopped playing full time in 2005.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 122,
"text": "In October 2015, Kasparov published a book titled Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. The title is a reference to the HBO television series Game of Thrones. In the book, Kasparov writes about the need for an organisation composed solely of democratic countries to replace the United Nations. In an interview, he called the United Nations a \"catwalk for dictators\".",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 123,
"text": "Kasparov believes that the conventional history of civilisation is incorrect. Specifically, he contends that the history of ancient civilisations is based on misdating of events and achievements that occurred in the medieval period. He has cited several aspects of ancient history that, he argues, are likely to be anachronisms.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 124,
"text": "Kasparov has written in support of the pseudohistorical New Chronology (Fomenko), although with some reservations. In 2001, he expressed a desire to devote his time to promoting the New Chronology after his chess career. \"New Chronology is a great area for investing my intellect ... My analytical abilities are well placed to figure out what was right and what was wrong.\" \"When I stop playing chess, it may well be that I concentrate on promoting these ideas... I believe they can improve our lives.\" Later, Kasparov renounced his support of Fomenko theories but reaffirmed his belief that mainstream historical knowledge is inconsistent.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 125,
"text": "Kasparov wrote How Life Imitates Chess, an examination of the parallels between decision-making in chess and in the business world, in 2007. In 2008, Kasparov published a sympathetic obituary for Fischer: \"I am often asked if I ever met or played Bobby Fischer. The answer is no, I never had that opportunity. But even though he saw me as a member of the evil chess establishment that he felt had robbed and cheated him, I am sorry I never had a chance to thank him personally for what he did for our sport.\"",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 126,
"text": "Kasparov is the chief advisor for the book publisher Everyman Chess. He works closely with Mig Greengard and his comments can often be found on Greengard's blog. Kasparov collaborated with Max Levchin and Peter Thiel on The Blueprint, a book calling for a revival of world innovation, planned for release in March 2013 but cancelled after the authors disagreed on its contents. In an editorial comment on Google's AlphaZero chess-playing system, Kasparov argued that chess has become the model for reasoning in the same way that the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster became a model organism for geneticists: \"I was pleased to see that AlphaZero had a dynamic, open style like my own,\" he wrote in late 2018.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 127,
"text": "Kasparov served as a consultant for the 2020 Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit and gave an interview to Slate on his contributions. That same year, Kasparov collaborated with Matt Calkins, founder and CEO of Appian, on HYPERAUTOMATION, a book about low-code development and the future of business automation. Kasparov wrote the foreword where he discusses his experiences with human–machine relationships. The New York Times published an essay by Kasparov titled \"Garry Kasparov: What We Believe About Reality\" in 2021. The essay is part of a series called The Big Ideas: What Do We Believe. This work was later published in a compendium titled Question Everything: A Stone Reader.",
"title": "Books and other writings"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 128,
"text": "Kasparov has lived in New York City since 2013.",
"title": "Personal life"
},
{
"paragraph_id": 129,
"text": "He has been married three times: to Masha, with whom he had a daughter, Polina, before divorcing; to Yulia, with whom he had a son, Vadim, before their 2005 divorce; and to Daria (Dasha), with whom he has two children, daughter Aida born in 2006 and son Nickolas born in 2015. Kasparov's wife manages his business activities worldwide through Kasparov International Management Inc.",
"title": "Personal life"
}
]
| Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11). Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed world champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He defended the title against Karpov three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1990. Kasparov held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicised match. He continued to hold the "Classical" world title until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the PCA title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player at the time of his official retirement. Kasparov coached Carlsen in 2009–10, during which time Carlsen rose to world no. 1. Kasparov stood unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014. Since retiring from chess, Kasparov has devoted his time to writing and politics. His book series My Great Predecessors, first published in 2003, details the history and games of the world champion chess players who preceded him. He formed the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew. In the wake of the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution. Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split. Kasparov is chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and chairs its International Council. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organisation promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov is also a security ambassador for the software company Avast. | 2001-08-21T08:47:30Z | 2023-12-20T12:02:56Z | [
"Template:Use British English",
"Template:Lang-ru",
"Template:'",
"Template:Official website",
"Template:S-ttl",
"Template:S-aft",
"Template:S-end",
"Template:Main",
"Template:Sfn",
"Template:Webarchive",
"Template:S-sports",
"Template:Snd",
"Template:Cite news",
"Template:Notelist",
"Template:Chessgames player",
"Template:S-start",
"Template:Short description",
"Template:Efn",
"Template:Cite encyclopedia",
"Template:Citation",
"Template:Cite journal",
"Template:Doi",
"Template:Curlie",
"Template:ISBN",
"Template:Reflist",
"Template:Cite press release",
"Template:Portal",
"Template:Redirect",
"Template:Use dmy dates",
"Template:Infobox chess biography",
"Template:In lang",
"Template:Sister project links",
"Template:S-bef",
"Template:Cite book",
"Template:Cite magazine",
"Template:Cite twitter",
"Template:Cbignore",
"Template:C-SPAN",
"Template:Authority control",
"Template:Family name hatnote",
"Template:Good article",
"Template:Cite web",
"Template:OCLC",
"Template:Cite tweet",
"Template:S-ach",
"Template:World Chess Championships"
]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.